Transnational Migration, Cultural Change and Human Security
An important aspect of the economic, social, cultural and political internationalisation is the increase in the volume and the differentiation of the forms of cross-border migration. While the labour market and demographic effects of this migration as well as the integration of the migrants are in the centre of the attention of society and science in the main arrival countries of the migration flows, mainly the problems of regional development effects for these regions are discussed in the countries of origin (e.g. the benefit of money transfers‚ "brain drain/brain gain"). A scientific discussion on transnationalisation and the global view of migration phenomena has developed through this research focussed on origin or arrival region in the course of the last fifteen years. This is concerned with problems of emergence of transnational social environments and an integrated perspective of development, but also with problems of establishing and realising human security and global human rights, of cross-border human trafficking, as well as the fight against criminal and terrorist transnational networks linked closely to migration movements.
The research line on transnational migration and social environments, cultural change and human security in global change is characterised by analysing the problems of migration, cultural change and human security not as separate but mutually dependent processes and aspects of global change, by not investigating migration processes primarily under the assimilation or integration aspect, but with the perspective of connecting lines and (emerging) social textures between the region of origin and arrival, by investigating social practices in everyday living contexts, the effect of non-profit organisations and of commercial enterprises in their respective institutional context, their mutual conditions and complex interactions, which can be investigated e.g. in the production and use of certain rituals, the remittal of money by migrants, in gender conflicts and their culturalisation, in cross-border media organisation as well as the international organisation of humanitarian help.
Important Existing Individual Activities Involved in this Line of Research are:
Transnationale Medienorganisaitonen und Diversity (Prof. Dr. Ilse Lenz Projekt in Planung)
Global Governance, transnationale Organisationen und die Transnationalisierung der sozialen Welt durch internationale Arbeitsmigration (Prof. Dr. Ludger Pries; VW-Stiftungs-Projekt und einschlägige Publikationen sowie betreute Dissertationen)
Migration and Integration in Germany in a comparative perspective (Prof. Dr. Götz Rohwer/Dr. Pötter; EU-Verbund-Projekt und einschlägige Publikation)
Migration, Segregation und Stadtentwicklung (Prof. Dr. Peter Strohmeier; MGFFI-Projekt und einschlägige Publikationen)