Research Cluster Migration Policy and Governance

The cluster “Migration Policy and Governance” gathers UWK and affiliated researchers who study the formation and development of migration governance systems, the actors, content and processes underlying the wide range of policy areas involved in attracting, admitting, selecting, controlling, or deterring migrants, and their impact. The cluster aims to provide an open space to share and discuss work-in-progress and emerging ideas among UWK colleagues and beyond.

As a team, we study the governance of migration at different levels (local, national, or international) and in different geographical contexts, such as Europe, Africa the Middle East, and North America. We analyse the interaction between actors, venues and drivers of (forced) migration policymaking, assess changes over time and compare the co-evolution of governance regimes. This research cluster has a variety of foci including but not limited to externalisation, complementary pathways, aid policy, multi-level governance, and the role of migration uncertainty in policymaking Conceptually, we consider that migration occurs along a continuum between forced and voluntary and acknowledge that these distinctions are often unclear. Accordingly, we are interested in understanding how different actors categorize, govern and control different types of migration, such as forced migration, irregular migration, labour migration, or high-skilled migration.

We rely on different methodologies, ranging from qualitative methods such as Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), expert interviews, in-depth interviews, policy analysis, archival methods, to quantitative methods, including logistic regressions, panel and spatial lag analyses, drawing on major migration policy datasets.

Current related projects

• Quantmig, Quantifying Migration Scenarios for Better Policy, see also: www.quantmig.eu
• MigFund, Analysing change in EU funding for migration and asylum
• FAIR, Finding Agreement In Return
• SMAG, Smart Migration and Asylum Governance
• MIGNEX, Aligning Migration Management and the Migration–Development Nexus
• MIrreM, Measuring Irregular Migration: Estimates, data, and analysis on undocumented migrants and regularisation