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This article examines the role of ethnic networks in the development of migrant communities by focusing on modern-day Armenian migration to Russia. While much existing research on migrant networks tends to focus on newly arrived migrants’ experiences of gaining support in the destination countries through ethnic networks, little has been said about the impact of ethnic networks on migrant community development. Additionally, studies on the Armenian communities’ development are mainly focused on the historical context and scholars see little interest in studying modern-day Armenian migration and migrant community development. Drawing on empirical data from Armenia, this study explores how post-Soviet migration to Russia shapes contemporary Armenian communities there. Through a combination of quantitative and qualitative research conducted in 2020−2021, the article studies the significance of ethnic networks at both individual and collective levels. The quantitative research results offer insights into the role of ethnic networks in shaping migratory routes, while qualitative research highlights how these networks contribute to community construction, driven by regional affiliations that differ from traditional Armenian diaspora institutions. The study reveals the multiple roles of ethnic networks, including their influence on migratory behaviour, their persistence and importance across generations and their impact on community organisations’ development and leadership. It also highlights migrants’ preferences for engaging with their regions or villages of origin.

This article investigates the subjective life satisfaction of Russian immigrant physicians in Finland. It focuses on how life satisfaction is subjectively experienced and interpreted post migration in a bid to identify the resources which influence it in both work and family domains. The advantage of life satisfaction is taking it as a unifying cross-disciplinary conceptual framework and as a multidimensional analytical approach, including macro-societal, meso-relational, and micro-personal levels. We use the concept of the migratory career to analyse work and family life on migration journeys. These life evaluations are analysed using a sociological conception of subjective life satisfaction and a psychological conception of wellbeing as guiding principles in theory and analysis. Based on 26 semi-structured qualitative interviews, the study finds that an interplay between societal-structural and personal-relational resources makes the interviewees satisfied with their work and family lives. Societal-structural resources included the work environment, income, life security and stability, while personal-relational resources included social support, social trust, and family relationships. Beyond the classical income and job security, we find our participants’ experienced and interpreted life satisfaction is essentially associated with outcomes of family-friendly and supportive work conditions. Moreover, social and personal security and family stability are important for their quality of life in a characteristic Nordic social environment.

This critical ethnographic study was conducted among 15 immigrants originally from Caucasian and Central Asian countries, each with more than 10 years of undocumented residence in Moscow. It focuses on the everyday experiences of undocumented immigrants in a non-Western context, illustrating how informal networks, alongside official migration policies, contribute to and exploit unequal capabilities. The study emphasises the thresholds of emotions, affiliation and control over a person’s environment, demonstrating power asymmetries between individuals. Given the participants’ prolonged undocumented stay in Moscow, the findings demonstrate how the socio-legal context of an undocumented status facilitates informal exploitation alongside institutional operating models, aligning with migration policies in practice.

In 2015, the inflow of immigrants to Europe increased dramatically. More than 1 million people fled from wars and conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, particularly affecting transit countries along the Western Balkan route. Of all the transit countries, the Hungarian government was particularly vocal in its negative attitude towards immigrants, launching several anti-immigration campaigns which had a detrimental effect on residents’ hostility towards these immigrants. In this study, we focus on the mechanisms behind this increased hostility in a transit-country context by combining insights from integrated-threat theory and contact theory. We find that perceptions of realistic and symbolic threat increased negative attitudes towards immigrants. Importantly, these threat perceptions were shaped by people’s positions in society and personal circumstances, in combination with their contact with immigrants. Specifically, in the harsh and negative Hungarian context, contact negatively influenced threat perceptions, especially amongst people who were at risk of experiencing negative consequences supposedly caused by the influx of immigrants. This in-depth country case study emphasises the importance of contextualising research findings on attitudes towards immigration in a broader social and political context.

This paper presents the concept of the emigration region that emerged as a result of wide research identifying the causes of emigration and migration networks, as well as the demographic and socio-economic consequences of significant emigration for particular regions. It is an overview based on long-standing research by the authors and draws heavily on numerous contributions that address the links between regional development and long-term migration outflow. The hypothesis is that an emigration region is formed under the influence of long-term and mass emigration resulting in progressive depopulation and characterised by a set of economic, social and cultural features clearly distinguishing it from regions where such a pattern of relationships is either missing or incidental. Identified features of emigration regions include a well-established tradition of emigration, the long-term nature of emigration, a significant quantitative dimension of emigration, well-developed networks of social relationships between the countries of outflow and inflow, the complex socio-political and economic reasons for emigration and the specific consequences of it, observed both at the individual (micro) level and at the level of local and regional communities (the meso level). The concept of an emigration region is illustrated by the example of the Opolskie Voivodeship (Poland, a NUTS-2 region). The concept of an emigration region emerged as a result of many years of research by the authors, implemented mainly in the Opolskie Voivodeship. The research methods were diverse (including quantitative and qualitative social research) and the research was conducted among the entities involved to varying degrees in broadly understood migration processes (emigrants, re-emigrants, regional and local governments, entrepreneurs).

