Is the UK immigration system really 'fairer' as the government claims? Fairer to whom? Nando Sigona asks Luke Piper, Head of Immigration at the Work Rights Centre. In this episode of Conversations with IRIS we examine the production of exploitable and precarious migrant workers at the intersection of the immigration and labour regime in post-Brexit Britain. We explore the structural factors that contribute to producing vulnerable migrants impacting not only on migrant workers but also on their f...
Mar 23, 2024•36 min•Season 5Ep. 2
Dr Seb Rumsby, Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at IRiS, speaks with Mariko Hayashi, Executive Director at Southeast and East Asian Centre (SEEAC) about the challenges facing Southeast and East migrants and diasporas based in the UK, before comparing post-Brexit UK with East Asian labour migration regimes to explore how policies lead to labour migrant exploitation and rights abuses and what can be done about it.
Feb 12, 2024•31 min•Season 4Ep. 4
This episode of Conversations with IRiS offers insights into the experiences of Brazilians in London and questions assumptions on 'community' and its boundaries. Nando Sigona speaks to Angelo Martins Jr, the author of 'Moving difference' an ethnographic exploration of how race, class and gender constructions travel with migrants and shape their migratory plans and trajectories as well as their experiences in the countries of residence and origin. Angelo also reflects on his work with sub-Saharan...
May 22, 2023•36 min•Season 4Ep. 3
In this new episode, Anna Papoutsi discusses with Inka Stock, author of the excellent book ‘Time, migration and forced immobility: Sub-Saharan African migrants in Morocco’, published by Bristol University Press. The episode examines the temporalities of forced immobility, and the long-term impact of specific migration policies, which forcibly immobilise migrants in intermediary or ‘transit’ countries, on the everyday lives of those migrants.
Mar 28, 2023•27 min•Season 4Ep. 2
In this conversation, Birmingham Fellow Dr Jennifer Allsopp and Professor Michael Jackson from the Harvard Divinity School discuss the inter-relational aspects of migration research and how literature has informed their fieldwork both in terms of method and interpretation, from Sebold to Dante. In a wide-ranging and deeply personal discussion, they cover topics including the nexus between autobiography and ethnographic research; the possibilities and limits of empathy and the relationship betwee...
Jan 25, 2023•58 min•Season 4Ep. 1
In this conversation, Paladia Ziss ( @pyziss ) talks with Meena Sadr, student from Afghanistan, and Hannah Pool (Max-Planck-Institute Cologne) about the ethics and politics of collaborating with research assistants in research in and on Afghanistan. Hannah is the author of the award-winning PhD dissertation '"Doing the Game": The Moral Economy of Coming to Europe" ( @hnnhpool ). Meena ( @meenasadr ) transcribed Hannah's interviews with Afghan migrants; later she was forced to flee Afghanistan he...
Nov 07, 2022•23 min•Season 3Ep. 5
In this episode, Dawn River talks to Zhenya Tramvay Yevhen Trachuk from Kyiv Pride. Zhenya focuses on the achievements of LGBTQI people in Ukraine and their hope for the future, issues related to the border crossing of transgender people and the frictions and potential alliances between the Russian and Ukrainian LGBTQI movements.
Jul 12, 2022•22 min
To mark the 6th anniversary of the 2016 Brexit referendum we spoke with Dr Djordje Sredanovic (Free University of Brussels), author of Implementing Citizenship, Nationality and Integration. In this analysis, Sredanovic compares and contrasts the experiences of citizenship and integration policies in the UK and Belgium. In-depth interviews with officials show both the everyday application of approaches to citizenship and integration, and their evolution in recent years.
Jun 24, 2022•33 min
This episode explores transnational political mobilisation by migrant communities. Catherine Craven (Research Fellow on the MIGZEN project) speaks to Ashwini Vasanthakumar (Associate Professor at Queen’s University, Canada), about her recently published book The Ethics of Exile: A Political Theory of Diaspora , which explores the normative and political agency of exiles. In their conversation, Ashwini and Catherine discuss the importance of thinking of migrants and members of exile communities a...
