Migration is currently one of the most controversial topics, fueling right-wing populist movements and xenophobia in unforeseeable ways. Migration studies themselves face challenges from anti-scientific discourses to illiberalism. These challenges question the field’s legitimacy, undermine research methods, and polarise discussions, hampering scientific integrity and social engagement of migration studies.
In response, IMAGINE unites leading European research centers in migration, law and cultural studies (CESSMIR-Ghent, CeMig-Göttingen, IPL-Bern, ICR-Tartu, and HuMM-Groningen) and their societal partners to shape the future of migration studies; creating an agenda for future-orientated and equitable migration research and education.
IMAGINE engages with the current political, social and cultural dynamics by focusing on the politics of knowledge production in society and migration studies alike. Thereby, IMAGINE brings together two fields of expertise and research, that are commonly discussed separately: socio-legal research addressing legal reasoning, norm making and rights, and research on cultural memory and representation addressing belonging, heritage and identity formations. Both fields shape the meanings of "migration," "politics," and "society" within socio-cultural and political contexts through categorizations and us/them differentiations, backed by historical and cultural influences.
By merging these two research fields, IMAGINE equips a diverse group of researchers including PhDs and ECRs, educators and practitioners with conceptual, pedagogical and communication tools drawing from the intersection of ethnographic fieldwork, oral histories, visual analysis, legal interpretations, and achieving to analyse and respond to fault lines connected to migration. Outputs include academic and practitioners’ workshops and conferences, PhD and ECRs webinars, summer and winter schools, publications, and research grant applications.
IMAGINE benefits from successful past collaborations of participating institutes, from co-convening conferences/workshops to hosting summer schools and participating in global research and teaching networks. By leveraging these collaborations, IMAGINE connects researchers with diverse disciplinary focuses and at different career stages, as well as human rights NGOs, legal activists, and cultural institutions.
Participants and Stakeholders
Coordinator
- Prof Dr Sabine Hess, Centre for Global Migration Studies Göttingen, The University of Göttingen
- Other Partner Institutions:
- the International Public Law Centre (IPL) at University of Bern
- the Centre for the Social Study of Migration and Refugees (CESSMIR) at Ghent University
- the Centre for Global Migration Studies (CeMig) at the University of Göttingen
- the Human Migration and Mobility Lab (HuMM) at University of Groningen
- the Institute for Cultural Research (ICR) at University of Tartu
Team Composition
IMAGINE forms a consortium of five leading institutions in migration, cultural, and legal studies. The consortium's thematic focus is bridging socio-legal and cultural memory approaches to migration, rethinking knowledge production, and providing just conceptual, legal, and cultural classifications of migrants and migration.
The steerring committee members are
Bern: Tobias Eule
Ghent: Robin Vandevoordt, Rossella Marino, Soline Ballet, Julija Kekstaite, Marlies Casier
Göttingen: Sabine Hess, Jelka Günther
Groningen: Alina Achenbach, Senka Neuman-Stanivukovic
Tartu: Ene Kõresaar, Leena Käosaar
Stakeholder/External partners
In region of ENLIGHT University of Göttingen
Museum Friedland
Anna Haut,
In region of ENLIGHT University of Groningen
NGO - Network for International Cultural Cooperation
Simon de Leeuw,
Research Institute and Network - NOHA Network of Humanitarian Studies
Nadine Voelkner,
RMO - Institute for Development and International Relations
Emina Bužinkić,
In region of ENLIGHT University of Tartu
Vabamu Museum of Occupations and Freedom
Marko Poolamets,
In region of ENLIGHT Ghent University
Research Institute - Transform!Europe
Katerina Anastasiou,
Academic Cooperation Association
Martin Bogdan,
Objectives
IMAGINE’s core ambition is to generate and communicate a new agenda for future-oriented and equitable migration research and education amidst deep cultural, societal, and political divisions. The new agenda offers (a) analysis (i.e. registers, methodologies and ethical reflections) that address power asymmetries in conceptual, legal and cultural classifications of migrants and migration, while developing tools for future-oriented and equitable research and education, (b) education (i.e. curricula and teaching practices) that support future-oriented, just and equitable migration studies amid politicised classrooms, and (c) representations, focused on practices proposed jointly by researchers, and legal and cultural professionals to foster new ways of witnessing, narrating and remembering migration.
Contact
Contact persons
Jelka Günther, coordinator,
https://uni-goettingen.de/enlight-imagine
Highlights of the Project
More than half of the ETN members are PhD and post-doctoral researchers, which fits IMAGINE’s goal to support a new generation of researchers and educators in migration studies. Past collaboration and the kick-off meeting have shown that IMAGINE is truly thriving in bringing together more senior and early career researchers to discuss and exchange research experiences and insights on an equal footing.