Paolo Ruspini
Paolo Ruspini (MA Pol. Sci., PhD, Milan) has been researching international and European migration and integration since 1997 with a comparative approach and by drawing on mixed methods. His current research deals with transnational migration from a theoretical and empirical perspective. The geographical focus of his work spans from Western to Central and South-Eastern Europe and cover also the post-Soviet migration space with emphasis on the dynamics and multimodal character of migration flows in a changing policy context. He has been working in many collaborative projects at European and national level and he is active in research networks regarding international migration as well as being from time to time advisor for national and international organizations.
He is Associate Professor at the Department of Education Science, Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy (since November 2021). He is also affiliate scholar at Franklin University Switzerland, Lugano, Switzerland (since December 2018); associate researcher at the Institute of Sociological Research (IRS), Geneva School of Social Science, University of Geneva, Switzerland (since September 2017); member of the Karl Polányi Research Center for Global Social Studies at Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary (since July 2016); honorary research fellow at the Department of Social Sciences, University of Roehampton, London, United Kingdom (since January 2016); associate fellow at the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Institute of Law, Politics and Development (DIRPOLIS), Pisa, Italy (since July 2014); and he has been senior researcher for more than nine years at the Faculty of Communication Sciences of the University of Lugano (USI), Switzerland (starting from February 2008).
In July 2020 he has been awarded the habilitation as Associate Professor in Sociology of Cultural and Communication Processes by the Italian Ministry for Education, University and Research (MIUR).
From October 2013 until May 2014 he was visiting professor at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, in Pisa. He has also been associate fellow at the Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations (CRER) of the University of Warwick for ten years until the CRER closed in September 2011.
In the year 2001, Ruspini received a Marie Curie individual fellowship for his project “Living on the Edge: Irregular Migrants in Europe” (2001-2002) and he also received a German Marshall Fund and other smaller grants for holding the position of principal investigator at CRER for the research project in collaboration with the Centre of Migration Research of Warsaw University, “In Search for a New Europe: Contrasting Migratory Experiences” (2001-2005).
Paolo Ruspini was also visiting scholar at the Mershon Center for Education, Ohio State University (1998) and worked for the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (1995-1996). He combines research activities with routine lectures in a number of universities and international institutions. Besides a significant number of papers which he contributed to international conferences, he is also the author of an array of publications on migration.
He is Associate Professor at the Department of Education Science, Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy (since November 2021). He is also affiliate scholar at Franklin University Switzerland, Lugano, Switzerland (since December 2018); associate researcher at the Institute of Sociological Research (IRS), Geneva School of Social Science, University of Geneva, Switzerland (since September 2017); member of the Karl Polányi Research Center for Global Social Studies at Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary (since July 2016); honorary research fellow at the Department of Social Sciences, University of Roehampton, London, United Kingdom (since January 2016); associate fellow at the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Institute of Law, Politics and Development (DIRPOLIS), Pisa, Italy (since July 2014); and he has been senior researcher for more than nine years at the Faculty of Communication Sciences of the University of Lugano (USI), Switzerland (starting from February 2008).
In July 2020 he has been awarded the habilitation as Associate Professor in Sociology of Cultural and Communication Processes by the Italian Ministry for Education, University and Research (MIUR).
From October 2013 until May 2014 he was visiting professor at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, in Pisa. He has also been associate fellow at the Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations (CRER) of the University of Warwick for ten years until the CRER closed in September 2011.
In the year 2001, Ruspini received a Marie Curie individual fellowship for his project “Living on the Edge: Irregular Migrants in Europe” (2001-2002) and he also received a German Marshall Fund and other smaller grants for holding the position of principal investigator at CRER for the research project in collaboration with the Centre of Migration Research of Warsaw University, “In Search for a New Europe: Contrasting Migratory Experiences” (2001-2005).
Paolo Ruspini was also visiting scholar at the Mershon Center for Education, Ohio State University (1998) and worked for the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (1995-1996). He combines research activities with routine lectures in a number of universities and international institutions. Besides a significant number of papers which he contributed to international conferences, he is also the author of an array of publications on migration.
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Books & Special Issues by Paolo Ruspini
Academic discussion concerning the different types of mobility in Europe is, however, far from being exhausted. New issues have been raised by the economic crisis which is still sweeping the continent, by the demographic deficit affecting both Eastern and Western Europe, and by the next steps in the EU enlargement wave which will again involve South-Eastern Europe – especially the Western Balkan countries (other than Croatia which finally acceded in 2013). The aim of this special issue is to explore the variety of unprecedented processes in the field of migration which have emerged across Europe over the last decade. The papers in it seek to make sense of these processes, while trying to capture their evolving nature in the framework of a European migration system which has only been in existence for a relatively short time and which still lacks consolidated and harmonised rules.
