Paolo Ruspini
Paolo Ruspini has been researching international and European migration and integration since 1997.
The link between current migration, immigrant integration and migrant transnationalism lies at the core of my research and teaching. The present circular, often repetitive flows of labour and return migration can generate specific social challenges that exceed the capacities of traditional integration programmes developed for unidirectional migration. Under conditions of globalisation, the growing transnationalism (and the role of diasporas) urges a redefinition of the traditional notions of integration. Notions of identity are evolving as individuals increasingly ‘belong’ to more than one country and society.
Transnational communities are thus becoming an important way to organise activities, relationships and identity for the growing number of people with affiliations in different countries. Consistent outflows of asylum seekers moving from neighbouring countries to the European continent adds further challenges in view of the specific needs of these vulnerable persons which include a significant number of women and children. Intercultural competences and the ability to deal with diversity are then increasingly important aspects in migrant-receiving, transit and return locations.
Current research projects
WEMov - Women on the Move (from Jan. 2021) is the four-year COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) Action CA19112 lead by the University of Paris. This transdisciplinary network of European researchers focuses on historic and contemporary female labour mobility spanning six centuries to the present. The objective is to show the presence and economic contribution of female migrants in European history by revealing women as active migrants and builders of Europe - with economic means, belongings, assets and social networks - capable to overcome gendered obstacles. This will contradict macro-narratives that present women as vulnerable migrants and economic burdens. Focusing on women’s labour mobility will raise the current debates on migration by unveiling women’s skills and agency, as well as their constraints and limits as economic actors. The project suggests a multidimensional and multi-factorial interpretation of migration dynamics and tackles in-migration, out-migration and internal migration in a long perspective to highlight consistencies and exceptions in European historic migration patterns. This will bring out local idiosyncrasies and challenge global narratives on female migration. Women on the Move will create a repository of sources on female migration and will dialogue with policy makers. WEMov will organize exhibitions (in- and out-door) to reach out to the public on women’s presence in European migration history and their contribution to the European economy. In keeping with the European Union’s Gender Equality Strategy 2018-2023, the project will thus challenge gender-blind perceptions of European migration and deconstruct sexist stereotypes. Women on the Move will bring about informed dialogues on European migration, with knowledge on historic and contemporary women’s economic potential, labour power, cultural and social belongings, and networking. With support of the Division International Cooperation of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), the WEMov Management Committee has been joined. Contributions will be provided throughout the consortium but particularly to Working Group 2: ‘Memory and identity’ and Working Group 4: ‘Family, kinship and community networks’.
ESIN - European Network on International Student Mobility: Connecting Research and Practice (from Oct. 2021) is the four-year COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) Action CA20115 lead by Tilburg University bringing together a transdisciplinary network of European researchers. Over the past decades, the rapid expansion of international student mobility (ISM) in higher education has sparked a considerable interest within different disciplines, research communities, and circles of practitioners and policy makers. However, there is surprisingly little connection and exchange among researchers across these spheres. In addition, ISM scholarship remains strongly restricted to scientific circles, despite the relevance that scientific knowledge on ISM has for policy and daily practice. The ESIN Action responds to the pressing need for systematic interdisciplinary and international exchange of knowledge on theoretical frameworks, research methodologies, findings, and best practice examples, and for translating scientific findings into recommendations for ISM practice. It will offer comparative and practical insights into ISM dynamics by bringing fragmented knowledge together, with the main aim of generating new interdisciplinary and innovative empirical perspectives on the phenomenon and translating these into tangible recommendations for stakeholders. Contributions will be provided to Working Group 1: ‘Global ISM flows and trends at the macro-level’ and Working Group 3: ‘The social and cultural integration of international students in their host countries’.
Completed research projects
SAREP - Study Abroad Research in European Perspective (from Apr. 2016) is the four-year COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) Action CA15130 lead by the University College Cork in Ireland. In the context of increasing international education and study abroad at both European and international level, SAREP aims to explore the nature, experiences, benefits and limitations of study and residence abroad in the case of second language learners who participate in growing numbers in international exchange programmes. SAREP adopts a multi-thematic prism, drawing on research relating to the learner's linguistic, intercultural, social, personal, academic and professional development, reflecting the widespread belief in the potential benefits that can accrue to the learner in a study abroad context. SAREP offers different insights into the complexity of study abroad as a context of second language learning through both quantitative and qualitative analysis, drawing on wide-ranging methodological approaches and tools of investigation. With the support of the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), the SAREP Management Committee has been joined. Contributions have been provided throughout the consortium but specially to Working Group 3: ‘Integration and social networks in residence abroad’ and Working Group 5: ‘Interculturality and diversities in stays abroad’.
