About the EUMAGINE Project
EUMAGINE is a
collaborative European research project aimed at investigating the impact of
perceptions of human rights and democracy on migration aspirations and
decisions.
Project description
The EUMAGINE project aims to
study how Europe is perceived from outside the EU, and how these perceptions
affect migration aspirations and decisions. The project focuses on how people’s
perceptions on democracy and human rights – in relation to their regions and
countries of origin as well as places abroad – affect their perceptions on and
attitudes to migration. We are also interested in investigating how
perceptions on human rights and
democracy interact with other determinants of migration aspirations, to what
extent migration is perceived as a valuable life project, and how potential
migrants compare Europe to other migration destinations. EUMAGINE studies
migration-related perceptions among people aged 18-39 in four countries of
origin and transit: Morocco, Senegal, Turkey and Ukraine.
Conceptual framework
The theoretical starting
point for the project is two-fold: First, we assume that different types of
discourses on human rights and democracy influence how individuals in countries
of origin and transit perceive issues of human rights and democracy. Secondly,
we expect that individuals’ perceptions in turn influence their migratory
aspirations and decisions.
The EUMAGINE project explores
two types of imaginations: “migratory imaginations” and “geographical
imaginations.” The term “migratory imaginations” refers to people’s attitude to
migration as a valuable life project. Migration-related perceptions and
aspirations develop within a specific cultural, political-juridical and economic
setting, known as the “emigration environment.” Migration aspirations are linked
with socially and culturally constructed perceptions. These include ideas and
meanings attached to the migration project, subjective images of one’s current
environment, and thoughts about potential destinations. We assume that
perceptions on human rights and democracy have an impact on what Massey (1998)
has termed “cultures of emigration,” where migration becomes deeply rooted into
people’s behavioral repertoires. By “geographical imaginations” we refer to the
meanings and images that make up people’s subjective conception of particular
places, including Europe.
We assume that migratory and
geographical imaginations are influenced by different types of discourses:
macro-level discourses (e.g. from
policy and media sources) and meso-level
discourses, (e.g. disseminated through popular culture and social networks). We
also expect migratory and geographical imaginations to be shaped by
individual-level factors, such as gender or age.
Research questions
The project is informed by
five overarching research questions:
1)
How are human rights and democracy
related to imaginations in migrant sending countries constructed? 2)
How are
perceptions on human rights, democracy, migration and possible destination
countries affected by various factors? 3)
How do
perceptions on human rights and democracy and ‘geographical imaginations’ relate
to migration aspirations and migration? 4)
How to develop a better informed migration policy, taking into account
human rights and democracy as important migration determinants? 5)
How to contribute to local capacity building in source countries, in
order to prepare the ground for locally based research initiatives in the
future?
Methodology
The project systematically
analyzes migration aspirations and decisions, following a case-study approach:
it compares and contrasts a diversity of important international emigration
countries; various types of regions within these countries; several modes of
migration; various types of influential discourses; and different profiles of
potential migrants. This allows the project to make analytical generalizations
about how migration-related perceptions, aspirations and decisions are formed.
EUMAGINE has a multidisciplinary approach and combines the varied disciplinary
background of its researchers: sociology, law, anthropology, economics, human
geography and political science.
The field research follows a
mixed-method approach with three main methodological components: 1) ethnographic
fieldwork in the community, 2) a large-scale quantitative survey, and 3)
semi-structured qualitative interviews with selected survey respondents,
directed by an interview guide. The research uses between- as well as
within-method triangulation. Between-method triangulation is reached through
combining qualitative as well as quantitative research methodologies. For
within-method triangulation, we use two types of qualitative research, namely
in-depth interviews and observation in communities.
In each country, fieldwork is
undertaken in four diverse regions, selected on the basis of the following
model: 1) An area characterized by high emigration rates; 2) A second,
comparable socio-economic area with low emigration; 3) A comparable area with a
strong immigration history; and 4) A location with a specific human rights
situation.
Project Organization
EUMAGINE is funded by the
European Commission under the Seventh Framework Programme and undertaken by a
consortium of the following eight institutions:
·
University of Antwerp (UA), Belgium -
Co-ordinator
·
Centre on Migration, Policy and Society
(COMPAS), University of Oxford, United Kingdom
·
International Migration Institute (IMI),
University of Oxford, United Kingdom
·
Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), Norway
·
Koc University, Turkey
·
Université Mohamed V – Agdal (UMVA), Morocco
·
Centre of Sociological research (CSR),
Ukraine
·
Université Cheikh Anta Diop
(UCAD), Senegal
The empirical research is
undertaken by 'geographical duo teams' consisting of one European and one
non-European partner who are responsible for each of the four country-cases:
Turkish case:
Koç University, Turkey and
University of Antwerp (UA),
Belgium; Ukrainian case: Centre of
Sociological research (CSR), Ukraine and Centre on Migration, Policy and Society
(COMPAS), University of Oxford, United Kingdom;
Moroccan case: Université Mohamed V – Agdal (UMVA), Morocco and International Migration Institute (IMI),
University of Oxford, United Kingdom; Senegalese case:
Université Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD), Senegal and Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO),
Norway.
Methodological coordination
is placed with specific consortium members:
Qualitative methodology: University of
Antwerp (UA), Belgium; Quantitative methodology: International Migration Institute (IMI),
University of Oxford, United Kingdom; Multi-method integration: Peace Research
Institute, Oslo (PRIO), Norway.
More detailed information
about the project can be found under the various sections of the web site.
Project papers published in the course of the project will address conceptual,
methodological, and empirical issues.
General enquiries about the
project should be directed to project manager Roos Willems at the University of
Antwerp (Roos.Willems@ua.ac.be).