Transnational Perspectives on Migration and Integration (TRANSMIT)

DeZIM Research Community

Running time January 2020 until December 2024
Status Current project

Project team:

Principal investigators: Prof. Dr. Herbert Brücker (IAB/BIM); Prof. Dr. Ulrike Kluge (Charité/BIM); Prof. Dr. Naika Foroutan (BIM/DeZIM-I); Prof. Dr. Ruud Koopmans (WZB); Dr. Ramona Rischke (DeZIM-I); Prof. Dr. Helen Schwenken (IMIS)

Project team members: Judith Altrogge (IMIS); Tamara Bogatzki (WZB); Jérôme Dolling (WZB); Dr. Irene Pañeda Fernández (WZB, Research Coordinator); Lidwina Gundacker (IAB); Laura Hertner (BIM); Philipp Jung (IMIS); Nora Kühnert (BIM); Dr. Daniel Meierrieks (WZB); Dr. Simon Ruhnke (BIM, Research Coordinator); Julia Stier (WZB); Dr. Nader Talebi (BIM); Daniel Tuki (WZB)

Former members: Dr. Daniel Auer (WZB); Prof. Dr. Frank Kalter (MZES); Dr. Julia Kleinewiese (MZES); Judith Köhler (BIM); Dr. Max Schaub (WZB); Dr. Hamza Soufane (IMIS)

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Project description:

The interaction of migration and integration processes are rarely studied as a coherent phenomenon, although knowledge and information about migrants in Germany and their socio-economic integration and participation is constantly growing. To put it simply, comprehensive studies exist in parallel on multi-dimensional causes of migration on the one hand and social and economic integration in destination countries on the other, but there is little knowledge about how complex migration processes, for example in countries of origin and transit, affect the integration of migrants in destination countries such as Germany. Conversely, little is known about how different migration trajectories and integration experiences in destination countries affect future migration aspirations along migration routes.

The TRANSMIT project within the DeZIM Research Community aims to fill this gap by building a long-term oriented and integrated data infrastructure that collects and systematically links quantitative and qualitative data in origin, transit and destination countries. Such data structures are necessary to investigate transnational interactions of migration processes and integration experiences in countries of origin, transit and destination in cross-sectional as well as longitudinal analyses.

Regionally, TRANSMIT concentrates on two regions of origin and transit that are central to Europe and Germany: West Africa (especially Senegal and Gambia, Morocco and Nigeria) and the MENA region (especially Lebanon and Turkey). The data collected includes (potential) migrants before, during and after their migration, as well as the non-migrant population and relevant actors from politics and civil society. Thus, individual and family influences, region-specific characteristics and political processes are taken into account.

The research within the TRANSMIT research network is structured along three central themes: 1) (self-)selection effects along migration routes, 2) dynamics of social cohesion and social negotiation processes, and 3) realities of life and well-being of (potential) migrants. By working on the three thematic areas together, complex interrelationships can be identified and investigated. The following questions are examples of this:

  • What dynamics and framework conditions interact to make some people migrate or want to migrate, while others do not under similar socio-economic circumstances?
  • How is the selectivity of migration desires and opportunities related to integration processes and social cohesion?
  • What role do racism and experiences of discrimination of different population groups play, how pronounced are these experiences in our study contexts and what transnational connections can be identified?
  • How do different transnational family constellations affect the migration process as well as participation opportunities and integration processes in Germany?
  • Which social and socio-structural differences between migrants from one region of origin influence participation opportunities and integration trajectories (e.g. single mothers, different forms of employment or young people who are socially active)?
  • What intersectional forms of disadvantages, constraints to action and needs for support can be derived from this?

In 2023, the Migration Department of the DeZIM Institute will officially join the TRANSMIT research network and support MENA research, especially on the situation of Afghan refugees in Turkey, and further strengthen the networking of migration research within the research community. With the extension of the project until the end of 2024, the continuation of the quantitative longitudinal surveys is possible. Thus, TRANSMIT 2023 is working on the planned implementation of the second survey in Nigeria, the third survey in Senegal and The Gambia, and the fourth wave each in Turkey and Lebanon of the surveys started in 2019. In The Gambia and in the Morocco-Spain transit corridor, qualitative data sets will also be further expanded in 2023. In addition, new focus surveys will be conducted in Germany: In spring 2023, the first representative data collection among West African migrants will be carried out in Germany. In addition, qualitative data on transnational ties of migrants from the Middle East in Germany will be collected.

The research focuses on the effects of discrimination, local and transnational crisis experiences, gender dynamics and lack of health care on migration and return decisions and the consequences of deportation cooperation in the context of origin and for civil society activism. As the most internationally oriented project of the DeZIM-FG, TRANSMIT also strives to further expand international collaborations of the research community and to further strengthen transnational perspectives in the German discourse on migration and integration through knowledge transfer offers.