NowHereland Revisited in Times of Pandemic (May 2020 - July 2021) is a research project coordinated by the Center for Health and Migration, Vienna with support from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Geneva. Activity: data collection on access to social services for undocumented migrants in Switzerland and updating of the policy indicators developed in 2010 in the framework of the project “Health Care in NowHereland: Improving Services for Undocumented Migrants in the EU”.
Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX) 2019 Health strand (Oct. 2019 - Feb. 2020). Research consultancy to review and update the questionnaire for Switzerland prepared in 2014 consisting of a set of items on migration and integration policies in the health sector with Sandro Cattacin (University of Geneva) and Karin Gasser (Federal Office of Public Health) as peer reviewers. The whole project has been coordinated by David Ingleby (University of Amsterdam) and the Migration Policy Group, Brussels.
The Council for European Studies’ (CES) Research Network on Transnational Memory and Identity in Europe at Columbia University, New York, USA (Jan. 2018 - Sep. 2019). Within my activities as a board member of the CES Memory RN, I co-organized with CES financial support the international workshop “Transnational Processes of Memory, Migration and Identity in Europe and beyond” held on the 17-18 January 2019 at the Centre for Southeast European Studies, University of Graz, Austria. The workshop’s aim is to explore transnational memory and identity in the context of migration – the way in which memory and identity migrate, transform, glocalize, multiply over temporal and spatial dimensions. Additionally, the event’s purpose is to further understand and theoretically conceptualize how both migration of people and knowledge affect values, bias, norms and production of solidarities and hostilities among various groups. By emphasising the transnational dimension, we can move beyond the nation state as unit of analysis and explore the linkages, interconnections of memory, migration, and identity between different localities. Therefore, we look at these processes in a continuum including memory and migration processes and the way these real and virtual flows of people and ideas reshape the sense of belonging across several generations. On the sidelines of the project, I published the monograph “Migrants Unbound” (2019) for Transnational Press London.
Old and new Italian emigration: past and present discrimination (Jan. - Apr. 2017) project funded by the Service for the Integration of Foreigners (SIS) of the Canton of Ticino within the actions for the Week against Racism 2017 and coordinated by ACLI Ticino, Switzerland. The project aims at comparing past and present Italian migration flows to Switzerland and particularly to the Italian speaking Canton of Ticino. Through the collection of quantitative data and qualitative means the profiles of new and old Italian migrants in Southern Switzerland were reconstructed. Experiences of perceived discrimination have been investigated. Activities: research and project’s coordination, preparation of research materials, data analysis, drafting of articles and presentation at a final conference.
Learning for Female African Migrants’ Solidarity: Help Desks for Female African Migrants in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (LeFamSol) (Oct. 2014 - Sept. 2015), a Lifelong Learning/Grundtvig multilateral project funded by the European Commission DG Education and Culture and coordinated in Switzerland by the ECAP Foundation Research & Development Unit, Lugano, Switzerland. LeFAMSol is a curriculum development project for hard to reach target groups of adults, oriented towards cultural mediation and peer training. The project focuses on Female African Migrant Groups aiming initially to create pool of human resources that can operate gender/ethnically delineated ‘Self- Help Desks’. Activity: research, participation in meetings, preparation of a scientific contribution.
Migration and Transnationalism between Switzerland and Bulgaria: assessing social inequalities and regional disparities in the context of changing policies (Jan. 2013 - Jun. 2016) is a three and a half years joint research project funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation together with the Science Directorate of the Bulgarian Ministry of Education, Youth and Science in the framework of Swiss contribution to the EU enlargement. The project focuses on migration from Bulgaria to Switzerland since Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007 and became part of the bilateral agreements between Switzerland and the EU in 2009. It analyses in detail, how social inequalities and regional disparities in Bulgaria as well as in Switzerland influence migration flows. The other project’s members are Michael Nollert and Marina Richter (University of Fribourg, Switzerland), Vesselin Mintchev (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria) and Docho Mihailov (Agency for Socioeconomic Analyses, Bulgaria). Activity: research, participation in meetings and conferences, preparation of a book for an international publisher and other peer-review publications.
