21 May: Colloquium “Transnational Social Protection: Migrants’ Strategies and Formal Structures” by Başak Bilecen (Bielefeld University)

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Date/Time
Date(s) - 21/05/14
3:30 pm - 5:30 pm

Location
Grote Gracht 80-82, Spiegelzaal (Soiron Building) Maastricht

Categories


Transnational Social Protection: Migrants’ Strategies and Formal Structures

by  Başak Bilecen (Bielefeld University)

Globalisation, Transnationalism and Development research program/ FASoS and MACIMIDE colloquium

Abstract: Social protection is an assemblage of formal and informal elements. While informal social protection is usually attributed as resources available in and via interpersonal networks while formal social protection is conceptualized as being provided by the state and organizations. Those assemblages are not straightforward processes but rather in constant negotiation. First, I introduce the concept of social protection assemblages. Second, I will talk about the transnational dimension in the case of social protection. Migrants face certain social risks such as poverty, participation or non-participation in the formal labor market, deterioration in health, raising children with insufficient access to resources, among others. They might also have different needs and evaluations, which initiate different strategies of social protection. Third, drawing on qualitative interviews and ego-centric network data collected for our large scale project called ‘‘Transnationality, the Distribution of Social Protection and Inequalities’, I will demonstrate social protection strategies of migrants in Germany coming from Kazakhstan, Poland and Turkey. 

Speaker: Başak Bilecen is a post-doctoral researcher at the Faculty of Sociology in Bielefeld University, Germany. Her doctoral dissertation analyzed the interaction between transnational social support networks and identification(s) of international doctoral students. She is interested in sociology of migration, social network analysis, transnationalism, cosmopolitanism, international students and social protection. Her recent publications include: “How Social Support Works among the Best and the Brightest: Evidence from International PhD Students in Germany, Transnational Social Review – A Social Work Journal, 2 (2): 139-155” in 2012 as well as “International Student Mobility and Transnational Friendships” Palgrave Macmillan in 2014.

Discussant:  Valentina Mazzucato (FASoS, Maastricht University)

Upcoming GTD colloquia:

  • May 28: Henk Molenaar (WOTRO), combined STS/GTD seminar
  • June 18: Leen Sterckx (The Netherlands Institute for Social Research)