Check out Season 5 of The Migration Podcast!
Episode 9: Schools as sites of migrant integration
Our interviewees in this episode have compelling research on how schools are sites of “integration” to be taken seriously.
When it comes to what influences “migrant integration”, you might think of national-level laws and policies, and maybe look at statistics on how well immigrants are doing in relation to other groups with employment rates, their health, or language acquisition. You might also look at to what extent people have “accepting attitudes” to newcomers or neighbours with different backgrounds than them.
Our interviewees in this episode have compelling research on how schools are sites of “integration” to be taken seriously. After all, schools are the primary public institution where people interact with wider societies. They talk about how people in schools adapt in different ways to intercultural and multi-lingual realities and how they can be key places of civic engagement for not only for students, but also for parents.
You’ll hear Samanwita Paul interview Dr. Irene Landini and Dr. Jacob Garrett.
Episode 8: False narratives, real consequences: Social media's impact on thoughts about migration?
"The rise in false narratives surrounding immigrants and refugees is often amplified by social media and manipulated for political gain"
This is a guest episode from the third season of the Borders and Belonging Podcast, which is produced by the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration and Integration (or “CERC”) at Toronto Metropolitan University. They just launched a new season, called “in conversation”, in which leading voices dive into urgent migration issues shaping Canada and the world. You can find it on all major streaming services. And of course, please stay tuned for the next episode of the Migration Podcast!
“The rise in false narratives surrounding immigrants and refugees is often amplified by social media and manipulated for political gain. In this episode, host Maggie Perzyna unpacks the dangerous intersection between digital disinformation and immigration. Experts emphasize this critical area of study as social media networks increasingly shape public opinion and policy decisions, while false narratives about migration spread faster than ever.
Guests: Katie Paul, Director, Tech Transparency Project; Anatoliy Gruzd, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Privacy Preserving Digital Technologies, Toronto Metropolitan University; and Mattias Ekman, Associate Professor, Stockholm University.”
Episode 7: Migration Information Campaigns – European Governments’ strategy
Whether on billboards, films, or other medium, messages from “do not come” to “it is dangerous” are a consistent part of European states’ to discourage irregularised migration from Africa.Yet, evaluations have reported time and time again that such campaigns are not “effective” – if that is even the right question. Why do states keep investing in anti-immigration information campaigns? In this episode, Silindile Mlilo speaks with Cecilia Schenetti and Rossella Marino to unpack some of the power relations behind the design and implementation of these campaigns, including how migrants themselves are engaged, framed, or co-opted in them.
We learn that with the many different actors and conflicting motivations involved in these campaigns, migrant information campaigns are full of contradictions, and our guests argue that they are central to how border regimes are produced, navigated, and contested.
Episode 6: Making Resonance: Forced Migrants and Music Across Borders
Liberty Chee speaks with two scholars whose research focuses on musicians who have been displaced from their homelands.
Rose Campion looks at what the music industry can teach us about migration policy. Her ethnographic research explores how forced migrants from all over the world build their careers as professional musicians in Germany. She talks about how they try to ‘make it’, and how these experiences complicate the perception that “music is a universal language that brings everyone together”.
We also have Louis Brehony, who, starting as a musician and fan, found his way to Palestinian music and the people who make this art both in the MENA region and around the world. He has now researched the topic academically for over a decade. He speaks about how concepts from Palestinian culture translate into music – and how “traditional” sounds and newer evolutions of style are marked by place and migration.
Episode 5: How European Cities Respond to Migration
This episode features a conversation recorded live at the IMISCOE annual conference that was hosted in Paris-Auberville in early July.
In this episode, you’ll hear Asya Pisarevskaya speak with Andrea Pettrachin and Karolina Łukasiewicz about how cities (and specifically city governments) across Europe respond to migration.Andrea talks mostly from the research on small and medium-sized towns and rural areas in Europe, and Karoline brings her experience from cities in Central and Eastern Europe.This broad view shows how cities vary greatly when it comes to their approach to migration – besides some being more “progressive”, and others being “conservative”, some cities take proactive steps on their own, going above and beyond (or sometimes contrary to) what national governments dictate. While others refuse to implement measures they are legally required do, all together. Our guests also touch on the differences between the discourse that cities use about migration (i.e. being a very “open” vs. being a more hostile), and how that is not always aligned with what happens in practice.
Episode 4: Migration & mental health
Is migrating a risk factor for one’s mental health? Well, sometimes yes, and sometimes no – it depends on the context and perspective. Of course, “context and perspective” is the simple way of putting it. You’ll hear about some of the complexity behind this, in this episode! You’ll hear Itzel Eguiluz interview Ietza Bojorquez and Sylvia Dantas about their work with migrants in Mexico and Brazil. In their short conversation, they get to the heart of why treating mental health in multicultural contexts can be so challenging. We hear about the importance of reflexivity – and specifically how the position and cultural backgrounds of practitioners as well as migrants facing mental health difficulties should be taken into consideration.
Episode 3: Migration & Russia
What do you know about the lives of migrants from Central Asia in Russia? Listen to this episode if your answer to this question is "not enough". In this episode, Kate Dearden speaks with Rustam Urinboyev and Nodira Kholmatova about the lives of migrants from Central Asia in Russia, both before, and since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Episode 2: Film and digital storytelling in migration research
In this episode you’ll hear Silindile Mlilo interview two researchers who are using creative and non-traditional research methods. Isabel Rose Soloaga will talk about the use of participatory research and film through her forthcoming documentary, Growing Up in America: Life After the Taliban. Ntokozo Yingwana will discuss her use of digital story telling in her PhD research project “Queering Sex Work and Mobility in South Africa: How does Migration and mobility Influence Genderded Sexualities in Sex Work?
Episode 1: Dublin, solidarity & age
In the first episode of this season, Liberty Chee speaks with Ulrike Bialas and Eleonora Milazzo about Dublin, solidarity and age in the EU asylum system. Ulrike Bialas provides insights into how age classifications affect the lives of young asylum seekers. Eleonora Milazzo tells us what solidarity between EU Member States means in practice.