ISTME - In search of transcultural memory in Europe (Dec. 2012 - Oct. 2016) is the four-year COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) Action IS 1203 lead by the Center for European Studies of Lund University, which aims to go beyond the nationally oriented memory studies that tend to reify the bond between culture, nation and memory. Instead, ISTME investigates the transcultural dynamics of memory in Europe today. Drawing on recent theoretical insights that point to the importance of memory migration, mediation and new media, ISTME seeks to develop new methods for studying and comparing effects of memory transmission over cultural borders. With the support of the Swiss State Secretariat for Education and Research (SER), the ISTME Management Committee has been joined. Activity: contribution to the working group focusing on memory and migration (WG3).
ADAPT - Adapting European health systems to diversity (Nov. 2012 - Jul. 2016) is the four-year COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) Action IS 1103 lead by the University of Amsterdam, Centre for Social and Global Health which aims to promote the adoption and implementation of policies on migrant and ethnic minority health responding to the increased diversity of European societies. It builds on the achievements of COST Action IS0603 “Health and Social Care for Migrants and Ethnic Minorities” (HOME), which reviewed health inequalities among migrants and ethnic minorities as well as the measures designed to remedy them. ADAPT has taken this work forward, identifying obstacles to translating this knowledge into action as well as ‘levers for change’. With the support of the Swiss State Secretariat for Education and Research (SER), the ADAPT Management Committee has been joined. Activity: contribution to the Working Group (WG) 1 “Policies and practices concerning MEM health in Europe and analysis of their sources of variation”. In this context, from October 2014, preparation with the Swiss Red Cross of the Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX) Health strand questionnaire and draft of a country report for Switzerland in the IOM Equi-Health’s project Framework.
I-VET – Fostering Intercultural Competences of VET teachers and trainers (Gen. 2012 - Dec. 2013) is a two-year Lifelong Learning/ Leonardo da Vinci multilateral project “Transfer of Innovation” funded by the ch-Foundation for Federal Cooperation and led by the Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training in close cooperation with the ECAP Foundation. I-VET examined a learning model developed by a consortium of six European higher education institutions within the framework of an Erasmus Intensive Programme. It is an innovation transfer project that seeks to support the initial and continuing training of VET professionals by improving their ability to manage intercultural dynamics and communication. Activity: a. expertise in international and European migration was brought in as core partner and in the scientific steering committee of the project; b. preparation of the migration module of the I-VET teacher training course; c. lectures and participation in summer schools, transnational and local meetings.
MIRACLE: Migrants and Refugees – A Challenge for Learning in European Schools (Dec. 2009 - Dec. 2011) a Lifelong Learning/Comenius multilateral project granted by the European Commission – Directorate General for Education and Culture to the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg and then transferred to the Institut für Politische Wissenschaft of the Leibniz Universität Hannover. The project’s partnership has been funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Education and Research (SER). The main aim of the project is to enable pupils with migration background to realise a more successful school career. Activity: a. contribution to the EU asylum policy report; b. contribution to research and development of the Teacher training module - Migration and asylum in Europe; c. lecturer for the teacher training courses and participation in consortium meetings.
Bridge – Successful Pathways for the Second Generation of Migrants (Oct. 2009 - Nov. 2011) a Lifelong Learning/Grundtvig multilateral project granted by the European Commission - Directorate General for Education and Culture to the University of Milan and BEST, Vienna. The project’s partnership has been funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Education and Research (SER). The idea behind the Bridge project is to prevent situations of prejudice and self-discrimination among low skilled second-generation migrants (adults with immigrant parents) when they are looking for a job. Activity: a. realisation of a survey on second generation migrants (SGM) in Switzerland and the barriers they are facing when entering the labour market based upon existing literature and selected in-depth interviews in the Canton of Ticino; b. organisations of working seminars with local stakeholders and meetings with adult education teachers and trainers who are willing to improve their intercultural competences; c. lectures and presentations on research results.