Historically, approaches within the field of migrant entrepreneurship have almost exclusively focused on migration to nation-states in the Global North. Despite more-recent studies extending the scope to migrants’ home countries – and even third-country locations – they have nonetheless remained rooted in South–North migratory contexts and, subsequently, have been mainly theorised based on the concept of persistent power imbalances internationally. Indeed, studies of migrant entrepreneurship in reverse (North–South) migratory contexts have exposed a number of assumptions implicit within these approaches. What is needed, therefore, is a theoretical approach which can account for the global asymmetry hitherto overlooked in the field of migrant entrepreneurship. This paper aims to do exactly that, offering the concept of ‘global embeddedness’, which situates the phenomenon of migrant entrepreneurship within a wider, asymmetrical global environment and, in so doing, provides a way of accounting for variations in migrant entrepreneurship found outside of the Global North.

Hosting large numbers of refugees in private homes rather than in refugee camps is a fairly unusual phenomenon in the broadly understood Western context, including the post-socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Thus, explorative research is much needed to determine the fundamental problems triggered by this novel situation. Based on a series of individual in-depth interviews with Polish hosts who invited Ukrainian refugees to live in their homes, this paper puts under scrutiny the micro-relations between the hosts and the guests. The study identified 6 kinds of ‘difficulty’, including (1) negotiating everyday routines, (2) dealing with difficult life situations and stress, (3) quarrels and divisions among migrants, (4) neglecting one’s own family, (5) a too strong emotional attachment to the guests and (6) irreconcilable sets of expectations.

This paper analyses the changes in the involvement of Polish local governments in the system of public policies addressing the needs of forced migrants in Poland. The driver of such changes was the humanitarian emergency connected to the influx of Ukrainian forced migrants in 2022, which followed the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In a multi-level governance context, the article unpacks the policy-change process, discussing the interplay between the Polish public-policy system, the political context, the state polity, and local governments’ activity. During the humanitarian emergency, the external circumstances for local governments’ operations altered. Many local authorities attempted to expand their involvement, while sometimes questioning the inter-institutional power balance. The functional role – the scope of their responsibility and the activities that they undertake – of local governments in the discussed policy system was temporarily extended. Moreover, in the context of power relations between the actors of the policy system, their structural position vis-à-vis other stakeholders was redefined, as their agency and political impact increased. This article concludes that the above, mostly temporary, changes will have implications for the broader development of the Polish migration-policy system, resulting in Polish local governments inflicting greater political impact on such a system in the future, while also maintaining increased activity around policies addressing forced migrants.

Poland has faced several crisis situations related to migration in the past decade. With differences in the scale and origins of incoming people, these crises have triggered various reactions from Polish policy-makers, from the welcoming of non-EU migrants to the implementation of restrictive measures at the Polish border. The present research uses a discursive approach to study the ways in which non-EU migrants are presented and discussed in Poland. By comparing official discourses from Polish authorities during the 2015–2016 migration crisis, the 2021 border crisis with Belarus and following the Russian war on Ukraine in 2022, we analyse how different groups of non-EU migrants are discursively described and considered by political figures. Furthermore, as these crises have important links with the European Union (EU), we also investigate how Poland’s relationship with the EU is envisioned by Polish authorities. Through the discourse analysis carried out, we argue that ‘migrants’ and ‘refugees’ are discursively constructed as opposing groups in a manner that is highly visible. This discursive strategy is instrumentally used to reflect on the perceived deservingness, alterity or proximity of incoming people. We identify one unifying perspective of Poland’s relationship with the EU throughout these crises: Polish authorities are keen to stress the importance of its membership of the EU when benefiting from the latter’s restriction of migration to Europe.

How is the well-being of returnees when considered from the point of view of the migration experience abroad? To answer this question, the first hypothesis considers that returnees differ in the function of the key activity they had abroad – working, studying or living there without working or studying. Secondly, even if one maintains constant socio-demographic profiles, the country of return counts. Thirdly, it depends also on the facet of subjective well-being (SWB) that is considered – the happiness of living in a certain country of the European Union or a person’s satisfaction with life, country, public services or income. The results of the multivariate analysis indicate that experience of migration, country of current residence and facets of SWB all count. Returnees – through their experience of migration abroad – are compared to non-migrants. The answers come from analysing data from a large Eurobarometer survey in the European Union. Multivariate regression and cluster analysis are the main data-processing procedures. The stability of the results is tested by sensitivity analysis.

This editorial introduction sets the scene for the second part of the Special Section devoted to studying the multi-faceted migration-related consequences of the Russian full-scale invasion against Ukraine of 24 February 2022. Different kinds of migration, migration policies, practices of assistance and solidarity and also experiences of discrimination and exclusion happening in the aftermath or in the context of the Russian aggression against Ukraine after 24 February 2022 – whether inside Ukraine, in neighbouring states or globally – remain within the scope of both parts of this Special Section, with the first part having been published in June 2023.