Participating collaborative partners: Berlin Institute for Empirical Integration and Migration Research (BIM); DeZIM Institute, Department of Migration (DeZIM-I); Institute for Employment Research (IAB); Institute for Migration Research and Intercultural Studies (IMIS); Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB, collaborative coordination)

 

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Here you reach the TRANSMIT Data Explorer

 

Scientific and policy-related publications (selection):

Altrogge, Judith, & Auer, Daniel (2020). Zurück ins Herkunftsland? Warum eine „geringe Bleibeperspektive“ für Asylsuchende aus Gambia kein Grund zur Rückkehr ist, DeZIMinutes #02

Altrogge, Judith (2023). Income prospect trajectories after state-induced return from Germany to the Gambia: Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration as ‘slow deportation’. sozialpolitik. ch, (2/2023), 2-4.

Altrogge, Judith (2023). Managing power-knowledge imbalances in researcher-informant relationships: Methodological and ethical implications for longitudinal post-return research. in: Hg. A. Radziwinowiczówna, Edward Elgar.Research Methods in Deportation: The Power-Knowledge Approach.

Altrogge, Judith, Stier, Julia (2023). Migration und Migrationspolitik in Westafrika. Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung, Regionalprofil im Dossier: Migration weltweit - Daten - Geschichte - Politik. https://www.bpb.de/themen/migration-integration/laenderprofile/541954/migration-und-migrationspolitik-in-westafrika/.

Bogatzki, Tamara, Dolling, Jérôme (2024). Many People Know the Dangers of Human Trafficking but Choose to Take the Risk. LSE Blog, Online: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2024/07/30/many-people-know-the-dangers-of-human-trafficking-but-choose-to-take-the-risk/

(**) Bogatzki, Tamara, Glaese, Jana Catelina, & Stier, Julia (2023). Political Ideology and Prejudice: Explaining COVID-19 Risk Attribution to Ethno-Racial Groups over the Course of the Pandemic. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. [SSCI; Impact Factor: 3.5]

Bogatzki, Tamara (2021). Heterogeneity in Migration Network Effects Across Cultures. Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (WZB). Discussion Paper SP VI 2021-102.

Farvardin, Firoozeh, & Talebi, Nader (2024). (Un) familiar familialism: the recent shift in family politics in Iran. Third World Quarterly, 1-17.

Farvardin, Firoozeh & Talebi, Nader (2024). ‘Challenges of Southern Knowledge Production: Reflections on/through Iran’, in Displacing Theory Through the Global South, ed. by Iracema Dulley and Özgün Eylül
İşcen, Cultural Inquiry, 29 (Berlin: ICI Berlin Press, 2024), 57–77, https://doi.org/10.37050/ci-29_05.

Fromm, Nicolas, Jünemann, Annette, & Safouane, Hamza (eds.) (2021). Power in Vulnerability. A Multi-Dimensional Review of Migrants’ Vulnerabilities. In der Reihe „Studien zur Migrations- und Integrationspolitik“. Wiesbaden: Springer VS. 

Gundacker, Lidwina, Hertner, Laura & Ruhnke, Simon (2024). Six years after the EU-Turkey Agreement: A quantitative assessment of the living conditions of Syrians in Turkey. Report. IAB Forschungsbericht.
https://doku.iab.de/forschungsbericht/2024/fb1824.pdf

Gundacker, Lidwina
(2024). Pre-migration capital, refugee journeys, and typical trajectories of refugee women and men in Germany: a sequence analysis approach. Working Paper. SocArXiv Papers. https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/gmc37

Gundacker, Lidwina, Keita, Sekou, Ruhnke, Simon (2023): Unequal access to protection? Selection Outcomes among Syrian migrants across Lebanon, Turkey and Germany. Frontiers in Human Dynamics. [SSCI; Impact Factor: 0.9]

Harder, Niklas, Gundacker, Lidwina, Quantitative Fluchtforschung (2023), in: Flucht- und Flüchtlingsforschung: Handbuch für Wissenschaft und Studium. Hrsg.: Tabea Scharrer, Birgit Glorius, Olaf Kleist, Marcel Berlinghoff. Baden-Baden: NOMOS Verlag.

Helbling, Marc, Auer, Daniel, Meierrieks, Daniel, Mistry, Malcolm, & Schaub, Max (2021). Climate change literacy and migration potential: micro-level evidence from Africa. Climatic Change, 169(1), 1-13. [SSCI; Impact Factor: 4.743]

Kleinewiese, Julia (2021). Bleiben oder gehen? Wie soziale Kohäsion die Migrationsabsichten von syrischen Immigrant*innen im Libanon beeinflusst, DeZIMinute #05

Koopmans, Ruud; Meierrieks, Daniel; Tuki, Daniel (2023).The Role of Droughts and Religion in Pastoral  Conflicts in Nigeria. Journal of Conflict Resolution.

