Migration Studies Research Articles

Investigating the role of sesamol in promoting the healing of diabetic wounds by analyzing molecular expression patterns in human diabetic dermal fibroblasts.

Background: Sesamol (3,4-methylenedioxyphenol) is one of the plant compounds tested in vivo for diabetic wound healing, normal wound healing, and dexamethasone-induced delayed wound healing. Elucidation of mechanisms underlying the wound healing effect of sesamol through modulation of various molecular and cellular pathways is the crux of this paper. Objectives: The objective of the current work was to uncover the mechanism of sesamol underlying the treatment of diabetic wounds using gene expression analysis. Methods: The cytotoxicity assay was performed using an SRB colorimetric assay, from which two doses were selected for further studies. The expression of various molecular markers was performed using RT-PCR. Results: An SRB assay was carried out to identify the safe concentration of molecules in HDDF cell lines. Two doses that showed more than 80 % viability were selected and used for gene expression analysis. It was observed that sesamol enhanced the expression of VEGF, TGFβ, AKT, JNK, ERK, and TIMP3 significantly (P≤0.001, P≤0.05, P≤0.001, P≤0.0001) when compared to control and significantly (P≤0.0001) downregulated the expression of MMP2, MMP-9 when compared to control, which promote wound healing in diabetes. The migration studies also showed a significant increase when compared to the control. Conclusion: Sesamol (SM) is a promising molecule that can accelerate wound healing in diabetes by modulating different markers involved in the process.

Revisión documental del papel de la cooperación internacional en las migraciones laborales en Costa Rica

This article explores the existing documentation on the System of Libraries and Documentation Centers of the National University related to labor migration in Costa Rica, as well as the international cooperation that has been carried out for this topic and expose its approaches. A historical review of migration studies in Costa Rica is applied, establishing connections between their approach and academic and scientific information related to international cooperation in labor migration. This article shows the small number of historical reviews and articles at the Central American level that address the topic, but even more the lack of an approach from the discipline of International Relations.

How language power, white subalternity and compressed modernity frame highly-skilled non-Western migrants in an East-German company: insights from multi-sited ethnography

PurposeThis paper shows the benefits of multi-sited ethnography for global migration studies in management, in particular when cosmopolitan self-initiated expatriates meet a local setting.Design/methodology/approachThe author conducted a multi-sited ethnography to trace how a local East German research organization’s well-intended approach to integration becomes condescending.FindingsHighly skilled non-Western migrant employees who represent English-language cosmopolitanism are framed as negatively “foreign” by corporate discourses and practices. This phenomenon can only be understood if one follows the interconnections of language power, White subalternity and compressed modernity and if one considers the immediate surroundings, the historical context of East German identity and wider migration frames in Germany.Research limitations/implicationsMulti-sited ethnography, if power-sensitive and historically-aware, is suitable for understanding the multi-level phenomenon of global migration and identifying limiting framing-effects on management and organizations. Researcher standpoint is both its strength and its limitation.Practical implicationsManagers and companies can “imagine otherwise” and move beyond the unquestioned dominant frames limiting their problem analyses and, consequently, their strategies and actions.Social implicationsManagers and companies are enabled to move beyond individual- and corporate-level approaches to managing migration at work and can thus take up full social responsibility in the sense of good corporate citizenship on a global level. Global mobility researchers can work towards an inclusive migration theory.Originality/valueMulti-sited ethnography, in particular, one that is power-sensitive and historically aware, is an approach not yet applied to migration in the context of management and organization. By means of an example, this paper illustrates the value of this approach and enables researchers to understand its main principles. Compressed modernity and White subalternity are introduced as novel concepts structuring migration, and language power emerges as relevant far beyond the scope of the multinational corporation.

The Moral Economies of Reflexive Migration Studies

Abstract Reflexive Migration Studies has emerged as a subfield of Migration Studies. Drawing on moral economy perspectives, we explore how the entanglement of, and tensions between, moral and economic rationalities shape the development of a field of knowledge production in which we ourselves partake. Clearly, Reflexive Migration Studies has not emerged in a vacuum but through socio-material practices and in a specific scientific context and community. Using the case of the Migration Studies landscape in Germany, we suggest that a moral economies perspective allows us to examine the production of knowledge infrastructures, scholarly identities, and research outputs that are key in creating a new academic field. By scrutinizing these infrastructures, identities, and outputs, we point to tensions between some of the morally charged claims and the material conditions and labour contexts of doing Reflexive Migration Studies. With our contribution, we want to raise questions regarding the direction that we, as scholars participating in the field, are taking. We see the risk that the critique brought forward in Reflexive Migration Studies falters in light of prevailing economies of scientific knowledge production and academic labour.