Feb 11, 2022•31 min•Season 3Ep. 6
In this new episode, Dr Stefano Piemontese, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellow at IRiS, speaks with Dr Karolina Nikielska-Sekula (Jagiellonian University, Krakow) and Dr Amandine Desille (University of Bordeaux) about their co-edited book "Visual Methodology in Migration Studies. New Possibilities, Theoretical Implications, and Ethical Questions", published in Summer 2021 in the Springer IMISCOE Research series. 📕 The book is available open access at https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/9...
Jan 23, 2022•30 min•Season 3Ep. 5
To mark 2021 International Migrants Day, we are releasing a new episode of Conversations with IRiS (#CWI29) dedicated to understanding the policy encounter between climate change and international migration, how it began, who was involved and where it is heading. Professor Nando Sigona, Director of IRiS, speaks with Dr Sarah Louise Nash, author of "Negotiating Migration in the Context of Climate Change", published by Bristol University Press.
Dec 16, 2021•22 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Anna Papoutsi talks to Natani Petros about identity and belonging among second generation individuals of African decent in Athens (Greece). We discuss the experience of growing up under a citizenship regime that is based on jus sanguinis, meaning that nationality is determined by the nationality of the parents and not the place of birth (jus soli). While born and raised in Greece, children of African migrants had until recently no access to citizenship. Even today many of them still practically ...
Dec 01, 2021•20 min•Season 3Ep. 3
In this episode of Conversations with Iris we examine the unresearched phenomenon of indigenous migration with a focus on Guatemala, Mexico and the US diaspora. Despite the heterogeneity of indigenous populations in terms of language culture, age, gender and family make-up, they often face a range of specific vulnerabilities on the move. The challenges they meet both on their journey and once they settle are significant. They include gender-based violence, human trafficking, racism and language ...
Oct 10, 2021•23 min•Season 3Ep. 2
In the new episode of Conversations with Iris, Nando Sigona talks with professor Andrew Geddes, director of the Migration Policy Centre at the European University Institute, about his recent book 'Governing migration beyond the state' (Oxford University Press). The conversation explores the role of regional actors in migration governance and how responses to mobility are negotiated across different national, international and regional actors, including the private sector.
Sep 09, 2021•31 min•Season 3Ep. 1
When travelling across the world, people are being subjected to multiple forms of tracking and profiling by unaccountable state agencies. Local and international travel is changing radically as concerns about terrorism and migration increase. Security agencies require access to travellers’ information before they leave their homes, compulsory identification of travellers now includes the collection of fingerprints and facial images, and secret watchlists, dossiers and profiles are being develope...
Jun 30, 2021•17 min•Season 2Ep. 10
Laurie Hartley, Asylum Seeker Support Worker at Rainbow Migration (previously known as UKLGIG), speaks to IRiS academic Dawn River about the experiences of LGBTQI+ people seeking asylum in the UK.
Jun 22, 2021•34 min•Season 2Ep. 9
IRiS Director Professor Nando Sigona is joined by Zoe Gardner, Policy Advisor with the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) to discuss the UK’s new plan for immigration.
Jun 11, 2021•25 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Sarah Hamed, dentist and PhD researcher at the Department of Sociology at Uppsala University and Dr Suruchi Thapar-Bjorkert, docent and senior researcher at the Department of Government at Uppsala, discuss with Professor Jenny Phillimore from IRiS on findings from an interdisciplinary project looking at understanding racism and healthcare.
Jan 26, 2021•22 min•Season 2Ep. 7
ILGA-Europe staff Akram Kubanychbekov and Cianán Russell speak with Dawn River from IRiS. Their research reveals there have been significant impacts on the health, socioeconomic security, and physical security of LGBTIQ individuals, as well as impacts on the function and funding of LGBTIQ organisations.