The first set of questions refers to the client and his characteristics, the first objective of the study being to give a picture, though probably blurred, of the “who”. What are the main features of the client of trafficked prostitutes? Is he different from a “common” client? Why does he choose this segment of the market? And most of all, is he aware about the trafficking and the conditions of exploitation?
Papers by Paolo Ruspini
Previous research shows the importance of building up self-help structures in a transnational perspective for the inclusion of migrant women who are fleeing their home countries because of war, violence, or different forms of vulnerability. The mobilization of self- help organizations through the intersection of transnationalism and gender is a useful practice-oriented pedagogy directed both towards the most vulnerable groups of women, or those already empowered either as community leaders or network facilitators, other migrants and the whole native population. The article compares the traumatic refugee experience of two women with different fates, fleeing the hostilities in their native countries – the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ukraine. The two video interviews were made in Bulgaria and Italy, which are important host countries on the south-eastern or southern external border of the European Union. The research questions focus on three main themes: 1) Self-organization and mutual aid among women asylum seekers; 2) Building own social networks through transnational practices and adaptation in host communities; 3) Gender and ethnic basis of community or individual empowerment of refugee women. The final aim of this investigation is to analyse patterns of social networks’ creation among refugee women originating from different socio-cultural contexts. The research findings might be useful to instill inclusion practices which are apt to refugee women empowerment.
ITA
Precedenti ricerche mostrano l’importanza di costruire strutture di auto-aiuto in una prospettiva transnazionale per l’inclusione delle donne migranti che fuggono dai loro paesi d’origine a causa di guerre, violenza o diverse forme di vulnerabilità. La mobilitazione di forme di auto-aiuto attraverso l’intersezione tra transnazionalismo e genere è un’utile pedagogia pratica diretta ai gruppi di donne più vulnerabili, a coloro che svolgono già ruoli di leader di comunità o facilitatrici di reti, altri migranti e la popolazione autoctona. L’articolo mette a confronto l’esperienza traumatica di due donne rifugiate con destini diversi, in fuga dalle ostilità nei loro paesi d’origine: la Repubblica Democratica del Congo e l’Ucraina. Le due videointerviste sono state realizzate in Bulgaria e Italia, importanti paesi d’arrivo al confine esterno sud-orientale o meridionale dell’Unione Europea. Le domande di ricerca si concentrano su tre temi principali: 1) Auto-organizzazione e mutuo aiuto tra le donne richiedenti asilo; 2) La costruzione di proprie reti sociali attraverso pratiche transnazionali e adattamento nelle comunità ospitanti; 3) I fondamenti etnici e di genere dell’empowerment comunitario o individuale delle donne rifugiate. Lo scopo finale di questa ricerca è quello di analizzare i vari modelli di creazione di reti sociali tra donne rifugiate provenienti da diversi contesti socio-culturali. I risultati della ricerca potrebbero essere utili per instillare pratiche di inclusione atte a favorire l’emancipazione delle donne rifugiate.
Negli studi su migrazioni e transnazionalismo gli studenti internazionali sono stati a lungo ignorati a favore di altre categorie di migranti per lavoro sia poco che molto qualificati. Nel frattempo, il numero degli studenti internazionali impegnati in un corso di formazione terziario a livello globale è aumentato significativamente passando da circa due milioni nel 1998 a 5.3 milioni nel 2017 (OECD, 2019). A seguire, la pandemia di COVID-19 ha avuto un impatto molto disomogeneo sui flussi di studenti internazionali tra paesi nel periodo 2019-2021. Mentre la percentuale di studenti in mobilità è diminuita di 6 punti percentuali in Australia e di 9 punti percentuali in Nuova Zelanda, è aumentata in diversi paesi ed è rimasta invariata in molti altri (OECD, 2023).
Con la definizione di “studente in mobilità internazionale” l’UNESCO (n.d.) intende “individui che hanno attraversato fisicamente un confine internazionale tra due paesi con l’obiettivo di partecipare ad attività educative nel paese di destinazione, dove il paese di destinazione di un determinato studente è diverso dal paese di origine”. La mobilità degli studenti internazionali denota in realtà caratteristiche transnazionali non solo fisiche come i viaggi tra il paese di origine, quello ospitante e altri paesi, ma anche virtuali come i contatti regolari, la comunicazione e gli scambi linguistici transfrontalieri e pratiche transnazionali come le rimesse o gli scambi di idee, ma anche i legami culturali e politici. La mobilità potrebbe eventualmente trasformarsi in migrazione in un secondo momento sia per il verificarsi di eventi significativi nella vita che come mezzo per raggiungere precisi obiettivi come la ricerca di un lavoro, possibilmente ben remunerato.