The literature on the digitalisation of urban life and its datafication has largely centred on top-down approaches to data production, especially within the realms of smart cities and platform urbanism. This article seeks to shift that perspective, contributing to the relatively limited body of work on bottom-up datafication, where ordinary people drive data production in today’s digital and mobile times. Specifically, it delves into how ethnographic toolkits are being reimagined to navigate this knowledge production process within the ‘hybrid city’ paradigm, where digital platforms are pervasive in everyday life.Following the ‘Ethnography’s Kitchen’ format, this study highlights both descriptive and analytical reflexivity, offering practical insights by sharing my personal toolkit. It presents four analytical tools –spatial mapping for discovery, writing for access, self-presentation for positionality, and archiving and monitoring for data collection – supported by empirical evidence drawn from fieldwork in Hamamatsu, Japan and Geneva, Switzerland.The empirical evidence emphasises the pivotal role of reflexivity in hybrid urban ethnography, particularly in grappling with the epistemological challenges posed by the digitalisation of urban life and the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into research practices. By offering practical examples and methodological reflections, this article aspires to inspire urban ethnographers to adopt hybrid methodologies, thus fostering a deeper connection to the complexities of contemporary urban dynamics.

In this article, we aim to highlight the importance of digital platforms, particularly the social network Facebook, in online relationships among digital nomads. To achieve this, we employ social capital theory, conducting both quantitative and qualitative analyses of user groups and posts. The results reveal a strong geographical dimension in the search for social capital, as well as a relative balance between bridging and bonding capital. We also underscore a limited presence of local actors on the social network, despite the richness of interactions among nomads, preferring virtual relationships among peers.

Resumen. El acceso de la población migrante a los servicios públicos, tales como salud, educación, sistema judicial y diversos otros, además de su garantía propiamente tal, requiere que dichos servicios no compartan la información sobre el status migratorio de las personas con las agencias policiales o migratorias. De este modo, las personas migrantes podrán acudir a los servicios públicos sin temor a ser detenidas o deportadas. Dichas prohibiciones de compartir información se denominan “barreras cortafuegos” y tienen sustento en los estándares internacionales de derechos humanos. Muchas ciudades de diferentes países (conocidas como “Ciudades Santuario”) han establecido tales barreras, aunque ellas continúan siendo excepcionales.

Resumo Trata-se de uma Revisão Integrativa, com recorte entre 2020 e 2022, com objetivo de análise das políticas públicas globais implementadas durante a pandemia de Covid-19 para salvaguardar a saúde e os direitos humanos de migrantes e refugiados. A análise foi baseada em 24 artigos de 424 recuperados das bases de dados: Pubmed, Scopus, BVS e Wiley. A partir da análise, emergiram três eixos temáticos: Saúde, Trabalho e Proteção Social. As medidas adotadas pelos Estados foram múltiplas e heterogêneas, variando a cada realidade e status migratório dos indivíduos, como forma de oportunizar ou privar seu acesso às políticas de saúde, trabalho e seguridade social. Dessa forma, tais políticas também serviram como processos de estratificação e controle biopolítico. Portanto, é necessário superar barreiras estruturais e dirimir desigualdades, combater a xenofobia e o racismo, e aplicar plenamente os dispositivos dos tratados internacionais e proteger essas populações contra o arbítrio.

Resumen Este documento discute el proceso de criminalización de la migración en tránsito vivido en México desde que el país reconoció esta categoría de migrante en los 1990s. Según Stumpf (2020), la crimigración se basa en instituciones y sistemas existentes y en funcionamiento continuo, así como en una infraestructura establecida para aumentar o reducir las detenciones y deportaciones de personas migrantes. Se presenta como la profundización lógica del paradigma de Seguridad Nacional y la externalización de fronteras implementado después de 9/11 (Koulish, van der Woude, 2020). En la estrategia de gestión migratoria mexicana conviven este paradigma con el de Seguridad Humana cuyas principales acciones chocaron con el discurso antiinmigrante de Estados Unidos, sobre todo durante el gobierno de Donald Trump. De ahí cabe la pregunta ¿cómo el Estado mexicano ha adaptado la gestión de fronteras y migrantes en su territorio, al ser parte del perímetro de seguridad norteamericano? La idea que guiará este trabajo es que sin que México haya establecido un discurso que los criminalice, en la práctica el migrante en tránsito ha sido ilegalizado y criminalizado durante el proceso de construcción de esta categoría como parte de la gestión migratoria nacional.

Abstract This paper explores how the accessibility to and appropriation of information and communication technologies (ICT) has enabled a group of Ecuadorian transnational families to virtualize their expressions of affection. A thematic analysis was applied to examine 41 interviews with a) Ecuadorian migrants who live in Spain, b) relatives of migrants who remain in Ecuador, and c) migrants who have returned to Ecuador while some of their family members remain in Spain. The findings suggest that ICT allows them to adopt strategies to function as connected transnational families because the connectivity that accompanies migrants in the destination country (Spain) shifts to families in the country of origin (Ecuador), thus establishing more symmetric communicational exchanges. Furthermore, migrants who have returned to Ecuador use ICT to sustain the relational continuity of affection with the members of their families in both places.

