Soziologie
RTG 2951 Doctoral Researchers and Principal Investigators participate in the 5th Forum of the International Sociological Association (ISA) in Rabat, Morocco
From July 6 to 11, 2025, the 5th Forum of the International Sociological Association (ISA) was held in Rabat, Morocco. Many members of the Research Training Group (RTG 2951) “Cross-Border Labour Markets” took part in the Forum’s panels and sessions organized by the Research Committee 02 “Economy and Society.”
On July 7, the Special Panel for Early Career Researchers, organized by Sandhya A.S., postdoctoral researcher in the RTG 2951, was held. It included a total of nine presentations, many of which were given by RTG doctoral researchers.Ezgi Elmas (University of Duisburg-Essen) presented her preliminary research findings on the segmentation of Germany’s healthcare sector in relation to career trajectories of migrant physicians from Turkey. Kadir Engil (University of Duisburg-Essen) presented the design of his study on the expectations, aspirations, and imagined futures of students at the Turkish-German University with regard to their potential entry into cross-border labour markets. Elisabeth Schmidt (Bielefeld University) devoted her presentation to the application of concepts of spaces and scapesto the labour of contemporary circus performers, in the context of her research on the international circus industry. Duaa Kattana (University of Duisburg-Essen) presented a paper co-authored with her colleagues. The paper discussed the effects of forced displacement of people in Nigeria due to the Boko Haram insurgency on the health outcomes of children under five years of age. Aamir Ali (Bielefeld University) shared his field research findings, offering both empirical and theoretical insights into how Indian workers build networks and infrastructures that enable them to prepare for migration to Gulf countries. Ardita Osmani (University of Duisburg-Essen) presented the results of her field research on how Chinese-language digital platforms enable migrants to access labour and housing markets in Italy.
On July 8, a session titled “Inequalities of Access and Cross-Border Labour Markets” took place. Prof. Dr. Anja Weiß (University of Duisburg-Essen), one of the RTG2951 Principal Investigators, presented a paper co-authored with her colleague, proposing a framework for understanding the labour market-related knowledge of those who are commonly referred to as highly skilled migrants and Mark Simon, RTG 2951 doctoral researcher at Bielefeld University, presented the findings of his field trip to Kazakhstan.
He examined how various inequalities are reflected in the digital infrastructures utilized by Russian citizens who are escaping the war and searching for employment while in Kazakhstan. On the same day, July 8, a discussion of the book “Trafficking Chains: Modern Slavery in Society,” written by the RTG Co-Speaker Prof. Karen Shire (University of Duisburg-Essen) in co-authorship with Prof. Sylvia Walby (Royal Holloway, University of London), took place in an “Authors Meet Critics” format.
On July 10, at the session “Economic Sociology of Transnational Labour: Skills, Sectors & Finance,” Karim Ashour (University of Duisburg-Essen), RTG doctoral researcher, presented his view on how to conceptualize experimentalist governance in relation to Skills Mobility Partnerships between EU member states and non-EU countries.
On July 10, there was also a session entitled “The Economic Sociology of Migration,” featuring presentations by Prof. Karen Shire (University of Duisburg-Essen) and Prof. Dr. Ursula Mense-Petermann (Bielefeld University), who are Co-Speaker and Speaker of the RTG 2951, respectively. Karen Shire’s presentation addressed how a new economic sociology of migration could be built by incorporating aspects such as the social order of cross-border labour markets and the role of intermediaries in these markets, as well as multiple levels of public governance in the agenda. In her presentation, Ursula Mense-Petermann proposed a research heuristic for studying how three phenomena—(1) migration and market infrastructures, (2) market devices, and (3) logistics—enable cross-border labour markets.
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