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Research Group on Migration, Diversity and Social Cohesion - MIDICO

Description

International migratory flows in Spain correspond to the characteristics that Castles and Miller point out, in their now classic work "The Age of Migration", for the migrations of the 21st century. In fact, more belatedly than in the rest of Europe, the last two decades have seen an increase in migratory flows to our country from different countries and cultures. Not only are we witnessing an increasing heterogeneity of migration flows, but also an increasing diversity of migrants There are flows of workers for low-skilled jobs, but also migrations of highly skilled people; there are those who migrate to improve their quality of life, "lifestyle migration", and there are those who migrate to save their lives, asylum seekers and refugees; we have masculinised and feminised migrations, although the prominence of women migrants is increasing. Given the area of free movement that the European Union represents, another very relevant distinction is between internal migration within the EU and migration from third countries. Our group aims to respond to this heterogeneous reality through a variety of lines of research: Transnational mobility strategies; International Retirement Migration; Intra-European Migration; Skilled Migration. 

In Spain and in the Valencian Country, immigrants are present in all areas of social life, they have contributed to transforming our towns and cities, and they constitute another part of the population. In our group we study some of these areas, such as the labour insertion of immigrants, Migrations and the labour market, the characteristics of their inclusion in our cities, Urban insertion, and in our towns and rural areas, Globalised rurality. Whether in rural or urban areas, a basic dimension of our social life, often undervalued, is sociability, which is addressed by the line Dynamics of coexistence in multicultural spaces and environments. Although the social integration of immigrants usually starts precariously and improves with time and effort, we have, as in other European countries, immigrant groups at risk of exclusion (ethnic minorities, asylum seekers, unaccompanied minors...). This issue is addressed in the line Migrant groups in situations of exclusion. 

Migrations and the cultural diversity they entail are not the only, nor, dare we say, the main challenge facing social cohesion. In recent decades our societies have undergone intense socio-economic transformations, due to globalisation and neo-liberal policies, which have led to a polarisation of the labour market, an increase in inequality and a feeling of insecurity in previously protected sectors. In the case of Spain, these transformations have coincided with the arrival and settlement of immigrants and their families.

We are more fragmented societies, socially and culturally. Working for social cohesion, the construction of a common and at the same time plural "we", implies the implementation of general policies of inclusive citizenship, for natives and immigrants, in terms of employment, housing, security, and an adequate management of cultural diversity, the latter issue being addressed in the line of the same name. 

This diversity of research lines has a number of common transversal axes. In this presentation we will highlight three. Firstly, gender mainstreaming. Secondly, an intersectional perspective that considers the interweaving of social class, gender and ethnocultural factors. Thirdly, an orientation in line with the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals SDGs and, more specifically, with SDG5, gender perspective, SDG10, Reducing inequalities, SDG11. More inclusive, safe and sustainable cities and SDG16. Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies. 

Our research work is based on research projects and research contracts. The latter, carried out with public administrations, associations and companies, allow both knowledge transfer and sociological and anthropological research applied to the issues addressed here.

Goals CT
  • Deepen and capture the urban insertion of immigrants, the transformations of popular neighbourhoods and the processes of inclusion/exclusion.
  • Deepen the management of cultural diversity, at different scales, and the dynamics of coexistence in public spaces and services.
  • Deepen, grasp and apprehend the insertion of immigrants in rural areas and the transformations that are generated.
  • Understand the transnational mobility strategies of Spaniards and immigrants, to grasp their dynamics and central factors.
  • Provide greater knowledge to public managers, social organisations, and applied research that will form the basis of public policies.
Research lines
  • Dynamics of coexistence in multicultural spaces and environments

    This line is based on conceiving coexistence as a relational framework in multicultural spaces that involves negotiating situations of contact that may or may not be conflictive. Racism, xenophobia and discriminatory practices that rely on the construction of otherness are manifestations of conflict that are addressed here, while forms of cooperation, reciprocity, relativism and solidarity are ways that operate in the opposite direction. Relational networks, associations and social networks are basic aspects of the process of insertion of both immigrants and their children, which are approached from this line. Furthermore, it is essential to address the processes of construction of collective identifications, from a minimally intersectional approach that, in addition to ethnicity, includes, among others, the variables of gender, class, age and sexual orientation. Understanding the factors that influence and the dynamics that are generated in contexts of intercultural contact is basic to exploring the construction of intercultural adjustments or processes of cultural and social accommodation that are characteristic of a coexistence that contributes to social cohesion. A construction that operates in a political, socio-affective, socio-economic, socio-spatial, identity and cultural dimension.

  • Globalised rurality. Agricultural work, immigration and transformation of rural areas

    This line of research addresses the urban insertion of immigrants in the more general framework of the transformations driven by neoliberal urbanism, gentrification and precariousness, and from a multidimensional and holistic perspective, highlighting the conjunction between the socio-urban, socio-economic and cultural spheres, sociability and neighbourhood relations. In this line, the evolution of the residential insertion of immigrants is addressed, from central working-class neighbourhoods to peripheral working-class neighbourhoods, which today have the highest proportion of neighbourhoods of other origins. The problems of these neighbourhoods are studied, which cannot be reduced to the presence of immigration in them, as well as their characteristics. It also analyses access to territorialised public services, schools, health centres and social services, as well as the dynamics generated at neighbourhood level. Another significant area of urban integration is the changes that have taken place in our public spaces, some more functional, mobility nodes, others more for leisure and relaxation, parks and gardens. The process of urban integration of immigrants, whether it is more inclusive or more exclusive, is the result of the dynamics in these various interrelated areas.

