PhD Studentship: Migration and the city - Understanding city-level migration policies in a global p

This is an exciting PhD opportunity to be involved in pioneering research on urban development, citizenship and migration. The PhD is aligned with the Leverhulme funded project ‘Welcoming cities? Understanding sanctuary in securitised states’ which runs for three years from 1/5/2018 and aims to explore the role of cities in migration policy and practice. This PhD project will provide excellent opportunities for the student to use and develop cutting-edge research skills relevant to studying urbanisation and migration processes, and to integrate the analysis of policies with in-depth first hand ethnographic research. The aim of the research is to better understand migration policies’ legality, morality, politics and practical impact from the perspective of cities.

Candidates will study under the supervision of Dr Rachel Humphris in the Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology in the College of Social Science. The student will have access to postgraduate research training and environment in the Department and across the College of Social Science. In addition, the student will have access to the research excellence and collegial environment in the Institute for Research into Superdiversity.

Candidates are invited to consult with the prospective supervisor to discuss their research proposal, within which there is broad scope to designate both case study sites, contexts and time periods and methodologies (which could include archival research, qualitative/mobile methodologies, arts-based methods and so on).

Background

Nearly four billion people live in cities globally. One fifth are migrants. However, worldwide, anti-migrant movements are growing. Governments in liberal democracies have recently adopted the policy goal of creating a ‘hostile environment’ for non-citizens, defined as migrants without legal status. Non-citizens’ access to services are increasingly restricted and many face state mandated exclusion from education, healthcare and housing, creating ‘internal borders’. Alongside these processes, an outpouring of volunteerism and alternative discourses have emerged to challenge this approach, particularly in cities.

What is the role of cities in the governance of global migration during rapid demographic and political change? What are the driving mechanisms behind practices of welcome or exclusion? What are city-level actors’ motivations, justifications and moral standpoints?

These questions have largely been ignored in previous scholarship. The project would provide an excellent opportunity to develop a theory of emerging alternative political cultures, opening interdisciplinary dialogue on why urban innovations matter for migration governance, and vice versa. The student will work in close collaboration with the supervisor who is conducting research in the UK and internationally (USA and Australia). The student will have the option to work in the UK, or internationally.

 

Person specification

Applicants should have obtained, or expect to obtain a 2:1 or first class honours degree in a relevant subject, such as anthropology, sociology, geography or social policy.
Previous research skills training is essential.