Il transnazionalismo consente di osservare diverse pratiche dei migranti e delle persone in movimento inclusi gli studenti internazionali e l’impatto di queste pratiche sulla mobilità o l’inclusione sociale. La simultaneità sembra essere l’elemento di congiunzione in grado di spiegare la complessa relazione tra integrazione e transnazionalismo e questo dato potrebbe valere anche per gli studenti internazionali.
Sulla base di una ricerca qualitativa effettuata nel 2018 in Francia, di alcuni progetti internazionali in corso, dell’analisi della letteratura sul tema e di successive osservazioni empiriche dal carattere comparativo, si cercherà di fornire alcune risposte preliminari al nesso tra transnazionalismo e mobilità internazionale degli studenti.
Academic discussion concerning the different types of mobility in Europe is, however, far from being exhausted. New issues have been raised by the economic crisis which is still sweeping the continent, by the demographic deficit affecting both Eastern and Western Europe, and by the next steps in the EU enlargement wave which will again involve South-Eastern Europe – especially the Western Balkan countries (other than Croatia which finally acceded in 2013). The aim of this special issue is to explore the variety of unprecedented processes in the field of migration which have emerged across Europe over the last decade. The papers in it seek to make sense of these processes, while trying to capture their evolving nature in the framework of a European migration system which has only been in existence for a relatively short time and which still lacks consolidated and harmonised rules.
The first set of questions refers to the client and his characteristics, the first objective of the study being to give a picture, though probably blurred, of the “who”. What are the main features of the client of trafficked prostitutes? Is he different from a “common” client? Why does he choose this segment of the market? And most of all, is he aware about the trafficking and the conditions of exploitation?
Previous research shows the importance of building up self-help structures in a transnational perspective for the inclusion of migrant women who are fleeing their home countries because of war, violence, or different forms of vulnerability. The mobilization of self- help organizations through the intersection of transnationalism and gender is a useful practice-oriented pedagogy directed both towards the most vulnerable groups of women, or those already empowered either as community leaders or network facilitators, other migrants and the whole native population. The article compares the traumatic refugee experience of two women with different fates, fleeing the hostilities in their native countries – the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ukraine. The two video interviews were made in Bulgaria and Italy, which are important host countries on the south-eastern or southern external border of the European Union. The research questions focus on three main themes: 1) Self-organization and mutual aid among women asylum seekers; 2) Building own social networks through transnational practices and adaptation in host communities; 3) Gender and ethnic basis of community or individual empowerment of refugee women. The final aim of this investigation is to analyse patterns of social networks’ creation among refugee women originating from different socio-cultural contexts. The research findings might be useful to instill inclusion practices which are apt to refugee women empowerment.
ITA
Precedenti ricerche mostrano l’importanza di costruire strutture di auto-aiuto in una prospettiva transnazionale per l’inclusione delle donne migranti che fuggono dai loro paesi d’origine a causa di guerre, violenza o diverse forme di vulnerabilità. La mobilitazione di forme di auto-aiuto attraverso l’intersezione tra transnazionalismo e genere è un’utile pedagogia pratica diretta ai gruppi di donne più vulnerabili, a coloro che svolgono già ruoli di leader di comunità o facilitatrici di reti, altri migranti e la popolazione autoctona. L’articolo mette a confronto l’esperienza traumatica di due donne rifugiate con destini diversi, in fuga dalle ostilità nei loro paesi d’origine: la Repubblica Democratica del Congo e l’Ucraina. Le due videointerviste sono state realizzate in Bulgaria e Italia, importanti paesi d’arrivo al confine esterno sud-orientale o meridionale dell’Unione Europea. Le domande di ricerca si concentrano su tre temi principali: 1) Auto-organizzazione e mutuo aiuto tra le donne richiedenti asilo; 2) La costruzione di proprie reti sociali attraverso pratiche transnazionali e adattamento nelle comunità ospitanti; 3) I fondamenti etnici e di genere dell’empowerment comunitario o individuale delle donne rifugiate. Lo scopo finale di questa ricerca è quello di analizzare i vari modelli di creazione di reti sociali tra donne rifugiate provenienti da diversi contesti socio-culturali. I risultati della ricerca potrebbero essere utili per instillare pratiche di inclusione atte a favorire l’emancipazione delle donne rifugiate.
Negli studi su migrazioni e transnazionalismo gli studenti internazionali sono stati a lungo ignorati a favore di altre categorie di migranti per lavoro sia poco che molto qualificati. Nel frattempo, il numero degli studenti internazionali impegnati in un corso di formazione terziario a livello globale è aumentato significativamente passando da circa due milioni nel 1998 a 5.3 milioni nel 2017 (OECD, 2019). A seguire, la pandemia di COVID-19 ha avuto un impatto molto disomogeneo sui flussi di studenti internazionali tra paesi nel periodo 2019-2021. Mentre la percentuale di studenti in mobilità è diminuita di 6 punti percentuali in Australia e di 9 punti percentuali in Nuova Zelanda, è aumentata in diversi paesi ed è rimasta invariata in molti altri (OECD, 2023).
