IES Research - Migration and Diversity

Issues of migration and diversity are central to European integration. The European Union is characterized by mobility both within its borders and beyond. People move to and within the Union thanks to combinations of historical, economic, social and political factors, anticipating prospects of improved lives and opportunities. Opinion surveys and political events bear witness to the concerns of citizens all over Europe on these topics. The criteria for dealing with diversities as well as accepting immigrants and integrating them into our societies are important topics in public discourse. Competitive economic development, human rights, justice, security and safety are all affected by social diversities.

It was for these reasons that the Institute for European Studies decided to form a Migration and Diversity research cluster, which has grown into a strong team of researchers initiating diverse activities in the field. The cluster aims to engage with other research bodies, policy makers and the non-governmental sector and optimize its strategic location in Brussels.

The research cluster “Migration and Diversity” focuses on the social and political effects of migration on the Member States of the European Union. Its main task is research on immigration, immigrant integration, justice and diversity policies (from the local level right up to the EU and UN). Research topics include identity, multiculturalism and the role of civil society, return migration, reasonable accommodation for religious diversity, intersectionality, i.e. the interrelation between multiple forms of discrimination (race/ethnicity, gender, religion, residence status, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, class or disability), rights to work, criminal justice, and the detention of undocumented migrants in Europe.

The Migration and Diversity team is led by Senior Research Fellow Richard Lewis (MSc Bristol), former principal administrator in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Justice, Freedom and Security responsible for immigration and asylum. Post-doctoral researcher Ilke Adam (PhD, Université Libre de Bruxelles), and three junior Researchers: Hannelore Goeman (MPhil, Cambridge), Malasree Neepa Acharya (MA Stanford), Mathias Holvoet (MA Vrije Universiteit Brussel)and Mathijs Van Dijk (Master, University of Amsterdam) form the core of the cluster. The cluster is also affiliated with IES Associate Senior Fellow Professor Dr. Alison Woodward (PhD, Berkeley). In 2011, the Migration Cluster welcomed visiting scholars Karolína Babická (MA Charles University Prague) and Medlir Mema (George Washington University-Ph.D Candiate). Souâd Hamdaoui (MA Vrije Universiteit Brussel) and Andrew Crosby (MA Vrije Universiteit Brussel ) are previous cluster members.

The team actively seeks interaction with policy makers and civil society through lecture series and Policy Fora. Recent lecture series themes include Multiculturalism in Europe (Spring 2005), European Identity (Spring 2007) and Security, Migration and Integration in Europe (Autumn 2009). A policy forum series on the future of the International Criminal Court and diversity challenges is currently taking place this spring 2012. In cooperation with the training unit of the Institute for European Studies, the Migration and Diversity cluster organizes training sessions on the role of the EU in the Global Governance of Migration Issues. The cluster has also been responsible for two edited volumes as a product of the lecture series.

The cluster actively collaborates with other VUB researchers from different faculties working on migration and diversity, including the interdisciplinary City and Migration Research Group, RHEA, The Center for Gender and Diversity Research and Fundamental Rights and Constitutionalism, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, as well as the political science and the law departments..

The cluster also maintains research links with other universities either through cooperative projects or publications with alumni or visiting researchers from those institutions. The cluster also has links with consultancy groups in the field and maintains close links with the European institutions in Brussels.

 

Projects

Recent publications

Adam I. (2011), ‘Une approche différenciée de la diversité. Les politiques d’intégration des personnes issues de l’immigration en Flandre, en Wallonie et à Bruxelles (1980-2006)’, in Ringelheim J.(ed.), Le droit et lla diversité culturelle, Louvain-la-Neuve: Bruylant.

van Puymbroeck N., Adam I. & Goeman H. (2010), ‘The Europeanisation of the ‘Belgian’ integration policy: soft European instruments and their impact’, in Dierickx D., Van Herck N. & Vranken J., Poverty in Belgium, Leuven: Acco.

van Puymbroeck N., Adam I. & Goeman H. (2010), ‘L’européanisation de la politique d’intégration « belge » : les instruments européens souples et leur impact’, in Dierickx D., Van Herck N. & Vranken J., Pauvreté en Belgique, Leuven: Acco.

van Puymbroeck N., Adam I. & Goeman H. (2010), ‘De Europeanisering van het ‘Belgische’ integratiebeleid: zachte Europese instrumenten en hun impact’, in Dierickx D., Van Herck N. & Vranken J., Armoede in België, Leuven: Acco.