Beyond the present, the nation, and Europe: Three different uses of history in reflexive migration studies

Abstract Interdisciplinary migration research is currently witnessing an increased interest in the impact of colonialism, decolonization, and expertization on present-day integrationism and racism. Tracing the genealogy of current ways of framing, categorizing, and governing groups viewed as “migrant Others” forms part of a reflexive research agenda that analyses migration as a product of changing constellations and categorizations. The article takes up this interest in the recent (and sometimes less recent) past in migration research. Bringing this interdisciplinary body of work into conversation with historical scholarship, we discuss how migration scholars make use of historical genealogies and we identify three different ways of relating the past to the present in debates about current migration and border regimes: We distinguish between what we term an anthropological “deep history” mode, a “genealogical” mode, and a “contrapuntal” or “disruptive” mode. This article argues for a careful, reflexive use of the past. We contend that both the alterity of past discourses and practices and their persistence and lasting impact can help us better make sense of the present in critical migration research.

Knowledge production in refugee studies from the South: Theorization of refugee labour in the literature on Turkey

Abstract This article explores the case of the migration studies industry in Turkey, which has flourished over the past decade, through an examination of knowledge production on refugee labour. Focusing on research about Syrian refugees’ labour and employment in Turkey between 2012 and 2018, the article discusses the ways in which refugee labour is articulated and studied to provide ground for a wider critique of migration-related knowledge production. This study aims to reflexively question academic outputs by (1) exploring the conceptual frames used broadly in research on refugee labour, and (2) developing an overview of the literature on Turkey with a focus on this topic. Through the case of the literature on refugee labour in Turkey, we explore the underlying political economy premises of migration research. This case serves as an example to argue that knowledge produced in a Southern context is mainly incorporated as case studies despite attempts to advance theoretical discussions, highlighting a North–South hierarchization of knowledge.

UKRAINIAN LABOR MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES IN ЕUROPEAN COUNTRIES: CONFLICTING NATURE OF MIGRATION POLICIES IN MODERN SOCIETIES

This paper critically examines and evaluates theoretical approaches to the internal conflict phenomenon of migration in the context of modern dynamics. The paper is devoted to the study of contemporary migration processes between Ukraine and European countries in the context of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The authors analyze theoretical approaches to the study of migration. In particular, based on an analysis of the literature, it was shown that simplified concepts, such as the "push and pull" theory, are not relevant for studying the migration of Ukrainians in European countries. Instead, the authors emphasize the need to apply new models, in particular, the theory of "migration aspirations and capabilities." The article considers the conflicting ideological approaches to the formation of migration policies of European countries, in particular the concepts of multiculturalism and assimilation. Particular attention is paid to the specifics of Poland's migration policy as one of the main recipient countries for Ukrainian migrants and refugees. The successes and gaps in Poland's integration strategies are analyzed, in particular the problem of "brain drain" of highly qualified workers from Ukraine. The need for a differentiated approach to different groups of migrants and the involvement of regional authorities in the development of migration policy is emphasized. The paper also highlights the gender aspect of migration processes, focusing on the specific challenges faced by women refugees from Ukraine. Issues of adaptation, preservation of cultural identity and overcoming internal conflicts in the new environment are considered. The importance of taking into account the factor of having minor children and elderly relatives in the process of integrating women refugees is emphasized. Overall, the article demonstrates a comprehensive approach to the study of migration processes, combining theoretical analysis, empirical data and gender studies. The authors attempt to expand the theoretical and methodological apparatus of migration research in the context of improving the understanding of the dynamics of modernity and its conflicts.

Growing-up young adults and their social agency in migration: how Ukrainian children initiate and mediate their own migration within the family unit

ABSTRACT In an earlier period of migration studies, young people were overlooked, but scholars later began to study their position and perspective. Within the transnational family they are often studied as “abandoned” in the country of origin or as reunified with parent(s) in the country of immigration. Nevertheless, in both cases parents are seen as decision-makers whether young people will migrate or stay. A different angle provides studies of independent child migration or unaccompanied minors from Africa or Latin America. These young people are capable of developing their agency to the extent that they can migrate alone and neglect negotiation with parents as a result of conflict or different objectives. This article elaborates this topic and shows that growing-up adults from Western Ukraine (15–16 years-old when migrated) are also social agents, capable of triggering their own migration independently of parents as a consequence of experience from short-term stays in the country of immigration, as well as meritocratic principles and distinct generational outlooks.

