Project description
Transnational criminal groups and migration governance
Transnational criminal groups play a significant role in migration governance, attracting global attention due to the close link between migration management and crime. Yet, most studies treat these groups solely as threats or marginal actors. The ERC-funded UNDERGOV project challenges this view by recognising criminal groups as influential players in migration, not just obstacles. It argues that these groups actively shape both migration governance and the legal frameworks surrounding it. To explore this, the project will build an ethnographic collection that highlights the role of transnational crime in migration governance and develop new theories on its impact, empirically deepening our understanding of migration governance in Europe, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.
Objective
UNDERGOV investigates the role of transnational criminal groups in migration governance. Although this topic has attracted increasing global attention due to the intersection of migration management and crime, academic research remains limited. Most studies tend to view criminal groups merely as threats to migration governance or as peripheral actors. UNDERGOV advocates for a significant paradigm shift in conventional debate on transnational governance. Rather than merely viewing criminal groups as global challenges for various actors to tackle, we should acknowledge them as pivotal actors influencing these challenges. My decade-long empirical research on migrant smuggling and human trafficking has deepened my understanding of the complex relationships between these criminal actors, migrants, and other crucial participants in migration governance. UNDERGOV builds on and moves beyond this experience, positing that criminal groups not only disrupt but also actively shape migration governance, and may even play a crucial role in the functioning and reproduction of its legal apparatus. In so doing, the project transcends both mainstream perspectives that view crime as a mere challenge to migration governance and critical studies that frame the role of crime in migration governance solely in terms of a state-driven process of “criminalization”. The project aims to revolutionize our understanding of migration governance through empirical research and theory-building in Europe, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. It will compile a unique ethnographic collection to illuminate the operations of transnational crime within migration governance, addressing the current data shortage that hinders theoretical development. Simultaneously, it will develop new theories about the role of crime in migration governance, contributing to social anthropology, migration studies, and filling a significant gap in our understanding of transnational governance.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- social sciences sociology governance
- social sciences sociology anthropology
- social sciences sociology demography human migrations
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2024-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
56127 PISA
Italy
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.