Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS)

Martin Ruhs outlines the findings of his new book 'The Price of Rights', discussing the trade off between openness to migrants and access to rights.

Oberoi discusses the process of migration being governed with a focus on human rights. Including a look at spaces including the 2005 Global Commission on Migration, UN General Assembly, the Human Rights Council, UNHCR Executive Committee, the WHA and others.

Thanos Maroukis talks about the social processes at play behind the migrant smuggling business. Based on his recently published book Thanos talks the audience throughout he methodology, theoretical framework and findings. The field of migration studies has tended to explore the causes and outcomes of migration to the neglect of the conditions and practice of movement itself. The literature has looked at what drives migration and the decision to move, and placed emphasis on what happens afterwards in terms of integration, exclusion and so on. What happens 'in between' this 'before and after' - migrants' journeys - has received much less analytical attention, in contrast to the quite extensive literary, biographical and film exploration of such journeys. In this seminar series we aim to address how journeys are shaped by means of travel, borders, smugglers/agents/brokers, networks, social media, social support during journeys, age/gender/generation, class/resources/social capital/wealth/power, law/legal constraints, personal security/danger/risk. The series will explore fruitful ways in which journeys may be approached analytically. Does the so-called mobilities paradigm offer insights here? Can journeys usefully be analysed in terms of structure and agency? How do class, gender, generation and other social cleavages and power relations shape journeys? How can the risks and dangers encountered by migrants en route be addressed? These and other approaches will be drawn upon in the series to deepen our understanding of migrant journeys.

Hannah Cross, University of Manchester, gives a talk for the COMPAS Seminar Series Michaelmas term 2012: Migration Journeys on 25th October 2012. The field of migration studies has tended to explore the causes and outcomes of migration to the neglect of the conditions and practice of movement itself. The literature has looked at what drives migration and the decision to move, and placed emphasis on what happens afterwards in terms of integration, exclusion and so on. What happens 'in between' this 'before and after' - migrants' journeys - has received much less analytical attention, in contrast to the quite extensive literary, biographical and film exploration of such journeys. In this seminar series we aim to address how journeys are shaped by means of travel, borders, smugglers/agents/brokers, networks, social media, social support during journeys, age/gender/generation, class/resources/social capital/wealth/power, law/legal constraints, personal security/danger/risk. The series will explore fruitful ways in which journeys may be approached analytically. Does the so-called mobilities paradigm offer insights here? Can journeys usefully be analysed in terms of structure and agency? How do class, gender, generation and other social cleavages and power relations shape journeys? How can the risks and dangers encountered by migrants en route be addressed? These and other approaches will be drawn upon in the series to deepen our understanding of migrant journeys.

Liz Collett and Milica Petrovic from the Migration Policy Institute give a talk The UK debate has been obsessed with numbers, limits and caps since 2010, and arguably a generation. This misses the real story of immigration: how immigrants integrate into society. When do migrants cease to be migrants? The integration story is a complex one but its importance cannot be understated: whether or not groups are successfully included will ultimately shape immigration policy. MPI Europe has been interested in what governments can do to encourage such a process. In the UK, policy responsibility for integration is diffused through a range of national and local government agencies, often with unclear or overlapping mandates. In contrast, countries in mainland Europe, such as the Netherlands and Denmark, tend to resource specialised actors within government that design and manage integration policies in isolation from mainstream policy, with clear targets and tailored interventions. As policy-makers in these countries grapple with the need to infuse integration priorities into mainstream policy portfolios across government, what can be learned from the British experience, and vice versa?