Resumen Este estudio examina la integración de estudiantes migrantes venezolanos en el sistema educativo ecuatoriano, analizando desafíos y perspectivas. Mediante un enfoque mixto, se identifican factores influyentes en su rendimiento académico y adaptación. Se revela que, a pesar de los desafíos significativos, los resultados académicos de estos estudiantes no difieren sustancialmente de las medias nacionales, siendo especialmente destacable su desempeño en Lengua y literatura. Se identifican barreras burocráticas y discriminación que dificultan su inserción, y se evidencia la presencia de violencia hacia los estudiantes migrantes en el entorno escolar. Se resalta la necesidad de políticas inclusivas y programas de apoyo para garantizar un ambiente educativo seguro y promover el éxito académico y socioemocional de los estudiantes migrantes. Estos resultados ofrecen puntos de partida importantes para futuras investigaciones y destacan la necesidad de abordar los desafíos que enfrentan los estudiantes migrantes en el sistema educativo ecuatoriano.

This paper considers the implications of migration to Europe for West African governments in relation to other forms of politically relevant mobilities. This helps to understand what governments in West Africa prioritize when it comes to migration policy. No doubt, there is an increasing European influence on the migration agenda. However, despite this influence, there are still other West African interests when it comes to migration governance. These are diverse, covering development and humanitarian concerns, and include pro-active diaspora policies, restrictive immigration regimes due to economic protectionism and security concerns, as well as protecting migrants and displaced people. Thus, different countries in the region have varying sets of political priorities, though underlined by a broader unpolitical nature of migration of the everyday. The paper is based on over 130 interviews with policymakers, politicians, civil society activists, and academic experts in Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and the Gambia in 2019. It adds to the literature on the agency of migration states in the Global South.

The provision of healthcare services to African migrants within the South African public healthcare system has been characterized as marred by medical xenophobia. While the literature on xenophobia in the country draws connections between xenophobic violence and how the migrant is characterized through demeaning metaphors in the media and the political space, medical xenophobia literature somewhat remains with the burden of categorically connecting specific practices that constitute medical xenophobia with the broader anti-migrant discourse. Drawing on the narratives of Zimbabwean migrant women seeking antenatal care services within the public healthcare system in Johannesburg, this paper analyzes the utterances and practices of some healthcare providers to draw connections with the anti-migrant narratives obtaining in the media, the political space, and certain anti-migrant formations (bearers of discourse). Like studies before it, this paper observes medical xenophobia and relying on Foucault’s disciplinary power as a conceptual tool, it argues that the utterances by some public healthcare professionals are indeed unabridged rearticulations of the normalized anti-migrant discourse in various sites bearing anti-migrant discourse. While acknowledging that some bureaucrats’ practices are tangential to the anti-migrant discourse, which decouples their individual actions from the discursive norm, the paper maintains that the standardized anti-migrant discourse for the large part provides frames of reference for some healthcare providers on how to perceive and treat the migrant patient, as their utterances are a restage of this discourse, usually with little to no annotations.

There is growing recognition that climate change is a worldwide phenomenon with far-reaching effects and that it is linked to an increase in the frequency of extreme weather occurrences. In rural areas of most of the sub-Saharan countries and other developing countries in the world, the frequent occurrences of extreme weather events such as flooding, heat waves, and drought have significantly destroyed livelihood activities of poor communities. Unfavorable geographic characteristics, a lack of resources, and a higher reliance on climate-sensitive sources of income among many community members in poor nations all contribute to the impact. These include livelihood activities associated with land use and agricultural practices. Sadly, the population’s capacity and incentive to stay in rural areas have been altered because of climate change and its detrimental impacts on agricultural output, income, and subsistence living; as a result, many rural dwellers are migrating to urban areas. Rural populations migrate to urban areas in search of economic opportunities to earn a living. It is evident that the expected opportunities in urban areas are not always available; thus, most of the rural migrants are stuck in informal settlements, shanty towns, and slums without access to services. Consequently, it is evident that climate change is somehow transferring poverty from rural to urban areas. This study adopted the push/pull theory as a theoretical framework to guide the discussion and analysis. Based on an extensive review of the existing literature using qualitative document analysis, the purpose of this article is to examine the role of climate change on rural–urban migration, which ultimately contributes to the increase in urban poverty. The article concludes by reviewing the current (limited) research on climate change and poverty and argues for a research agenda in the context of sub-Saharan Africa toward sustainable ways to respond to the challenges of climate-induced migration, urbanization, and poverty.