Adam I. & Rea A. (dir.) (2010). La diversité culturelle sur le lieu de travail: pratiques d’aménagements raisonnables en Belgique, Bruxelles: Centre pour l’Egalité des Chances et la Lutte contre le Racisme.

Adam I. & Rea A. (dir.) (2010), Culturele diversiteit op de werkvloer: praktijken van redelijke aanpassingen in België, Brussel: Centrum voor Gelijke Kansen en voor Racismebestrijding.

Babicka K., Study on the National Policy Frame for the Integration of Newcomers, International Centre for Migration Policy Development, http://research.icmpd.org, www.migraceonline.cz, 7/2011.

Babicka K., Cecilia Malmström: There is a need for legal migration to the EU, www.migraceonline.cz, 7/2011.

Babicka K., The FRONTEX Agency: Which Guarantees for Human Rights? www.migraceonline.czhttp://www.migraceonline.cz, 6/2011.

De Hert Paul, Holvoet Mathias (2011), “Khadafi en het Internationaal Strafhof: vervangt lawfare warfare?” (Khadafi en the International Criminal Court: does lawfare replace warfare?), Mo Magazine, published by vzw Wereldmediahuis.

Holvoet Mathias (2011), “Het Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal. Een welgekomen nieuwe vorm van internationale strafjustitie of een aanfluiting van internationale mensenrechtenstandaarden?” (The Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal. A welcome new form of International Criminal Justice or a mockery of International Human Rights Standards?), Tijdschrift voor Mensenrechten.

Holvoet Mathias (2011), “Het postelectorale conflict in Kenia: Het Internationaal Strafhof gebruikt voor het eerst zijn propriu motu bevoegdheid” (The postelectoral conflict in Kenia. The International Criminal Court uses its impromptu powers for the first time.), Wereldbeeld, Tijdschrift voor de Verenigde Naties.

Holvoet Mathias (2011), “Who Gets to Serve Justice: Saif Gaddafi and ICC Due Process.” Download from http://justiceinconflict.org/2011/11/15/who-gets-to serve-justice-saif-gaddafi-and-icc-due-process/.

Holvoet Mathias, Van Laethem Karen, Mathieu Cécile, Weis Karen (2011), “Rechtspraakoverzicht Europees Hof voor de Rechten van de Mens” (Overview of the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights with regards to Migration Law) (1 juni 2011 tot 31 augustus 2011), Tijdschrift voor Vreemdelingenrecht.

Van Caeneghem Jozefien, Saelens Ronny, Mathieu Cécile, Holvoet Mathias, Hoefmans Alexander, Geuens Maaike, Gellert Raphael, Colette Maarten, Weis Karen, Van Laethem Karen, De Hert Paul (2011), Annual Report 2011 on the Human Rights Situation in Belgium for the Fundamental Rights Agency of the EU.

Lewis, Richard, and Servaas Van Thiel, eds. Understanding the New European Constitutional Treaty. Brussels: VUB UP, 2005.

Babicka K., Labour migration into the Czech Republic (Pracovní migrace do České republiky), Harald Ch. Scheu (ed.) Migration and cultural conflicts (Migrace a kulturní konflikty), Auditorium Praha 2011, pp 178-192.

Woodward, Alison (with Jean-Michel Bonvin and Mercè Renom, eds.) (2011) Transforming Gendered Well-Being in Europe: The Impact of Social Movements. Surrey: Ashgate.

Woodward, Alison (2011) ‘International organizations and the organization of gender’ Chapter 21 in Handbook on Gender, Work and Organizations, David Knights, E. Jeanes and Patricia Yancey Martin, eds, Blackwell/Wiley, 355-374.

Woodward, Alison (with M Franken, B. Bagilhole and A. Cabo, eds.) (2010) Teaching Intersectionality: Putting Gender at the Centre. Utrecht University/University of Stockholm Gender Studies Center.

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