Decolonizing Theories of Regional Integration

Interview with Dr. Ernest Toochi Aniche, Federal University Otuoke, Nigeria Ernest Toochi Aniche, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer and the Acting Head of the Department of Political Science, Federal University Otuoke, Bayelsa State, Nigeria. He holds BSc, MSc, and PhD degrees from the Department of Political Science, University of Nigeria with a specialization in International Relations. He is developing a new theory of African Integration (Post-Neofunctionalism), deconstructing the traditional Neo-functionalist approach. Dr. Aniche is a prolific scholar with over a hundred publications, including articles in dozens of the world’s most renowned African studies journals. He has also published co-edited books and authored and co-authored chapters in books published by reputable publishers such as Routledge (Taylor & Francis), Palgrave Macmillan (Springer Nature), Rowman & Littlefield International, Lexington Books, and Oxford University Press. The highlight of his career was co-editing books with the African scholar legend, Professor Toyin Falola. He is on the editorial boards of journals and publishers, particularly Springer Nature (SN) Social Sciences, Ubuntu: Journal of Conflict and Social Transformation, and Cambridge Scholars Publishing. In his interview, he explains what prompted him to develop his own theory of African integration, which would actually contribute to the development of the continent. He explains the reasons for the crisis tendencies of modern African regionalism, a manifestation of which is the creation of the Sahel State Alliance. He pays particular attention to the prospects for decolonizing social knowledge about Africa. He provides inspiring cases of those African intellectuals who were able to transform the study of politics from Political Science in Africa to African Political Science, as well as to decolonize African regionalism and African border and migration studies.

Between the inclusion and exclusion of immigrants in a peripheral European country: Housing inequality in Portugal

AbstractThe understanding of immigrants as disadvantaged low‐skilled workers has been widely explored in migration studies. On the opposite end of the social ladder, the number of scientific works about privileged migrants, from highly skilled professionals to retired people and digital nomads, shows a significant increase. However, migration research fails to expose and debate the sharp contrast between immigrants with distinct economic and socio‐professional backgrounds across several dimensions, namely in housing. With the aim to better understand the manifestations and interconnections of immigration within urban transformations, this study analyses the polarities between immigrants in the housing sector in Portugal, a peripheral European nation that recently acquired the status of a country of immigration and where access to housing has been a structural problem. Furthermore, this text discusses the impact of public policies on the generation of those inequalities. With this, we expect to contribute to the debate on the unequal power and positions of distinct groups of immigrants and their constraints in the housing market, taking into consideration processes of inclusion and exclusion.

The development of an automated microscope image tracking and analysis system.

Microscopy image analysis plays a crucial role in understanding cellular behavior and uncovering important insights in various biological and medical research domains. Tracking cells within the time-lapse microscopy images is a fundamental technique that enables the study of cell dynamics, interactions, and migration. While manual cell tracking is possible, it is time-consuming and prone to subjective biases that impact results. In order to solve this issue, we sought to create an automated software solution, named cell analyzer, which is able to track cells within microscopy images with minimal input required from the user. The program of cell analyzer was written in Python utilizing the open source computer vision (OpenCV) library and featured a graphical user interface that makes it easy for users to access. The functions of all codes were verified through closeness, area, centroid, contrast, variance, and cell tracking test. Cell analyzer primarily utilizes image preprocessing and edge detection techniques to isolate cell boundaries for detection and analysis. It uniquely recorded the area, displacement, speed, size, and direction of detected cell objects and visualized the data collected automatically for fast analysis. Our cell analyzer provides an easy-to-use tool through a graphical user interface for tracking cell motion and analyzing quantitative cell images.

Development and characterization of ferulic acid-loaded chitosan nanoparticle embedded- hydrogel for diabetic wound delivery