Zimbabwe has consistently experienced an influx of refugees despite its shrinking economy. This places a heavy burden on the state to provide social protection to refugees. There are limited studies that focus on the dynamics of refugee protection in resource-constrained countries like Zimbabwe, often characterized as being only immigrant-sending countries. We use data from 12 in-depth interviews with key informants to explore how the prolonged socio-economic crisis has impacted the state’s ability to provide social protection to refugees in Zimbabwe. The study also explores the relationship between the state and other stakeholders in hosting refugees in Zimbabwe. The findings suggest that socio-economic challenges in a shrinking economy affect the protection outcomes of refugees regardless of the presence of a robust refugee regime in the country.

Abstract On the basis of the empirical findings of some ethnographic research, and drawing on Sayad’s concept of “double absence”, which is regarded as a pivotal key for the interpretation of the transnational nature of migrations, this paper heuristically introduces and discusses an alternative view. In fact, it aims to analytically reconstruct the practices put in place by young sub-Saharan migrants, including marriage, work and housing, instantiated both in their native and host countries, as a possible manifestation of their constant efforts to counter the alienating effects of “double absence”, by transforming it into “double presence”. The case-study forms part of an academic research programme which started in 2021 and is still ongoing; the ethnographic observations were carried out in Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto and Milazzo (Messina/Sicily) and include 45 qualitative interviews that were conducted from a longitudinal perspective.

Resumen Este artículo analiza la relación entre el drill como género musical y el protagonismo que tienen en él las franjas más desafiliadas de los jóvenes de origen inmigrante. Nos servimos de las herramientas teóricas de Abdelmalek Sayad para pensar: de un lado, el estrechamiento de las posibilidades vitales de los hijos e hijas de la migración; y de otro, entender el drill como una estrategia subversiva contra los procesos de estigmatización que experimentan los jóvenes de origen migrante que residen en barrios segregados. Para ello analizamos la propuesta musical de Key 21, uno de los mayores exponentes del drill, residente en una zona de trabajadores jornaleros de la agricultura intensiva en el sur de España. El análisis de las canciones de Key 21 muestra las estrategias de los jóvenes hijos de la migración para transformar el estigma en emblema de la propia identidad y de la identidad de sus barrios.

Resumen Acercarnos a la costura resulta fundamental para conocer las experiencias de vida migrante en tanto la industria de confección se constituye desde hace décadas como uno de los principales nichos laborales disponibles en Buenos Aires para migrantes. En este artículo analizo en profundidad cómo impacta la condición migratoria en las experiencias y relaciones de trabajo en la confección de indumentaria en base a datos cualitativos. Con este fin, incorporo un apoyo sustantivo en las categorías elaboradas por Abdelmalek Sayad desde una lectura situada. Sus ideas sirven a modo de prisma para mirar la especificidad migrante en una fábrica de confección de prendas de vestir y -con la intención de evitar la importación de categorías analíticas de forma lineal y abstracta- ellas se conjugan con las conclusiones de un conjunto de investigadores/as locales que permiten dar un sentido situado espacial y temporalmente a las experiencias obreras observadas.

Résumé D’après Abdelmalek Sayad, la réalisation du projet migratoire se définit par l’impact des institutions de la société du pays d’accueil et de son système de post-industrialisation sur le mode de vie et le parcours des immigrés, depuis le pays de départ jusqu’au pays d’installation. Ce processus ne s’inscrit pas seulement dans un contexte institutionnel, spatial ou temporel, mais il se définit également par la situation familiale, la condition sociale, l’aspect économique et les transformations politiques, tant de la société du pays d’origine que de celle du pays d’accueil. C’est ainsi que le déracinement et le syndrome d’illusions se croisent, pour produire dans l’imaginaire des personnes déplacées, un état d’incertitude entretenu par un rapport de dominant/dominé entre deux États politiquement opposés. C’est à partir de cette opposition entre “national” et “non-national”, en tenant compte des mécanismes et des moyens juridiques et politiques mis en place par les agents d’État, qu’on doit chercher à comprendre les attentes d’un projet dans une société différente de celle du pays de départ. Ce constat ne peut être étudié indépendamment des mutations et des transformations de la société de départ et de celle du pays d’installation. Dès lors, l’incertitude et l’illusion de l’idée d’un éventuel retour modifient le fonctionnement même des rapports entre les membres du groupe familial et/ou entre les générations cherchant à éviter l’échec ou l’interruption de l’aventure migratoire. À ce sujet, A. Sayad, rappelle que chaque projet est, consciemment ou inconsciemment, appréhendé dans un imaginaire singulier ou collectif chez des immigrés absents dans deux sociétés.

Resumo O artigo discute as tensões que surgem no processo da migração e da imersão linguística, através de uma autoetnografia. A partir da experiência da autora, migrante latino-americana no Brasil, discute-se o quanto uma certa ideia de “domínio da língua” que rejeita certos sotaques e formas de expressividade, pode ser um instrumento de poder e espaço da colonialidade sobre sujeito migrante e sua identidade híbrida. Como a identidade migrante e sua “fala com sotaque” nos interpela? Qual o estranhamento que gera e por quê? São algumas das perguntas-incitações que orientam as reflexões. Como parte da discussão analisa-se a necessidade de reivindicar a língua como um lugar diverso, que pode acolher ou (des)acolher, bem como propor novas formas de pensar e politizar a diversidade cultural, viabilizando uma ideia de interculturalidade. Estabelecendo-se como uma política cultural crítica aos modelos de Estado, Democracia e Nação que pretendem apagar a diversidade dos povos e nacionalidades.