EDICC - European Diploma in Intercultural Competence (Oct. 2009 - Nov. 2011) a Lifelong Learning/Erasmus multilateral project granted by the European Commission - Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) to the University of Helsinki, Palmenia Centre for Continuing Education. The project’s partnership has been funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Education and Research (SER). The EDICC consortium developed a work-life oriented diploma that enables adult learners to enhance their intercultural competence to meet the demands of the increasingly multicultural and multilingual European societies. Activity: a. participation in all the stages (since Feb. 2008), meetings and steering committees of the EDICC project; b. contribution to the quality assurance and development of the curriculum by providing specific expertise in international migration.
Intercultural Communication (IC) Competences (Feb. 2008 - Dec. 2009) funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in the framework of the Master of Advanced Studies in Intercultural Communication (MIC) at the Faculty of Communication Sciences, University of Lugano. Activity: research on immigrant integration and the demand for IC competences in the fields of migration and cooperation and development. Preparation of a research report and draft of a peer-review journal’s article.
Policies and practices to prevent the vulnerability of elderly migrants in the Member States of the Council of Europe (Mar. - Oct. 2009) funded by the Council of Europe, Direction General III, Social Cohesion. Activity: preparation of research report for the European Committee on Migration (CDMG).
REGINE – Regularisations in Europe. Study on practices in the area of regularisation of illegally staying third-country nationals (Feb. - Jul. 2008) financed by the European Commission – DG Justice, Liberty and Security and coordinated by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) in Vienna. Activity: expert for the country studies on Italy, Switzerland, and the country profiles on Estonia and Latvia.
A Pilot Study on Four Key EU Member and Candidate Countries on the Demand for Trafficked Prostitution (HOW MUCH?) (Dec. 2005 - Nov. 2007) commissioned by the European Commission, Justice, Freedom and Security DG to the ISMU Foundation in the AGIS 2005 Framework Programme. Activity: research on policies and practises that affect the demand for trafficked prostitution. Activity: preparation of a book for an international publisher.
Security scenarios in Trentino: between security and safety (Nov. 2007 - Apr. 2008) supported by the Trento local government and carried out by Transcrime, Joint Research Centre on Transnational Crime, University of Trento & Catholic University of Milan. Activity: co-design and carrying out of expert interviews, scenarios writing, focus groups with experts and writing up of the final report.
Two Paths of Immigration Policy Convergence in Europe (Jun. - Sep. 2007) co-funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research and coordinated by the University of Turin, Department of Social Sciences. Activity: analysis of EU legislation and policy documents from the 1999 Tampere European Council to investigate the evolution of the European immigration policy in relation to the Eastward Enlargement(s). Activity: production of a final report.
International migration and its regulation Cluster A1 of the IMISCOE (European Network of Excellence in the domain of International Migration, Integration and Social Cohesion) network (Apr. 2005 - Dec. 2007). Activity: research on the Swiss modes of migration control in the context of further European integration. Drafting of a research report for publication.
Preparation of a project proposal submitted to the European Commission, DG Joint Research Centre, Ispra Establishment, Institute for the Protection and the Security of the Citizen in reply to a notice of a Call for expression of interest (CEI) for Data and information on migration and analysis of the socio-economic and political context of migration into the EU (EU external land border) (reference: 2005/S 213-209855) (Jan. 2005 - Jun. 2007). In this context, a “group of service providers” has been drawn together and coordinated which include 10 migration and social science institutions from the following countries: Bulgaria, Finland, Greece, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Turkey, and United Kingdom. In July 2008, the consortium has been pre-selected for invitations to tender.
European Identity and European Cultures (Jan. 2005 - Jan. 2006) supported by the ISMU Foundation, Milan. Activity: research on policies and practices at national and EU level to forge and promote an inclusive European culture. Writing up of a chapter for a book.
Study on Immigration, Integration and Social Cohesion (Jun. - Aug. 2005) commissioned by the European Commission, Employment and Social Affairs DG to Focus Consultancy & Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR). Activity: research as country expert on the social protection of immigrants in Italy.
Immigrant Integration Paths and Active Labour Policies: National and International Experiences (Jan. 2004 - Mar. 2005) supported by the Italian Ministry of Labour and Social Policies in the Metropolis International Project framework. Activity: research on EU policy and legislation concerning immigrants’ integration in selected areas of life, search for best practices and critical issues. Preparation of a contribution to a related publication.
