International Social Work with Refugees and Migrants

Migration and Social Transformation Network (MSTN): A Research-Policy-Practice Network

This engaged research-policy-practice network pursues a new agenda, which seeks to turn migration/refugee research into an active partnership with society, to address the pressing social needs of migrants who suffer from a range of exclusionary processes, not least those based on racial, gender and class differences. It was initiated by several persons associated with International Social Work with Refugees and Migrants programme at  the University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt (FHWS) in Germany, together with their international partners in Europe, Africa and Latin America.

The main principles of the research-policy-practice network are

  • Migrant protagonism: it is the agency and resilience of migrants and refugees that we see as central to the complex process of people’s mobility in the era of globalisation, this is the epistemological and institutional driver of MSTN’s objectives;
  • Intersectionality: to address the impact of “race,” gender, class, ethnicity, religious affiliation, sexual orientation/gender identity and political affiliation in the migratory processes. These divisions that are at the core of the migration processes, can be exacerbated or mediated by the role of civil society in the transit and destination countries;
  • Importance of the care economy and emotions: moving beyond “rational” explanations of migration, it is not only the political economy of migration processes that matter but the way they shape and are shaped by the international care economy, and attention to emotions and meaning-making;
  • Participatory action research: this implies giving voice to migrants and refugees in a process of co-research and co-production of knowledge, experiential learning is key to a transformative strategy as is the sharing and analysis of that experience;
  • Centrality of life and dignity leading to social transformation: we need to create safe democratic spaces where transnational migrants and refugees can find voice and share their experience, moving towards the transformation of society to offer decent work and a dignified life for all

The activities of MSTN will be focused initially around the following areas

Our emphasis is on the complexity of migration movements and South-South migration, decentering the corridors emphasized from a European or US perspective.  The complex process of migration leads us to address its dynamics at a regional level, transnational flows and the formation of diasporas in their different expressions.


In 2021/2022 we plan:

 

 

More information coming soon!

 

 

Network Members

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