Abstract During the last decade, Latin America has witnessed an unprecedented massive current of migration flows. This migration crisis has been well documented by the local and international press. This article focuses on the reporting of the internal migration crisis in Latin America, particularly how the media has negatively framed migrants. The main objective focuses on understanding how Latin American newspapers have covered the internal migration flows? And what kind of frames promote a negative image towards migrants? As final outcomes will show, it is possible to observe how local newspapers have promoted an adverse vision towards migrants based on traditional stereotypes and prejudices.

Resumen El artículo se propone conocer las experiencias de retorno de argentinos y argentinas provenientes de España en contexto de crisis económica (2008-2017). El trabajo parte del supuesto de que los elementos macroestructurales del contexto receptor (crisis económica y laboral) operan como detonantes en la decisión de retorno, pero los factores ligados al nivel micro y meso y su interconexión con el contexto macroestructural iluminan otras variables que permiten identificar diferentes motivaciones, expectativas y estrategias para planificar el retorno. A partir de una metodología cualitativa basada en entrevistas en profundidad, se analizan dos factores centrales de la preparación del retorno: los vínculos transnacionales previos y posteriores al retorno y el conjunto de recursos acumulados (y movilizados) antes, después y durante la migración.

Resumo Do ponto de vista jurídico, a naturalização é um modo secundário de se obter a nacionalidade de um Estado, resultante da manifestação de vontade. Mas é possível tratar a questão da naturalização apenas como uma questão jurídica e como uma manifestação de vontade individual? Este artigo procura responder esta indagação dialogando com as contribuições de Abdelmalek Sayad, desenvolvendo dois argumentos: (1) para Sayad a naturalização não deve ser encarada como uma simples operação administrativa, que como num ato de magia transforma, por exemplo, um argelino em um francês, através duma publicação no diário oficial. Para Sayad a naturalização envolve muito mais do que apenas sua dimensão jurídica; (2) a questão da naturalização em Sayad deve ser compreendida dentro de sua crítica ao mundo pós-colonial, hegemonicamente organizado em Estados-nação. Mundo onde migrantes internacionais estão entre aqueles que, por excelência, vivenciam e revelam os paradoxos - as contradições, incoerências do mundo contemporâneo.

In the global conditions of growing challenges of integration processes and world order, there was a sharp decline in the level of Russian governance and manageability of international relations. The previous mechanisms of international security turned out to be ineffective, regional and partly global, so regional instability increased sharply. This, in particular, led to the fact that national security turned out to be closely linked with international security. The international dimension of national security, which was never disputed by anyone before, has increased many times. From now on, any state can feel relatively safe only in the conditions of strengthening international law and world order that meets the interests of all countries of the world community. The consequences of European integration of post-Soviet countries for ensuring national security have encountered new risks and have turned out to be very contradictory. They create both new, previously unseen opportunities for the development and prosperity of various countries, and new, extremely dangerous challenges and threats. For Armenia, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, which for objective reasons maintain the continuity of not only their regional, but also European interests, all these aspects are especially important and relevant. European integration and democratization of the modern world irreversibly changes the hierarchy of the main actors of national security. Democratization of the political systems of the Eastern Partnership countries and their external environment, albeit inconsistently and contradictorily, does not allow anyone to trample democratic norms with impunity, ignore human interests and rights. The greatest attention is drawn to the search of Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine for their national identity, definition of a national development strategy, as well as attitudes towards the very contradictory processes of globalization taking place in the world.

This book examines the dynamics of national and regional security in the age of Zeitenwende amid polarization and conflict management. Through a comparative analysis, the authors reveal the intricate problems of border dynamics and practice in cases of border disputes and conflicts in the member states of the OSCE. The authors offer their approaches on how to peacefully settle the disputed borders, which can be supported by the EU, the NATO and the OSCE. It can be of significant help in preventing security crises and conflicts. In this regard, a number of solutions that can affect the Russian-Ukraine war and the settlement of Russia-Ukraine relations are highlighted. From the author’s approach, it becomes clear that various European countries and international organizations should play an active role in the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis and the strengthening of European security.

This book discusses the multiple implications of the war against Ukraine for the EU political system. It draws on a number of different authors to analyse the main dimensions of the Russian attack on Ukraine and the subsequent large-scale war, which impact the global order and EU foreign policy. In the context of war and Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU needs to position itself in a changing world order, internal and external challenges to liberal democracy and the development of its strategic autonomy. In various chapters of the book, the development and strengthening of strategic partnership and friendship with Ukraine is considered by the EU as one of the central foreign policy priorities. Without the support of the Ukrainian partner, it is difficult for the EU to achieve positive results in European politics and play the role of an influential power in the international arena. In this context, various authors note that only the formation of political and economic ties between the EU and Ukraine will be the optimal way out of the full-scale war and crisis that Ukraine has found itself in. Only the combination of opportunities and efforts will allow the Ukrainian political elite and society to eventually stand on par with leading European countries.

