1st of December 2017, located at the University of Antwerp (Centre for Migration and Intercultural Studies), workshop, with an edited book as main finality.

This workshop will be organized by the IMISCOE Standing committee: “Changing migration dynamics in the world and their impact on the diversification of migration around Europe”.

Call for papers

Migration aspirations are central in understanding migration dynamics. We depart from the premise that international migration necessarily starts with an individual, or individual household, aspiring to move abroad to, for example, improve his or her living conditions. As such, the pre-migration phase encompassing migratory aspirations. These aspirations can be considered as a crucial step towards actual migratory behavior. Examining migration aspirations necessarily implies focusing on the country of origin of migrants. Traditional migration theories, such as push-pull, neoclassical and historical-structural models which explain migratory behavior in terms of economic differentials between countries and historical dependency relations, are increasingly being questioned because they fail to understand why some individuals aspire to move abroad and others do not, despite disposing of similar background characteristics. Although these factors undoubtedly play a role, there is abundant evidence that migration aspirations are also largely dependent on information, perceptions and value systems. Whether or not someone develops an aspiration to move abroad partly depends on the information or “images” he or she receives about potential destination countries, and on his or her perception of the future evolutions of the economic and political situation in the sending country. Hence, the development of such migration aspirations may develop differently for refugees than for other migrants. Of course, migration aspirations do not automatically result in migratory behavior. However, aspirations relate to both emigration decisions and integration processes but remain crucial during integration processes in the society of destination. Even more interesting, given the importance of aspirations across the migration trajectories, the aspirations constantly change according to the context in which one finds themselves. Aspirations relate to the (perceived) opportunities and therefore can be seen as one of the most ‘promising’ concepts that needs further elaborating in the current context of increased streams of refugees and asylum applicants.

For this workshop, we will welcome all presentations of original work on this topic. Deadline submission abstract (300 words): 30th of September 2017

Send abstract to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.