Con la definizione di “studente in mobilità internazionale” l’UNESCO (n.d.) intende “individui che hanno attraversato fisicamente un confine internazionale tra due paesi con l’obiettivo di partecipare ad attività educative nel paese di destinazione, dove il paese di destinazione di un determinato studente è diverso dal paese di origine”. La mobilità degli studenti internazionali denota in realtà caratteristiche transnazionali non solo fisiche come i viaggi tra il paese di origine, quello ospitante e altri paesi, ma anche virtuali come i contatti regolari, la comunicazione e gli scambi linguistici transfrontalieri e pratiche transnazionali come le rimesse o gli scambi di idee, ma anche i legami culturali e politici. La mobilità potrebbe eventualmente trasformarsi in migrazione in un secondo momento sia per il verificarsi di eventi significativi nella vita che come mezzo per raggiungere precisi obiettivi come la ricerca di un lavoro, possibilmente ben remunerato.
Il transnazionalismo consente di osservare diverse pratiche dei migranti e delle persone in movimento inclusi gli studenti internazionali e l’impatto di queste pratiche sulla mobilità o l’inclusione sociale. La simultaneità sembra essere l’elemento di congiunzione in grado di spiegare la complessa relazione tra integrazione e transnazionalismo e questo dato potrebbe valere anche per gli studenti internazionali.
Sulla base di una ricerca qualitativa effettuata nel 2018 in Francia, di alcuni progetti internazionali in corso, dell’analisi della letteratura sul tema e di successive osservazioni empiriche dal carattere comparativo, si cercherà di fornire alcune risposte preliminari al nesso tra transnazionalismo e mobilità internazionale degli studenti.
The scope of this article is to elaborate on a topical issue that is the contemporary migration from Eastern Europe whose origin dates back to the end of the Cold War, but whose intensity has shown significantly again following the recent conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Primary and secondary sources collected over the last twenty years are the research material to which reference will be made in the exposition.
The writing is divided into a historical and a contemporary part. The starting point is an analysis of the migration system of Central-Eastern Europe and its origins. After this historical excursus, there follows a brief description of two more recent case studies. The first is the conflict which took place in Autumn 2021on Middle-Eastern and African migrants transferred at the border between Poland and Belarus. The second case study covers the analysis of the causes and contradictions in the management of the large flows of refugees and displaced persons generated by the still ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine which broke out at the end of February 2022. The current dilemmas of the evolving Central-Eastern European migration system characterized by changing labour markets, border closures and temporary humanitarian protection are briefly depicted at the end.
At last, transnational practises in different geographical contexts will be also investigated as examples of these social phenomena and within the scope of linking theory with current practice.
The course aims at sketching the evolution of the European migration system and related European migration policies in light of the EU accession processes. The discussion will focus on the interplay of the national and supranational level in the EU policy-making and the emerging European migration space being reshaped by the EU enlargement process(es). In this context, the EU polity shows open contradictions between border openings and closures, market integration processes and restrictive immigration policy. In the meantime, questions related to immigrant integration and transnationalism are coming to the forefront in West, South and East Europe and they demand a thorough revision of the immigration policy thinking. The course aims at demonstrating the need for ‘diversity of harmonisation’ of the EU immigration policy, while at the same time advocating for a rights-based approach to migration.
Knowledge:
• Understanding human migration in historical and contemporary perspective
• Becoming familiar with global migration trends, push and pull factors of worldwide migration flows, different migration typologies (e.g. regular and irregular, circular, transit and return migration) and migration fields of study (e.g. labour migration, forced migration, migration and development, migration and education, migration and gender, immigrant integration and citizenship)
• Learning about the social consequences of migration for sending and receiving societies and about these societies’ responses to migration
• Learning about migration actors, policies and legislation at different level of governance, old and new ethnic minorities as well as about specific tools to cope with discrimination and racism in a work-life perspective
Skills:
• Ability to grasp the breadth of the current migration phenomena as well as to differentiate between perceptions and reality of their extent
• Ability to identify differences and similarities between migration flows and between societies’ responses to migration
• Ability to deconstruct one’s own position in relation to migrants and ethnic minorities and thus to put oneself into “migrant shoes”
Attitude:
• Disposition to self-reflectiveness when working or being exposed to encounters with migrants and minorities
• Appraisal of the opportunities and benefits of international migration for the individual and the society as a whole