With the increasing number of immigrants coming to Malta and with the consequent cultural and social contexts that are being created, this subject is bound to keep growing in importance in years to come.
Unfortunately, even though migration is not a new phenomenon and human beings have been forging new routes and seeking out new spaces to explore, to survive, to live, since the beginning of time this theme has been short changed in terms of scholarship and empirical data. Lest we forget, historically, the socio-cultural, demographic, political and economic underpinnings of migration have played a central role in the development of Maltese society, the Mediterranean region, and indeed globally. But there are those who have argued that we live in a new era - the ‘age of migration’ (Castles & Miller, 2009).
The ‘migrant’ embodies globalisation, the set of processes transforming our lives, no matter the space and place we occupy in this world. From popular discourse to populist politics, from economic policies to issues of national security, and from global inequalities to social wellbeing. Migration, in all its forms and representations is positioned as one of the key concerns of contemporary times. Unpredictable at times, multifaceted and complex, migration brings new challenges and opportunities, within and across borders, from the local to the transnational, historically enveloped within and constructed through the geopolitical.
The setting up of a ‘Migration Studies Cluster’ will make a timely and valuable contribution to developing knowledge on human mobility. Embracing the spirit of praxis, and providing a space for critical reflection, students and academics will be introduced to a wide-ranging, multi-disciplinary and dynamic theoretical base that is required to develop an understanding of different forms of contemporary migration within economic, social and political processes, and the skills to contribute to policy debate and development.
So far there are currently c. 20 academics participating in this Cluster that come from the:
- Department of Social Policy and Social Work, Faculty for Social Wellbeing
- Department of Youth and Community Studies, Faculty for Social Wellbeing
- Department of Gender Studies, Faculty for Social Wellbeing
- Department of Inclusion and Access to Learning, Faculty of Education
- Department of International Relations, Faculty of Arts
- Department of Psychology, Faculty for Social Wellbeing
- Department of Spanish and Latin American Studies, Faculty of Arts
- Department of Disability Studies, Faculty for Social Wellbeing
- Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies
- Department of Youth and Community Studies, Faculty for Social Wellbeing
- Department of Languages and Humanities, Faculty of Education
- Department of Civil Law, Faculty of Laws
- Department of Public Policy, FEMA
If you are interested in getting involved send an email to Prof. Andrew Azzopardi at andrew.azzopardi@um.edu.mt.