index.html.en - index.html.en

Research Center Migration & Globalization

Migration on a global scale is a key issue in understanding the present age. Pluralist migration societies are part of our reality – also in Austria. Migration in its different forms, along with its manifold consequences, deeply affect and alter societies as a whole; no social sphere remains untouched.

The University of Innsbruck employs a multitude of experts in different disciplines and institutes who, drawing on their distinct backgrounds and perspectives, are engaged in the study of migration and social plurality. The Research Center “Migration & Globalization” integrates knowledge and expertise from education and history, literary studies and linguistics, European ethnology and philosophy, political science and sociology, jurisprudence and architectural theory. It is intended to cater to the needs of interested researches working in similar fields, and also seeks to provide information for the general public, the media and political officials. Furthermore, it links the University of Innsbruck with a number of other national and international research, teaching and documentation centers, as well as with NGOs and organizations working in the field of migration and globalization.

The research center “Migration & Globalization” is part of the Research Area “Cultural Encounters – Cultural Conflicts” and the Research Platform Gender Studies. It serves as a platform for interdisciplinary exchange and cooperation, the design and execution of research projects, the organization of teaching and training, and as a gathering place for consultation and events.

The members of the Research Center “Migration & Globalization” commit themselves to critical, theory-based migration research which not only reflects upon conditions of migration, but also continuously examines personal perceptions, positions and involvements. They apply themselves to conduct their research in correlation with migrant and activist practices. Migration research is understood in a broader sense as the study of societies, with migration supplying a crucial perspective on societal and global change. Postcolonial theory provides a fundamental point of reference. Special emphasis will be placed on the intersection of different forms of discrimination (intersectionality).

Fields of research

• Migration history and politics of memory
• Diversity and education
• Migration, the city and urbanity
• Border regimes, flight and illegalization
• Transnationalism and diaspora
• Precarious economies