The article discusses the issue of bureaucratic leadership and economic reforms in the USSR during the administration of Yu. V. Andropov, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The article analyzes Andropov's consistent policy in the Soviet bureaucratic system and his uncompromising position in the fight against corruption. In this regard, the article emphasizes the years of his leadership, in which the reforms of the Soviet economy occupied a significant place, trying to inspire confidence in the Soviet society and citizens. However, the totalitarian regime of the USSR and the bureaucratic system simply blocked the package of measures proposed by the General Secretary. An analysis of the works examining the personality and party and state activities of Yu. V. Andropov allows us to conditionally distinguish two periods of the formation and development of the historiography of the problem. The first, personifying the Soviet era, ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The second covers the 1990s, as well as the beginning of this century. Within the framework of the first period, the activities of Yu. V. Andropov were covered in various works devoted to the problems of modern Soviet history. Against this background, the position of Western researchers turned out to be preferable. In the West, the steady growth of interest in Yu. V. Andropov on the part of Sovietologists was mainly due to his activities as Chairman of the KGB. At the same time, it cannot be denied that, as a rule, the noted works were distinguished by their tendentiousness and bore the imprint of the Cold War.

The formation of the army's image has acquired newfound significance in our time. Paradoxically, alongside the spread of humanist ideology, the number of violent conflicts worldwide is increasing. These stimulates the need for propaganda aimed at shaping the image of the army and enhancing the attractiveness of service. As one of the world's largest military forces, the US army has engaged in a diverse array of conflicts with over 750 military bases in approximately 80 countries (Kohli 2020). A diverse range of tools is employed to shape the image of the US army, including media, recruitment campaigns, social media, public events, etc. Among these tools, movies have their specific role. While traditionally intended for entertainment, movies have been used for over a century as a means to shape public opinion. This article delves into the main attributes of the US Army as a social institution, analyzing its four fundamental characteristics: the Militia Tradition, Mobilization Miracles, Man-Mindedness, Maritime Influence, the weapon and the enemy as distinctive attributes. Additionally, it features the seven core values of the US Army: Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage. The article provides a detailed analysis of how various components of movie production tools communicate the attributes and core values of the US Army and contribute to shaping its image, examining a high-viewership movie “Interceptor” (2022). The goal of the study was to find out the image of the US Army that “Interceptor” projects and to identify the verbal and visual communicative means it uses for this purpose. The content analysis made it possible to distinguish verbal and visual elements of the movie, encompassing human voice, mise-en-scène, as well as film editing techniques, to identify and highlight the messages and ideas conveyed about the attributes of the US Army.

The book analyses the main factors of European integration crises, taking into account eight major cases from the early 1950s to recent times. The author pays special attention to constitutional crises, the euro crisis and the migration crisis, thus showing that crises have been an integral part of the process of European integration from its very beginning. Although the book does not analyse the current confrontation between Russia and the West, the author argues that European integration began with a serious setback, when member states failed to implement plans to create a European army through the European Defence Community. The global scale and radicality of the ongoing changes allow many researchers to suggest the formation of a new system of international relations. In parallel with these processes, many provisions and phenomena characterizing the system of international relations itself are being revised.

The Third Artsakh war has dramatically transformed the security environment in the South Caucasus. Being a result and indicator of changing world order, it unleashed the parameters of the newly-developing formats of conflicts, confrontations, and wars, called hybrid warfare. From this perspective the paper studies the parameters of hybrid warfare against Artsakh launched by Azerbaijan. Application of hybrid warfare against Artsakh is not a new phenomenon and has being practiced by Azerbaijan at least during the last 10-15 years. However, the results of the 44-day war has provided new framework, opportunities, and instruments to intensify hybrid operations, striving to maximize the results. Hence, the paper discusses the Azerbaijani strategy of hybrid war against Artsakh by analyzing the main strategies, tactics, instruments and tools used by Azerbaijan against Artsakh, specifically, after 44-day war. The paper argues that after the Third Artsakh war of 2020 Azerbaijan has launched a full scale hybrid operation to provide ethnic cleansing of Artsakh and receive ‘Nagorno-Karabakh without Armenians’. The operation was based on the following components: information-psychological campaign/influence operations (against Armenians in Artsakh), economic and energy aspects, ecological issues, blockade, international campaigns, support to split Armenian power (in Armenia and Armenian Diaspora), sabotage against critical infrastructure and population, and so on. Concluding the paper launches, a discussion about Azerbaijani engagement with Armenia after the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh of Autumn of 2023.

