Transnational migration, citizenship and the circulation of rights and responsibilities

​Duration: 2014-2018

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Approach

Ten PhD and three post-doctoral researchers (two at IMI) across the consortium will implement research projects within the framework of the TRANSMIC project.

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At IMI, our research will focus on Political remittances: Migration, social transformation and revolution. This study investigates the political impacts of emigration and, particularly, the circumstances under which (semi-) permanent and circular forms of migration can foster incremental or revolutionary transformations towards democratic forms of governance or political change in sending states. This fills an important gap in the migration and development debate, which is focused on socio-economic impacts on the micro- and meso-level. The transformational political potential of migration is ambiguous. Drawing on Hirschman’s ‘exit or voice’ hypothesis, particularly sending states have considered emigration as a remittance-generating and poverty-decreasing political-economic safety valve. On the other hand, migrants can exert ‘voice through exit’, when they form a political opposition abroad and start claiming democratic and minority rights, or fuel conflict. The potential for such ‘political remittances’ is enhanced by transnational networks and, hence, circulation of ideas and migrants.

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This study investigates this topic using a mixed method approach. One researcher will investigate these links through historical-comparative analysis of the intersections between emigration dynamics and political change, and a focus on how strategies to respond to political discontent are shaped and change throughout the course of individual people’s lives, in a limited number of country cases. The other will quantitatively study the effects of migration on political governance, attitudes and transnational political orientations as well as the relationship between migration and political transformation in origin countries. This latter analysis will assess the effects of characteristics of emigrant populations human capital factors as well as economic and governance characteristics of destination states.

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Objectives

The main scientific objectives of the project are the following:

• To contribute to the clarification of the concept of transnational migration by carrying out theory-based analyses as well as empirical research;

• To critically analyse how the mobility of people meshes with the (im)mobility of rights and responsibilities;

• To collect a rich pool of empirical data and produce comparative evidence on the conditions for and effects of transnational migration patterns;

• To identify transnational migration patterns that are beneficial for the countries of origin and destination, as well as for the individual migrant, with a specific geographic coverage of China, Africa, India, and Latin America where one or more partners have established contacts for a sound research collaboration;

• To explore solutions that promote transnational migration in form of a rights-based mobility by adopting an interdisciplinary approach, including political science, sociology, international relations, history, law, economics and public administration and by pooling expertise beyond the national and European level.

 

Next to the scientific objectives, the main training objectives of the project are: 

• To instil researchers with a sound knowledge of quantitative and qualitative, as well as legal research methods in the field of migration and to acquaint them with interdisciplinary research;

• To provide researchers with insights into theories and concepts of migration research;

• To equip young researchers with practical skills that prepare them for the job market within the European multi-level system and/or academia.​

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Funding

TRANSMIC (Transnational Migration, Citizenship and the Circulation of Rights and Responsibilities) is a project coordinated by Maastricht University and funded under the European Commission’s Marie Curie actions.

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Partners

TRANSMIC is undertaken by a consortium of the following institutions:

• Maastricht University, Netherlands (coordinator)

• Human Rights Center for Interdisciplinary Research, University of Minho, Portugal

• International Migration Institute, University of Oxford, UK

• Maison Méditerranéenne des Sciences de l'Homme, Aix-Marseille University, France

• School of Education, University of Tampere, Finland

• Faculty of Law, Liège University, Belgium

• Centre for European Policy Studies, Belgium

• Centre of Migration Research, University of Warsaw, Poland

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Associated Institutes

The following institutions are associated to the TRANSMIC project:

• European University Institute (Italy)

• European Institute of Public Administration (The Netherlands)

• Everaert Advocaten (The Netherlands)

• International Centre for Migration Policy Development (Austria)

• Migration Policy Institute (USA/Belgium)

• Peace Research Institute Oslo (Norway)