Migration has been a long-standing interest for the School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies (SPAIS), not least as it founded the Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship, and is administrative home to Migration Mobilities Bristol (MMB).
The SPAIS Migration Research Group has been set up to promote migration research and teaching among SPAIS staff and PGRs.
Led by Dr. Samuel Okyere, this group aims to foster a community for migration intellectual exchanges in SPAIS. It will offer a space to rethink understandings of ‘migration’ and investigates structures of domination along lines of race, class, nation, gender and age that underpin state controls over mobility, enabling synergies with sociologists working on ethnicity and citizenship, gender and work.
Highlights of recent work:
POLICY EVIDENCE – Dr Lydia Medland (SPAIS) with colleague Dr Hannah Pitt from the University of Cardiff, submitted a contribution to the House of Lords Call for Evidence on the intention to establish a strategy for horticulture for England in April 2023.
RESEARCH PROJECT – UK-EU couples after Brexit: migrantisation and the UK family immigration regime: this 3 year project led by Professor Katharine Charsley with Dr Helena Wray (University of Exeter, Law School) charts the post-Brexit experiences of UK-EU couples, who had previously enjoyed an almost unconditional right to live in the UK and now must all apply for spouse/partner visas.
SPAIS Migration Research Group blog series:
- ‘Slaves’, migrants and museums: the struggle for places of African memory in BrazilA special series from the Migration Research Group of the School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies at the University of Bristol. By Julio D’Angelo Davies. Brazil is built on slavery. It was the Americas’ largest importer of enslaved Africans, with Rio de Janeiro serving as the country’s main port of entry. Despite receiving nearly half of these five million enslaved people, Brazil’s former capital (1763-1960) did not have a single museum nor permanent exhibition on this key aspect of… Read more: ‘Slaves’, migrants and museums: the struggle for places of African memory in Brazil
- New questions for the UK’s seasonal worker schemeA special series from the Migration Research Group of the School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies at the University of Bristol. By Lydia Medland. The pen asks: ‘Need seasonal workers?’ It’s a freebie from a horticultural event aimed at fruit growers. The expected answer is, ‘yes’. On the other side of the pen is the name of an agency that sponsors workers to come to the UK. Where will the workers come from? Neither agent nor grower is expected… Read more: New questions for the UK’s seasonal worker scheme
- Moving as being: introducing the SPAIS Migration Group blog seriesA special series from the Migration Research Group of the School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies at the University of Bristol. By Samuel Okyere. Welcome to the MMB special series by the SPAIS Migration Group, a collective of researchers in the School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies (SPAIS) at the University of Bristol who are engaged in researching and teaching topics related to migration and mobilities. Many members of the group are themselves migrants with first-hand knowledge of… Read more: Moving as being: introducing the SPAIS Migration Group blog series