20th June 2023, 12.30-14.20

Come and listen to four of our network's emerging scholars present their work! Details of the speakers and topics below:

Repression and hospitality: migrants and bordering practices in Palermo, Italy

Francesca Guarino, Department of Urban Studies and Planning

In recent years, the South-Italian city of Palermo – located in Sicily, historically framed as an inner disadvantaged South and today a prominent external border for Europe - has proposed itself as a safe harbour for migrants, often opposing national and international politics of control and repression. After nine months of intense participant observation, my presentation explores how the narrative of solidarity is shaping imaginaries, physical spaces, society and economies of the city, observing how these transformations are both reproducing and challenging the Western racialised border regime. It does so 1) by critically considering how bordering practices – and migrants’ lives accordingly – are embedded within other global/local urban processes, such as economic crises and restructuring, governance changes, politics of regeneration, and how they embed within specific histories and geographies; 2) by adopting a critical approach to urban solidarity movements and the power relations that these can create.

Gendered, diasporic, and multicultural experiences of North Korean female defectors in the United States

Shinhye Lee, School of East Asian Studies

My research critically examines the experiences of North Korean women defectors who have fled from North Korea, migrated across different countries, lived in South Korea, left South Korea, and finally settled in the United States. Three key analytical categories are gender, migration, and identity. Given the high representation of female North Korean defectors, it is essential to delve into the gendered aspects of their choices and experiences. These aspects encompass the factors motivating them to escape North Korea, forced marriages, their sense of motherhood, as well as the challenges they face during the settlement process in South Korea, contributing to both legal and emotional insecurity. Based on initial findings gathered through in-depth interviews with six interviewees conducted during my fieldwork in 2023, I aim to illustrate how individual identities, including traditional values, Christianity, and gender roles, have influenced the life experiences of these women throughout their journey and current lifestyles in the U.S.

Governing forced migration in Colombia’s peace transition: integrating urban resettlement and housing in the Ilano Verde housing state in Cali, Colombia (2012-2023)

Stephany Vargas Rojas, Department of Urban Studies and Planning

While studies on forced migration and housing highlight the difficulties for forced migrants in accessing permanent housing worldwide, Colombia provides a noteworthy case for studying permanent housing provision to IDPs. This PhD project examines the colonial legacies in Colombia’s recent efforts to govern internal armed conflict-induced displacement through urban resettlement in massive state-led housing projects. I explore housing use for strengthening family-based behavioural interventions aimed at IDPs in Cali during the country’s peace transition (2012-2023). The research uses a case study design in Cali, where predominantly Afro-Colombian groups were resettled in the Llano Verde-Territorio de Paz housing estate in 2013. This research contributes to the growing work exploring governmentality theory in housing and postcolonial perspectives on migration governance, in an area often overlooked in Latin America. While the project will concentrate on Colombia, it will have broader implications for other countries facing the challenge of addressing the needs of mass migration/movements caused by conflict.

Internally displaced children and play: What type of play do displaced children conduct in their new environments and can play be used to improve wellbeing outcomes after traumatic events

Olamide Ejorh, School of Education

In Nigeria, the majority of internally displaced persons move to urban areas like Lagos. From recent research, approximately 60% of IDPs residing in Lagos are families with children who have faced multiple relocations, gender based violence, and discrimination. Within the context of displacement, play allows children to potentially foster integration into a new space. After experiencing highly distressing events before, during and after forced displacement, high quality and safe spaces for play and learning have been widely reported as factors that may protect refugee children and help them overcome traumatic events. Children are co-creators of knowledge, and are experts of their own lives. They are also rights holders and should have a say in how cities are designed. The aim of this research is to investigate how conflict and displacement has affected how and where young Nigerians play, and identify ways in which children’s opportunities for play may be improved.