Periodic Reporting for period 4 - MIGRADEMO (Migration and Democratic Diffusion: Comparing the Impact of Migration on Democratic Participation and Processes in Countries of Origin)
Reporting period: 2022-09-01 to 2024-02-29
These research questions and objectives are timely and relevant for broader debates on the political impact of migration. The MIGRADEMO research shifts the attention from the predominant focus on what happens when migrants arrive in countries of settlement to countries of origin. Comparing the content, scope and processes of democratic diffusion will contribute to our knowledge of the conditions under which migration can influence democratic practices. Both the empirical and theoretical contributions are relevant to researchers, policy makers and activists concerned with the broader implications of international migration and processes of democratization in migrant countries of origin.
The MIGRADEMO project is an ambitious long-term comparative research strategy to analyse and theorize the scope and dynamics of processes of democratic diffusion through migration. The research strategy of the project engages with both qualitative and quantitative research methods to analyse migration-led diffusion across three levels of democratic participation and processes: 1) The electoral and non-electoral political engagement and attitudes of individual citizens/households. 2) The proliferation, agendas and activities of members of civil society associations. 3) The democratic outlook and activities of members of the national and local political elite with a migration experience. In the fieldwork based part of the project we explore these dynamics at both the local and national level in the cases of Romania, Turkey and Morocco.
In continuation, the collected data both through surveys and qualitative fieldwork based research techniques allows us to analyse processes and mechanisms of democratic diffusion across the three main research levels in the selected countries of origin. This includes attention to how democratic diffusion intersects with ongoing social and political developments in countries of origin as well as a more nuanced conceptualization of which ideas circulate among migrants, returnees and non-migrants. The field research is generating new comprehensive datasets based on quantitative surveys and qualitative research. The former is essential for a systematic evaluation of the influence of migration on the levels and scope of individual democratic participation The latter is crucial for a more nuanced a less binary understanding of which political ideas circulate and how they are negotiated among migrants, returnees and non-migrants. The combination of the different methodologies and approaches create synergies between the more systematic evaluation of democratic diffusion across different local and national contexts and the more interpretative analysis of how this diffusion is negotiated. This research strategy aids us in contributing to the theoretical understanding of the micro-foundations for democratic diffusion and the conditions under which migration can influence democratic processes.