EU social policies on welfare and immigration (Oct. 2003 - Sep. 2004) supported by the European Social Fund (reference no. 146958) and granted by the International Relations Office of the Catholic University of Milan. Activity: research, policy analysis and preparation of a final report.
’Illegal’ Migrant Women in the Enlarged European Space. Immigrant Integration Strategies and Transnational Support Policies (Nov. 2002 - May 2003) commissioned by the ISMU Foundation, Milan. Activity: design of the research project for the EU Community Initiative INTERREG III B CADSES programme.
In Search for a New Europe - INSEARCHFOR (Mar. 2001 - Jan. 2005) supported by the German Marshall Fund of the United States, the British Council and the Barrow Cadbury Trust. Activity: principal investigator of a joint research project on migration and the 2004 EU enlargement carried out by the Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations (CRER), University of Warwick and the Centre of Migration Research (CMR), Warsaw University. Research, organization of an expert conference and preparation of a book for an international publisher.
Living on the Edge: Irregular Migrants in Europe (Mar. 2001 - Mar. 2002) supported by the European Commission - DG Research under the Individual Marie Curie Fellowships’ scheme. Activity: comparative research aimed at understanding cross-national differences in the multiple social exclusion of irregular immigrants.
The Semantics of Europe(s) (Jan. 2000 - Apr. 2003) funded by the Catholic University of Milan in fulfilment of a PhD in Political Psychology (Rappresentazioni e Comportamenti Politici). Activity: a multi-perspective analysis on the ongoing process of European integration and construction of European identity. Draft of a final thesis.
Irregular Sub-Saharan Immigration through and towards Morocco (Nov. 2000 - Nov. 2002) supported by the International Labour Office (ILO), Geneva. Activity: research and co-author of the final publication.
Combating Social Exclusion: Minority Organisations in Civil Dialogue (Jun. - Nov. 2000) supported by the European Commission and co-ordinated by Regionale Arbeitstellen für Ausländerfragen, Jugendarbeit und Schule e.V. (RAA), Berlin. Activity: research and co-author of the final publication.
Citizens Organise Networks against Discrimination (CITNET) (Apr. - Dec. 2000) supported by the European Commission and co-ordinated by the Berlin Institute for Comparative Research, Berlin. Activity: research and author of the final publication.
Towards an Emerging Ethclass (May - Jun. 1999) supported by the European Commission, Employment and Social Affairs DG and co-ordinated by the Freudenberg Foundation, Weinheim, Germany. Activity: co-ordinator of the Italian research team, editor and contributor of the final report.
Easy Scapegoats: ‘Sans-Papiers’ Immigrants in Europe (May - Oct. 2000) supported by the European Commission, Employment and Social Affairs DG and co-ordinated by the Freudenberg Foundation, Weinheim, Germany. Activity: co-ordinator of the Italian research team, editor and contributor of the final report.
Multicultural Policies and Modes of Citizenship in European Cities (Jan. - Dec. 1999) supported by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Paris and co-ordinated by the Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies (IMES), Amsterdam. Activity: participation in workshop activities.
Raxen Network (Jan . 1999 - Feb. 2001) set up by the European Union Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC), Vienna. Activity: participation in conferences and workshops.
Preventing, controlling, governing the migratory flows towards Southern Europe (Jan. - Dec. 1999) supported by the European Commission, Odysseus Program and co-ordinated by the ISMU Foundation, Milan. Activity: planning, organisation and chairing of seminars addressed to immigration officers and practitioners of selected European countries.
US Policy in the Persian Gulf and the Middle East (Jan. - Aug. 1998) funded by the Mershon Center for Education - The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH. Activity: research on the US policy in the Persian Gulf with focus on regional security issues and the “dual containment” policy toward Iraq and Iran. Preparation of a scientific article for publication.
Journey in the Europe of Cultures (Jul. 1997 - Jan. 1998) a multimedia publication on multicultural aspects of Europe realised by the ISMU Foundation in co-operation with the Centre pour l’Egalité des Chances et la Lutte contre le Racisme, Brussels. Activity: planning, design, co-author of the Cd-Rom texts.
The New Geopolitical Poles (Mar. 1994 - Jul. 1995) at ISPI (Italian Institute for International Political Studies), Milan. Activity: research on the transformation processes in the post-bipolar international political system with focus on transatlantic relations.