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This article contributes to the growing scholarship on ‘migrant capital’ by examining the social, cultural, and economic capital acquired and used by 29 migrants living in Belgium, building further on the ‘MultiLevel Spatio-Temporal Analytical Framework’ [Erel, U., and L. Ryan. 2019. “Migrant Capitals: Proposing a Multi-Level Spatio-Temporal Analytical Framework.” Sociology 53 (2): 246–263. https://doi.org/10. 1177/0038038518785298], to understand how these capital types are translated, using local and transnational social networks, into the new field and how these feeds into ‘migrant capital’. Findings show that migrant capital differs based on migration history, migration drivers and the existence and structures of migrant communities and having transnational networks. Migrant capital shapes acculturation processes after arrival in Belgium.

The book's framework of promoting inclusive systems in and around schools is outlined as a synthesis of systems theory, critical education theory, critical space theory and superdiversity, while committing to a range of key principles to underpin inclusive systems building also on a human rights-based approach. These key principles include equality and non-discrimination children's rights to expression of voices and participation, active participation of parents in school and the broader community, including representation and participation of marginalised groups. Inclusive systems in and around schools particularly focus on the holistic and differentiated needs of migrants. In doing so, it challenges the ‘heroic’, individualistic discourse of resilience, of resilient individuals, and the problematising and homogenising of migrants. Critical Education Studies try to see the world through the eyes of the oppressed and dispossessed and act against the institutional processes that reproduce oppressive conditions. A critical theory of spatial systems of exclusion and inclusion highlights a spatial turn in education, the humanities and the social sciences and invites a questioning of the shift from diametric spatial system blockages of assumed separation, closure, mirror image othering and hierarchy. It recognises inclusion and exclusion are spatial concepts, while superdiversity highlights the need to address complexities and specificities at system levels for migrants.

Multiple dimensions of migrants’ agency were revealed across the volume. This included loss of agency, where young migrants were funnelled into educational levels that were below their capabilities, through decisions made by others, being unfamiliar with the new education system's credentialing processes. Constructivist agency as an opportunity to choose between alternatives highlighted the active role of the migrant young person in choosing to speak with parents in different languages in the home and a recurrent pattern of serendipity in system practices emerges offering choices for migrants and teachers, where for example some migrants may choose courses by accident. A major limitation of constructivist agency is that the criteria upon which a choice is made in selecting between alternatives is itself culturally conditioned. This critique resonant with critical theory's concern with false consciousness, internalised by those in weaker positions, to adopt the system-dominant logic, thereby raising concerns with forces of assimilation. Building on a cross-cultural, critical spatial theory framework, a range of examples emerged across the volume of the need for concentric relational spaces of assumed connection to challenge diametric oppositional spaces of exclusion and closure. Different relational spaces are embedded in material, symbolic and social systems. Concentric spaces of assumed connection offer a wider circle of identification between self and others, for a global identity to underpin active citizenship in education. This contrasts with the diametric oppositional us/them spatial identity underpinning the violence of dehumanisation experienced by migrant children and their families in some country contexts. A diametric spatial splitting systemic focus on the difficulties many migrants experience in ‘navigating the system’ scrutinises how the system itself is fragmented.

Multiple dimensions of migrants’ agency were revealed across the volume. This included loss of agency, where young migrants were funnelled into educational levels that were below their capabilities, through decisions made by others, being unfamiliar with the new education system's credentialing processes. Constructivist agency as an opportunity to choose between alternatives highlighted the active role of the migrant young person in choosing to speak with parents in different languages in the home and a recurrent pattern of serendipity in system practices emerges offering choices for migrants and teachers, where for example some migrants may choose courses by accident. A major limitation of constructivist agency is that the criteria upon which a choice is made in selecting between alternatives is itself culturally conditioned. This critique resonant with critical theory's concern with false consciousness, internalised by those in weaker positions, to adopt the system-dominant logic, thereby raising concerns with forces of assimilation. Building on a cross-cultural, critical spatial theory framework, a range of examples emerged across the volume of the need for concentric relational spaces of assumed connection to challenge diametric oppositional spaces of exclusion and closure. Different relational spaces are embedded in material, symbolic and social systems. Concentric spaces of assumed connection offer a wider circle of identification between self and others, for a global identity to underpin active citizenship in education. This contrasts with the diametric oppositional us/them spatial identity underpinning the violence of dehumanisation experienced by migrant children and their families in some country contexts. A diametric spatial splitting systemic focus on the difficulties many migrants experience in ‘navigating the system’ scrutinises how the system itself is fragmented.

This qualitative study takes a translocal perspective by considering migrants’ views on environmental change, migration decisions and translocal practices in favour of environmental adaptation. This article addresses the following question: To what extent do migrants’ perceptions of environmental change in their region of origin influence their translocal practices in favour of adaptation to socio-environmental change? Our data show that while environmental change may not be the primary reason that people migrate, nor do they perceive it as such, their translocal practices may have very concrete impacts in environmentally fragile areas, especially with respect to non-migrants in the place of origin. Most practices (e.g. family economic remittances) are spontaneous and unintentionally adaptive to environmental change. In contrast, collective projects initiated through hometown associations, especially in Senegal and Morocco, often have a more intentional and proactive character, resulting in translocal adaptive socio-environmental dynamics., 0, Funding support for this article was provided by the BELSPO: MIGRADAPT - Making Migration Work for Adaptation to Environmental Changes–A Belgian Appraisal Contract (BR/175/A4/MIGRADAPT)., info:eu-repo/semantics/published

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for structurally informed mental health services that are sensitive to social inequalities and cultural differences. Community-level services and organisations are often referred to as having the potential to play a key role in providing such services to migrants, yet not many studies have documented how these types of services have been experienced during the pandemic. The objective of our case study in Antwerp's districts of Borgerhout and Antwerpen-Noord (Belgium) was to explore how community-level responses to the mental health impact of the COVID-19 crisis were organised and experienced by first-generation migrants and members of community-level organisations. Our findings highlight the complex drivers of migrants' mental health and the unique value and indispensability of local-level services and organisations in providing mental-health related services, particularly in a crisis context like the COVID-19 pandemic. Qualities that emerged to be particularly important included organisations' awareness of local needs; their flexible nature which allows them to address bottlenecks and fill gaps left by other services; their capacity to respond holistically to a broad spectrum of needs; their ability to offer culturally sensitive care and support; and their physical accessibility. Our findings also demonstrate the fragility and fragmentation of these local-level services and initiatives. In the face of the COVID-19 crisis, this related to serious challenges to the necessary physical accessibility of organisations' services; services and initiatives becoming overloaded; and widespread fragmentation and lack of oversight of the available services forming a barrier for both service users and providers.