Diabetic wounds present a significant global health challenge exacerbated by chronic hyperglycemia-induced oxidative stress, impeding the natural healing process. Despite various treatment strategies, diabetic foot ulceration lacks standardized therapy. Ferulic acid (FA), known for its potent antidiabetic and antioxidant properties, holds promise for diabetic wound management. However, oral administration of FA faces limitations due to rapid oxidation, stability issues, and low bioavailability. The topical application of FA-loaded chitosan nanoparticles (FA-CSNPs) has emerged as a promising approach to overcome these challenges. Here, we report the development of a sustained-release formulation of FA-CSNPs within a hydrogel matrix composed of Chitosan and gelatin. The FA-CSNPs were synthesized using the ionic gelation method andoptimized through a Central Composite Design (CCD) approach. Characterization of the optimized nanoparticles revealed spherical morphology, a particle size of 56.9 ± 2.5 nm, and an impressive entrapment efficiency of 90.3 ± 2.4 %. Subsequently, an FA-CSNPs-loaded hydrogel was formulated, incorporating chitosan as a gelling agent, gelatin to enhance mechanical properties and cell permeation, and glutaraldehyde as a cross-linker. Comprehensive characterization of the hydrogel included pH, moisture loss, porosity, swelling index, rheology, water vapor transmission rate (WVTR), SEM, TEM, invitro drug release studies, antioxidant activity, antibacterial efficacy, cell cytotoxicity, cell migration studies on L929 fibroblast cell line, and stability studies. The stability study demonstrated negligible variations in particle size, zeta potential, and entrapment efficiency over 60 days, ensuring the stable nature of nanoparticles and hydrogel. This innovative delivery approach embedded within a hydrogel matrix holds significant promise for enhancing the therapeutic efficacy of FA-CSNPs-hydrogel in diabetic wound healing applications.

Coloniality and Refugee Education in the United States

In this paper, we demonstrate the ways in which the schooling of refugee youth in the United States reflects ongoing coloniality in education. Drawing on data collected in a case study, conducted between 2013 and 2016, as part of a larger ongoing ethnography of a Southwest United States District school’s response to refugee students, we show how the enactment of policies, pedagogies, and practices within schools reinforce the government’s control over refugee students and their families. In schools, the students are kept out of certain school spaces, marginalized in remedial courses, and denied academic opportunities and integrated support services. Using empirical data, we demonstrate how the restriction of the students’ movement in and around schools is embedded within the larger limitations embedded in coloniality and assimilation. We situate our analysis within the tensions and interactions between coloniality, assimilation, and neoliberalism as articulated in studies within anthropology and sociology, migration studies, critical refugee studies, and cultural studies. We conclude with a call for the decolonization of education and offer a practical starting point in refugee education.

Cohort Profile: Migrant Health Follow-Up Study (MHFUS) of internal migration in South Africa.

Cohort Profile: Migrant Health Follow-Up Study (MHFUS) of internal migration in South Africa.

The Politics of Injury: Debilitation and the Right to Maim at the EU Border

ABSTRACT Borders are sites of mass injury. This article questions the necro-consensus that has emerged within migration studies, and explores the political role that less-than-deadly violence plays at contemporary borders. By withholding from outright killing, and thus avoiding the optics of public scrutiny, EU states are deploying a carefully calibrated politics of injury designed to control racialised groups through debilitation. The injuries produced through this border regime—typified by illegal ‘pushbacks’ and deplorable camp conditions—exist beneath a threshold of liberal acceptability. In short, EU states routinely deny the right to asylum by imposing the ‘right to maim’ (Puar 2017). This article draws upon long-term research along the ‘Balkan Route’ in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, including interviews with medics, activists, EU officials, and people on the move, as well as analysis of a large border violence database. We argue that mass injury has become a politically tolerated form of violence that perversely provides the EU with the illusory conceit of humanitarian “care”. In dialogue with postcolonial scholarship that has questioned the centrality of death within biopolitics, we assert the importance of interrogating not only the necropolitical logics of migration policy (i.e death), but also the politics of non-lethal violence: the strategic and attenuated delivery of injury, maiming, and incapacitation that shapes contemporary borders. Contributing to geographies of violence and critical border studies, we suggest that greater attention is needed towards less-than-deadly harms that underpin contemporary political geographies.

Legal pluralism and the production of (un)certainty in lived migration orders

This article builds on three of Keebet von Benda-Beckmann’s core concepts, namely, legal pluralism, social security and relational social theory, to reflect on the place of law in lived migration orders, both in the global north and in the global south. To do this, we build on three empirical case studies from our respective fieldsites in Germany, Belgium and the DRC. These cases illustrate how ‘thinking with Keebet’s work’ not only offers useful ‘sensitizing concepts’ for the empirical study of migration law and migration studies more broadly, but also provides a much-needed conceptual vocabulary to speak to and intervene in current debates in more doctrinal legal scholarship on global migration law. With this double aim in mind, we first build on a legal pluralism perspective to show how migration governance can be better understood through the prism of ‘lived migration orders’. We then suggest rethinking state sovereignty, citizenship, and individual human rights in light of historical and newly emerging relational configurations. Finally, we suggest a new avenue for reconceptualizing migration governance beyond rights-based categorizations of migrants by paying more nuanced analytical attention to situations of uncertainty and how they contribute to social (in-)security.