  • Migration and the labour market

    Migrant workers have inserted themselves into an increasingly polarised and fragmented labour market. Although there is a wide heterogeneity of immigrant workers, the vast majority have entered the labour market and the productive structure "from below", with a high sectoral concentration and in low-skilled jobs, regardless of the qualifications of the person who performs them. This type of insertion and their working conditions, with rates of temporary employment, over-qualification and unemployment that are much higher than those of the native population, are dealt with along these lines. Although the idea that immigrants take jobs away from the native population is false, it is no less true that our productive structure has changed and that, as in other European countries, it can be described as an ethno-fragmented structure in which the position occupied depends not only on qualifications and experience but also on ethno-cultural origin. 

    All this has profound labour and social implications which are the subject of research in this line.

  • Transnational mobility strategies

    The Great Recession 2008-2014 and the covid-19 pandemic have shown the socio-structural problems of our society in the face of which a diversity of transnational mobility strategies have been activated, both for the native population and the immigrant population:

    • The emigration of young autochthonous people who left with the Great Recession and who, in general, respond to a qualified profile.
    • The re-emigration of the settled immigrant population with Spanish nationality to European or third countries.
    • The circular migration of seasonal agricultural workers in the Spanish countryside, especially from Eastern Europe and North Africa.
    • The processes of return of autochthonous emigrants.

    We are interested in understanding the effects of the recent crises - of a rather structural nature - on these migratory dynamics, their characteristics and specificities, as well as the strategies used by these migrants in their processes of integration, permanence, circulation or return.

  • Intra-European migration

    The creation of the Schengen area and the abolition of internal borders between the member states of the European Union has encouraged and facilitated new intra-European migratory flows. Their specificity is the recognition for these migrants, in many areas, of rights very similar to those of the autochthonous population. This makes them an updated version of the migratory flows internal to each country. In the framework of this new mobility space, we investigate the different existing migratory flows: the consolidated flows of economic emigration from the South to the North of Europe, mostly led by young people; the flows of "lifestyle migration" from the North of Europe to the South and the most recent migrations from the East of Europe to the South, as well as the internal migrations in the South of Europe. New migrant profiles, multidimensional motivations and complex mobility strategies are the main research themes of this line.

  • Managing cultural diversity

    The strategies for managing cultural diversity that make it possible to generate cohesive societies as a political response to the fact of diversity are analysed. These are approached from a twofold perspective: first, multilevel governance, and second, the relationship between the institutional framework and socio-cultural dynamics. Within this framework, the conditions of insertion in public services are specifically highlighted. Given that managing cultural diversity implies a strategy in favour of coexistence and promotion of the diversity of the cultural groups existing in a territory, this line of work explores in depth the design and elaboration of plans for ethnic and cultural diversity or intercultural coexistence (municipal, university, etc.); the perspective of intersectionality between gender and cultural diversity and, finally, the challenge of considering the cultural diversity approach as a transversal principle for its application in different areas and sectors.

  • Urban integration of immigrants. Processes, spaces and actors

    This line of research addresses the urban insertion of immigrants in the more general framework of the transformations driven by neoliberal urbanism, gentrification and precariousness, and from a multidimensional and holistic perspective, highlighting the conjunction between the socio-urban, socio-economic and cultural spheres, sociability and neighbourhood relations. In this line, the evolution of the residential insertion of immigrants is addressed, from central working-class neighbourhoods to peripheral working-class neighbourhoods, which today have the highest proportion of neighbourhoods of other origins. The problems of these neighbourhoods are studied, which cannot be reduced to the presence of immigration in them, as well as their characteristics. 

    It also analyses access to territorialised public services, schools, health centres and social services, as well as the dynamics generated at neighbourhood level. Another significant area of urban integration is the changes that have taken place in our public spaces, some more functional, mobility nodes, others more for leisure and relaxation, parks and gardens. The process of urban integration of immigrants, whether it is more inclusive or more exclusive, is the result of the dynamics in these various interrelated areas.

  • Migrant groups in situations of exclusion

    A segment of immigration faces conditions of precariousness and social exclusion. A social insertion on the margins that manifests itself in different degrees of residential exclusion, social rejection, administrative irregularity, subsistence economic activities, etc. In this sense, Romani migration is a particular case in point. It is a community-based, family-based migration, with high levels of poverty and social stigmatisation at origin and destination. Adequately capturing these phenomena is of particular interest for the development of inclusive social policies. The ethnographic perspective, combined with other techniques, is suitable for this purpose, facilitating the approach to a reality that is often invisible to the usual statistics and records. This line of work addresses aspects such as their migratory projects, residential integration, economic strategies and sociability and social participation, paying attention to the factors that hinder or favour their access to and normalised use of public services and, in short, their social integration.

Members
  • ESTEBAN APREDA, FERNANDO OSVALDO
  • PDI-Titular d'Universitat
  • Secretari/a d' Institut Universitari
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  • MASANET RIPOLL, MARIA ERICA
  • PDI-Titular d'Universitat
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  • MONCUSI FERRE, ALBERT
  • PDI-Titular d'Universitat
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Collaborators
  • INGELLIS -, ANNA GIULIA
  • PDI-Titular d'Universitat
  • Vicedega/Vicedegana / Vicedirector/a Ets
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Work team
  • PEREZ ALONSO, YAIZA
  • Alumn.-Servei de Formacio Permanent
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Non-UV research staff

Work group

  • Miguel Monsell Liern - Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid.

 

Scientific production by UV researcher
Associated structure
Sociology and Social Anthropology
Contact group details
Migrations, Diversity and Social Cohesion (MIDICO)

Tarongers Campus

Av. dels Tarongers, 4

46021 València (Valencia)

+34 961 625 333

Geolocation

francisco.torres@uv.es