Pañeda-Fernández, Irene (2022). Natural disasters and preferences for redistribution: The impact of collective and abrupt disruptions. European Sociological Review, 38(4), 575-589. [SSCI;  Impact Factor: 3.9]

Roayaee, Maryam, Rahman, Rasha Abdel, Danziger, Meggie, Tudge, Luke, Daedelow, Laura S., Heinz, Andreas, & Wüstenberg, Torsten (2020). Die anderen und ich: Wie soziale Interaktionen die Wahrnehmung des anderen verändern. Das Cyberball-Paradigma und seine Indikationen im Migrationskontext. Fortschritte der Neurologie· Psychiatrie, 88 (02), 109-117. [SCIE;   Impact Factor: 0.752]

Rischke, Ramona & Talebi, Nader (2021). Lebanon at a critical conjuncture - Perspectives of Syrians and Lebanese in Lebanon 2019-2021. SSRN Research Network (BIM Discussion Paper Series No.1 2021).

Ruhnke, Simon & Rischke, Ramona (2024). Predicting mobility aspirations in Lebanon and Turkey: A data-driven approach to multidisciplinary theories. Data & Policy.

Ruhnke, Simon, Hertner, Laura, Köhler, Jonas, Kluge, Ulrike (2024). Social ecological determinants of the psychological mental health burden among Syrians in Lebanon and Turkey: A transnational perspective. Social Science & Medicine. [SSCI;  Impact Factor: 5.2]

Ruhnke, Simon, Hertner, Laura, Gundacker, Lidwina, & Wagner, Simon (2024). Going from bad to worse? Well-being of Syrian refugees in Turkey in the aftermath of the February 2023 earthquakes. BIM News #1. Berliner Institut für Integrations- und Migrationsforschung. doi.org/10.18452/28152.

Ruhnke, Simon, Scala, Michele, Wahbi, Fadi, Talebi, Nader (2023). Healthcare Access Crisis in Lebanon, MERGE X TRANSMIT Data Brief #3

Ruhnke, Simon, & Talebi, Nader (2022). Food Insecurity in Lebanon and the Ripple Effects of the War in Ukraine, MERGE X TRANSMIT data brief

Ruhnke, Simon (2021). The EU-Turkey Deal as a successful Blueprint? New Data on the Wellbeing of Syrian Refugees in Turkey, MERGE X TRANSMIT data brief

Safouane, Hamza, & Schaub, Max (2021). Zu arm, um zu migrieren? Wie Armut und Migration zusammenhängen. Befunde aus Gambia und Senegal, DeZIMinutes #04

Schaub, Max, & Auer, Daniel (2022). Rebel recruitment and migration: Theory and evidence from Southern Senegal. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 00220027221118258. [SSCI;  Impact Factor: 3.211]

Stier, Julia (2020). "Senegalesische Corona-Songs als Sensibilisierungs- und Informationsquelle für wolofsprachige Geflüchtete und Migrant*innen". In: Z'Flucht - Zeitschrift für Flucht- und Flüchtlingsforschung, 4(1), 131-148.

Stier, Julia (2020). Senegalese Corona Songs as a Source of Information for Refugees and Migrants/ Senegalesische Corona-Songs als Informationsquelle für Geflüchtete und Migrant*innen, Blog-Beitrag zum FluchtforschungsBlog des Netzwerk Fluchtforschung (2.11.).

Stier, Julia (2023). What impact do information initiatives have on migration from Africa to Europe? LSE Blog. Online: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2023/06/15/what-impact-do-information-initiatives-have-on-migration-from-africa-to-europe/.

Talebi, Nader (2024). Delvarani, A. Iran, Report Globale Flucht 2024. Fischerverlag. Link: https://www.fischerverlage.de/buch/report-globale-flucht-2024-9783596710690.

Talebi, Nader (2023). Es ist eine feministische Revolution. Interview Fluter - Magazine of the Federal Agency for Civic Education. Online: https://www.fluter.de/iran-feministische-revolution-interview.

Tuki, Daniel (2024). Women's Education and Attitudes Toward Malaria in
Children: Evidence from Nigeria Global Public Health.

Tuki, Daniel
(2024). Violent conflict and expectations about the economy's
performance: Evidence from Nigeria. Economics Letters.

Tuki, Daniel (2023). Pastoral conflicts and (dis)trust: Evidence from Nigeria using an instrumental variable approach. WZB Discussion Paper.

Tuki, Daniel (2022a). The Effect of Violent Conflict on the Socioeconomic Condition of Households in Nigeria: The Case of Kaduna State. Households in Conflict Network. Working Paper No. 373.

Tuki, Daniel (2023). You’re not welcome! Violence and Support for a Grazing Ban Policy in Kaduna, Nigeria. Working Paper No. 397. Households in Conflict Network.

Tuki, Daniel (2024). Gender and Migration Aspirations in Nigeria: A Comparative Study of the States of Edo and Kaduna. Working Paper No. 408. Households in Conflict Network.

Tuki, Daniel (2024). Examining the effect of gender, education and religion on attitudes toward gender equality in Nigeria. Politics, Groups, and Identities, 1-27. [SSCI;  Impact Factor: 2.2]

Zanker, Franzisca, & Altrogge, Judith (2022). Protective exclusion as a postcolonial strategy: Rethinking deportations and sovereignty in the Gambia. Security Dialogue, 53(5), 475–493.  [SSCI; Impact Factor: 3.459]

 

Funding: Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (Third-party funding)

Cooperation partner:

Charité – Berlin University of Medicine