Jan 19, 2021•43 min•Season 2Ep. 6
How has Brexit redrawn the boundaries of membership in the UK? IRiS Director Nando Sigona talks to Professor Adrian Favell about the ESRC-funded Northern Exposure project on the impact of Brexit on northern towns and small cities, and how the end of freedom of movement doesn’t mean less immigration, but immigration with less rights and protections.
Nov 19, 2020•41 min•Season 2Ep. 5
IRiS researcher Dr Marisol Reyes talks to Brenda Ochoa, Director of the NGO Human Rights Centre Fray Matias de Cordova AC, on the effects of border closure at the Guatemala and Mexico border on Central American migrant caravans in the context of Covid-19 public health crisis.
Nov 05, 2020•21 min•Season 2Ep. 4
Jenny Phillimore talks to Chip Gallagher (LaSalle University, US) about immigration and racism and how they are shaping voting behaviours in the US Election as well as the prospects for change with the election of a Biden/Harris-led government. Chip Gallagher is Professor of Sociology at LaSalle University, US. His research focuses on social inequality, race relations, whiteness and immigration, and he has published over 50 articles, reviews and books on these topics. As a Fulbright Research Sch...
Oct 26, 2020•22 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Prof Nando Sigona, Director of IRiS, dialogues with Cecilia Menjívar, Professor of Sociology at UCLA and President-Elect of the American Sociological Association- ASA on the impact of the Trump administration and COVI-19 on migrant lives.
Sep 29, 2020•33 min•Season 2Ep. 2
[Conversation in Portuguese] Dr Andrea Poleto Oltramari (Visiting Fellow at IRiS) and Dr Josiane Silva de Oliveira discuss the racialised and gendered effects of Covid-19 in Brazil.
Sep 12, 2020•26 min•Season 2Ep. 1
IRiS Researcher Laurence Lessard-Phillips, talks to Maureen Lewis, Chief Officer of Walsall Black Sisters Collective and Advisory Board member of Walsall for All. They discuss Maureen’s important work, the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement and the importance of learning from our collective history.
Jul 22, 2020•18 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Sandra Pertek, IRiS Researcher, speaks to Pip McKnight of Refugee Women Connect and Hana Leshaj, asylum seeker based in Liverpool and member of Refugee Women Connect Advocacy Group, about the deteriorating reality post COVID-19 for migrants and asylum seekers in the UK, at the time of easing lockdown restrictions.
Jul 16, 2020•16 min•Season 1Ep. 11
IRiS Researchers, Annavittoria Sarli and Natasha Nicholls talk to Nina Sahraoui from the Paris Centre for Sociological and Political Research (CNRS) and Sabrina Marchetti from the University Ca’ Foscari in Venice, specialists in the intersection of gender and migration.
Jul 08, 2020•17 min•Season 1Ep. 10
[Conversation in Italian] IRiS Researcher, Annavittoria Sarli talks to Giuseppe Pugliese, an activist at SOS Rosarno, a civil society organisation that fights against the exploitation of agricultural workers, mostly migrants, in Italy.
Jun 26, 2020•20 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Professor Jenny Phillimore talks to Ruth Forecast and Sharon Baker from the Malvern Welcomes Community Sponsorship Group. They discuss the challenges that refugee families and volunteers have faced in the time of Covid-19, including getting to grips with new technologies, supporting children with school work and enabling families to understand the regular Government updates and information. Find out more about the IRiS Community Sponsorship Scheme evaluation research in the UK.
Jun 22, 2020•13 min•Season 1Ep. 8
In 2017, the Iranian-Kurdish writer, Behrouz Boochani, published an extraordinary book, “No Friend But the Mountains” which documented his life imprisoned in the Australian-run immigration detention centre on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea. Combining political theory, myth, poetry, memoir, the book rises to the challenge of resisting oppression by creating a new literary form of knowledge. Written using phone text messaging, the text was also a work of interdisciplinary translation, collaboratio...
Jun 18, 2020•15 min•Season 1Ep. 7
