Simona Vezzoli

Simona Vezzoli is a postdoctoral researcher at the ISS (Erasmus University Rotterdam), where she leads the PACES project – Making migration and migration policy decisions amidst societal transformations. The PACES project allows her to pursue her interest in the connections between social change and aspirations to stay and migrate and to continue research on the futures of migration. The PACES project also promotes interdisciplinary research and expands collaborations with migration researchers in international academic institutions. Moreover, she seeks to promote migration knowledge across sectors, particularly in secondary schools and amidst the general population.

Her previous research as part of the Migration as Development (MADE) project focused on exploring the social transformation that took place in Italy since the 19th century and its role in shaping historical Italian emigration and immigration patterns. Simona also led the research in the frontier town of Caracaraí, Roraima, northern Brazil, where she explored the town’s migration history as well as today’s migration aspirations among young people who are largely descendants of internal migrants. She has also researched migration in the Caribbean region with a focus on Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.

Simona has previously worked at the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Centre for Governance of Migration and Diversity (LDE GMD), Leiden University, the University of Amsterdam and the International Migration Institute (Oxford University). 

Recent publications

Understanding Rural Migration in the Mid-Twentieth Century: Examining Dimensions of Social Change and their Effects in Cisternino, a Southern Italian Town.

Vezzoli, S. 2024. In: Journal of Migration History, 10(1): 1-41.

Understanding aspirations to stay: Relative endowment within a time–space perspective.

Vezzoli, S., 2023. In: Migration Studies, mnad007.

Refugee protection in the region: A survey and evaluation of current trends.

Vezzoli, S., Hilhorst, T., Meyer, L. & Rijpma, J., 2022, In: International Migration. 14 p.