Образовательная миграция из арктических регионов России, не имеющих самостоятельных вузов

One of the main reasons for young people to change their place of residence is the desire to get higher education. In the Arctic zone, where there is a lack of or insufficient level of development of the network of higher education organizations, young people are forced to leave for other regions. The relevance of the study is also conditioned by the fact that educational migration is often irrevocable, which strengthens negative migration processes. The study of educational migration with the help of traditional statistical sources is possible at the regional level, but does not reveal the spatial characteristics of migra-tion processes at the level of municipalities. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to approbate the methodology of studying migration from municipalities on the example of regions where there are no independent higher education institutions. The object of the study is the Arctic regions: Nenets, Chukotka, Yamalo-Nemets Autonomous okrugs. The scientific novelty of the study is determined by the use of new data sources and the application of the method of big data analysis to study migration processes at the municipal level. The database for the study was formed on the basis of the results of uploading data from the digital footprint of users of the social network “VKontakte”. The study regions included 15,186 users, the vast majority of whom indicated receiving higher education in other constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Based on the obtained data, the trajectories of educational migration at the municipal level were identified, the coefficients of concentration and uniformity of migration flow were calculated, and a typology of municipalities in the Arctic regions of Russia was carried out. The practical significance of the study lies in the possibility of using the results obtained to adjust migration policy in the Arctic regions, including at the municipal level.

“I was always told to fit in, but never to excel”: Men’s Post-Migration Practices of Success in the Public Sector

What post-migration practices of success at the labor market do migrants employ on their way to attaining senior professional positions? This paper offers new insights to the study of migration by focusing on success and masculinity among Ethiopian men, a marginalized group in the Israeli labor market. Using findings from 27 semi-structured interviews and six semi-structured interviews with experts or professionals, we investigate the relationships between career success, gender, and migration through a transnational perspective. Migrant success continues to be assessed and viewed primarily through the lenses of the nation-state and integration, in comparison to the native population in general and in the labor market in particular. This paper analyzes the post-migration practices of success described by migrant men who have achieved senior positions in the public sector, with the aim of illuminating the mechanisms and circumstances, as they understand them, that contribute to achieving success. The findings challenge the concept of integration in the context of migrant men’s success which defines success as fitting in and mediocrity rather than excellence both on the personal and societal level. Although limited to Ethiopian men who have achieved labor market success, this study provides an opportunity to demonstrate the value of examining migrant men’s success from the perspective of cultural capital and views migration masculinity as a dynamic concept.

Integrating Theology into Migration Studies for Ethical Perspectives and Collaborative Solutions

This study explores the intersection of theology and migration studies and provides a comprehensive framework for theologians and researchers to engage with the ethical dimensions of global migration. It addresses the need for an integrated perspective that goes beyond socio-political and economic analyses. The study identifies a gap in the literature in the integration of theology into migration studies and proposes specific tasks for theologians and researchers. Theologians should integrate theology into migration studies, engage in critical theological reflection, understand ethical imperatives, and reinterpret religious texts. Researchers should develop frameworks that challenge conventional discourses and translate theological principles into actionable guidelines. Key tasks for researchers include interdisciplinary collaboration, analysing language and perceptions, political advocacy and social engagement. The study's unique contribution is a roadmap that integrates theology into migration studies and provides scholars with a guide to navigate the complex challenges of migration.

Post-Camp Condition: Sub-Saharan Male Migrants Maintaining a Constellation of Refuge-Zones

ABSTRACT Within migration studies, camp conditions have been extensively investigated, yet scholars have relatively overlooked the vital role that post-camp conditions play in migrants’ journeys. Drawing from extensive ethnographic fieldwork in Europe, 20 biographical interviews and informal conversations with Sub-Saharan male migrants, this article explores the immobility of a population made hyper-mobile within Europe and investigates how migrants navigate their housing precarity and maintain spaces of autonomy. I demonstrate that refuge-zones are a direct consequence of restrictive migration policies, serving as physical locations for claiming the right to sedentariness and a practical solution to live with dignity. Marooned migrants, while fending for themselves, maintain (self)caring projects sustained by moral communities which create an audible sociability and a form of permanence, albeit fragile. I argue that refuge-zones, beyond providing shelter, enable migrants to endure their frustration while fostering hope for a better future.