MOVES — Migration and Modernity: Historical and Cultural Challenges

Results in brief

Migration and Modernity: Historical and Cultural Challenges

The H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action, an Innovative Training Network, European Joint Doctorate “Migration and Modernity: Historical and Cultural Challenges” (MOVES) is built around the conviction that contemporary migration challenges can only be addressed effectively if migration is understood as a historical and cultural phenomenon stretching back deep into the past, rather than as a present-day threat to security, culture, and the integrity of the nation state. MOVES has been set up as a team of experienced researchers drawn from the disciplines of history, literature, cultural studies, sociology and political science. Together, the team undertook a comparative research of the social and cultural roots of mass mobility in the past and at present. Most individual research projects as well as the outputs of cooperation with the project partners bring historical and cultural analysis that can address the present problems of migration through an understanding of, and comparison to, the population movements of the past. The principal objective of the project is a comparative research of social and cultural roots, dynamics and impact of mass population mobility in modernity and the present time. The project’s outputs contribute to the identification of alternative solutions of problems connected with migration and to the avoidance of adopting short-term solutions and violent measures. The major research and training objectives include • delivering a historical and cultural analysis of modern European migration since the 17th century, disseminated through PhD theses, open access articles, papers and research reports on human mobility, each linked to aspects of contemporary migration such as class, ethnicity or gender. • preparing - in conjunction with partners across the sectors, including NGOs and charities working with migrants, and the cultural and creative industries - experts in migration management with historic and cultural erudition inevitable for dealing with contemporary and future challenges of migration. • contributing to the public understanding of migration processes by explaining the links between their historical roots and present-day cultural dynamics. • formulating policy advice, shaping future curricula, and influencing popular opinion in order to combat anti-immigrant sentiment across the EU.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

Today’s world sees masses on the move: across the globe, there are almost one billion international and internal migrants; in the EU alone, there are 57 million residents living outside their country of birth, amounting to over 11% of the EU28 population. This unprecedented global situation requires serious political action. Yet this action will only be effective once the historical, cultural and social roots of migration are properly understood. It is this understanding that the ITN MOVES will provide.The project’s chief objective is to undertake a comparative study of the social and cultural roots of mass mobility, and provide the urgently needed historical analysis that can address the so-called migration crisis of the present through an understanding of the population movements of the past. The network has been set up as an interdisciplinary collaboration between researchers in the Humanities and the Social Sciences who will approach migration as both a condition of modernity and one of its greatest challenges, placing the systematic confrontation of past and present forms of migration at the centre of their activities.Through its innovative training programme, carried out in conjunction with 18 non-academic partners (including NGOs, charities, and the cultural and creative industries), MOVES will enable a new generation of experts gain the historical knowledge required to respond to future migration crises with innovative solutions. The project will generate new knowledge about the shaping of the modern world and provide conceptual tools to avoid short-termism in migration management through its emphasis on enduring cultural patterns, historical context, and migration flows over the long term. The links between contemporary and historical migration that MOVES research will uncover can be used to improve educational provision, inform future policy, and counter the rise of anti-immigrant sentiment across the EU.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

UNIVERZITA KARLOVA · Praha 1CoordinatorCzechia
AGRUPAMENTO DE ESCOLAS DE VALONGO · ValongoPortugal
ASSOCIATION LE PRINTEMPS DES COMEDIENS · MontpellierFrance
BIBLIOTHEQUE NATIONALE DE FRANCE · ParisFrance
CONSELHO PORTUGUES PARA OS REFUGIADOS CPR · LisboaPortugal
Câmara Municipal de Fafe - Município de Fafe · FafePortugal
FREIE UNIVERSITAET BERLIN · BerlinGermany
FUNDACAO CASA DA MUSICA · PortoPortugal
HERZOG AUGUST BIBLIOTHEK · WolfenbüttelGermany
KENT REFUGEE ACTION NETWORK · DoverUnited Kingdom
Konsorcium nevladnich organizaci pracujicich s migranty v CR · PrahaCzechia
LA BOUTIQUE D ECRITURE & CO · MontpellierFrance
LES PERLES DE VERRE · MontpellierFrance
MULTIKULTURNI CENTRUM PRAHA, Z.S. · Praha 3Czechia
NARODNI ARCHIV · PrahaCzechia
National Maritime Museum · LondonUnited Kingdom
ONLINE ENCYKLOPEDIE MIGRACE · PrahaCzechia
PLATFORM FOR INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ON UNDOCUMENTED MIGRANTS ASBL · BRUSSELBelgium
STIFTUNG PREUSSISCHER KULTURBESITZ · BerlinGermany
Teatro Nacional São João, E.P.E. · PortoPortugal
UNIVERSIDADE DO PORTO · PortoPortugal
UNIVERSITE PAUL-VALERY MONTPELLIER3 · Montpellier Cedex 5France
UNIVERSITY OF KENT · Canterbury, KentUnited Kingdom

MOVES · Migration and Modernity: Historical and Cultural Challenges

Results in brief

Migration and Modernity: Historical and Cultural Challenges

Project objective

Participants

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