This article analyzes the strategy of self-exclusion in the foreign policy of small states, considering their goals and expected results of this strategy, that is, the main conditions for its implementation, the main determinants, and also identifies and characterizes its varieties and practical manifestations. In this context, global transformations also cause changes related to the positions and roles of small states in world politics and international relations. At the same time, global transformations change the understanding of the security of small states, which in turn leads to an increase in the number of studies in this area. Together, these factors become the rationale for the relevance of studying the security problems of small states in modern conditions. In conclusion, the results of the analysis are summarized, the features of the strategy of self-exclusion, common features and differences in its varieties are shown.

The article analyzes the strategic prospects for creating stable conditions for attracting additional volumes of foreign investment in the Armenian economy, which is due to the lack of own funds for sustainable social and economic development. The relevance of issues related to the role and place of foreign investment in Armenia, occurring due to the globalization of the world and regional economy, creating or limiting conditions for the movement of capital, has increased sharply in light of the sharp intensification of the policy of attracting foreign investment in the South Caucasus region. The practical experience of the transition period of the market economy of Armenia is summarized, as the country became more dependent on the level of regional and global integration. At this time, flows of foreign capital emerged not only in the form of government borrowings, but also in the form of diaspora transfers, assistance from international organizations, and the creation of joint ventures with Armenian entrepreneurs. Restrictions on obtaining high technologies, both in the form of goods and technical documentation, and in the form of direct investment, were gradually lifted.

The article examines the dynamics of development of relations between Armenia and Russia after the Second Karabakh War. Armenian-Russian relations are considered in the context of a comparative analysis of regional processes. In the context of the cooling of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Russia managed to implement a key policy of containment, as well as maneuver between Azerbaijan and Armenia. However, this policy became ineffective when Turkey actively intervened in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. The article analyzes the factors that negatively influenced the revision of Russian foreign policy to the detriment of Armenia. The article substantiates the hypothesis that Russia was able to stop military operations in the Second Karabakh war in time to prevent the strengthening of Turkish influence in Azerbaijan. From the point of view of Russian interests, the most effective way to solve this problem was to deepen relations with Azerbaijan through a strategic alliance at the expense of Armenia.

The article examines neoclassical realism and Armenia’s international orientation as one of the directions in the transformation of the theory of international relations of small states. In this article, neoclassical realism is analyzed from the point of view of subjective aspects of policy formation and the influence of domestic political features of a small state on its foreign policy. Taking into account that neoclassical realism is a completely independent development of neorealism with a complementary elemental level of analysis of international politics. In terms of content, neoclassical realism of Armenia clarifies such concepts as resilience, national security, balance of power, balancing policy and others. The neoclassical model of Armenia’s foreign policy as a small state allows us to study the conditions under which great powers and small states deviate from the policy of balancing. From this point of view, the article proposes to analyze international politics through the prism of a global rollback to state-centric politics. The article takes into account that globalization presents new challenges for small countries such as Armenia, which risks being marginalized as a result of the restructuring of both global and regional economic relations.

Professor Brinsley Samaroo made a sterling contribution to the field of history, particularly that of Indian indentureship and the atrocities of the colonial past. He was a historian of the people, had entered national politics in one phase of his career and continued all his life to serve as a public intellectual for the society of Trinidad in defence of many groups and causes. In this tribute to his life, the author establishes the intellectual heights he had plumbed by the age of 83 and draws on the testimonies of four persons whose lives have been influenced by him in different ways. Each individual underscores the wealth of his knowledge, his generosity as a scholar, his accessibility, gregarious nature and penchant for storytelling. Yet all of this was packaged in a disciplined and no-nonsense individual who was deeply committed to recovering the voices of those who have not yet been heard in history.

The museum exhibition, Indo + Caribbean: The Creation of a Culture , which ran at the Museum of London Docklands, offers a captivating and insightful exploration of the rich heritage and diverse traditions of the Indo-Caribbean community. Through a combination of artefacts, personal miscellany, for example, jewellery, letters petitioning the government from planter Sir John Gladstone, contracts, shipping company records, postcards and papers from the Parliamentary Archives and artworks, the exhibition provides a decent, albeit not exhaustive, overview of the historical, cultural and social aspects of Indo-Caribbean identity.

This paper pays homage to the late Professor, Brij Lal, for the critical role he played in debunking colonial and patriarchal myths about Fiji’s Indian indentured (girmitiya) women. From as early as 1985, Lal critiqued the way the British administrators wielded power over displaced female labourers by misrepresenting them in internal and external exchanges. My specific focus here is on the way he deconstructed colonial and patriarchal tropes associated with indentured women such as their alleged immorality and promiscuousness, ‘sexual jealousy’, ‘maternal negligence’ and madness, by situating these constructs within a specific historical context. With these interventions as the foundation for this paper, I will illustrate how my own interdisciplinary investigations in the interconnecting fields of gender, indenture, subaltern studies and minor history have attempted to address Lal’s concern that girmitiya women’s perspectives were absent in the historical records.