Migration and Social Pathways : : Biographies of Highly Educated People Moving East-West-East in Europe / / Anna Guhlich

• VerfasserIn: Guhlich, Anna
• Year of Publication: 2017
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Qualitative Fall- und Prozessanalysen. Biographie - Interaktion - Soziale Welten
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (364 pages).

The landscape of European migration has changed considerably over the past decades, in particular after the fall of the iron curtain and again after the EU enlargement to the east. The author researches the phenomenon of highly qualified migration using the example of migration between the Czech Republic and Germany. The book reveals diverse strategies migrants use to respond to the possible de-valuation of their qualification, e.g. by making use of their language skills, starting new studies or using transnational knowledge.

Table of Contents

Cover -- Contents -- Migration and Social Pathways. Biographies of Highly Educated People Moving East-West-East in Europe -- Acknowledgements -- Preface: Pathways to the research questions -- 1 Introduction -- 1.1 The context of EU enlargement -- 1.2 Outline of my research questions -- 1.3 Studying migration and social pathways by means of life stories -- 1.4 Structure of this thesis -- 2 Context: Czech-German border crossings against the backdrop of the shifting landscape of European migration -- 2.1 Historical interconnections over the past millennium -- 2.2 The 19th and 20th century -- 2.3 Border crossings during the Cold War -- 2.4 The fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 and the establishment of new migratory spaces -- 2.5 The enlargement of the EU in 2004 and 2007 and the financial crisis -- 3 Research on highly skilled migration in Europe: state of the art -- 3.1 Changing contexts of highly skilled migration: working towards the liberalisation of skilled migration flows -- 3.2 Rethinking the migration of highly skilled people: the research agenda -- 3.2.1 "Highly skilled migrants" as the subject of research -- 3.2.2 The neglected gender dimension within studies on highly skilled migration -- 3.2.3 Going beyond the dichotomy of "low skilled migration" and "highly skilled migration" -- 3.2.4 Redefining "highly skilled migrants" and "highly skilled migration" -- 3.3 An overview of recent studies on highly skilled migration pathways to and within Europe -- 3.3.1 Education - the ticket to work? Statistical evidence. -- 3.3.2 Legal and institutional frameworks affecting highly skilled migrants: studying the inter play of class, gender and ethnicity -- 3.3.3 An agent-centred approach to pathways to the labour market -- 3.3.4 Experiences and coping strategies for deskilling and contradictory class mobility.

3.3.5 The role of the family and social networks -- 3.4 Summary and research desiderata -- 4 Biographical approaches to migration and social mobility -- 4.1 Biographical approaches -- 4.1.1 Historical and theoretical background of the biographicalapproach -- 4.1.2 The central biographical concepts -- 4.2 Biographical approaches to migration -- 4.2.1 First approaches to migration from a biographical perspective -- 4.2.2 Links between the transnational and biographical approach -- 4.3 Shifting social positions in transnational spaces -- 4.3.1 Theorising social mobility in transnational spaces -- 4.3.2 The transferability of skills across borders -- 4.3.3 Translocational positionality -- 4.3.4 Making sense of one's own class positioning -- 4.4 Summary: biographical approaches to migration and social mobility -- 5 The research process -- 5.1 Telling the stories: the theoretical background behind the "biographical narrative interview" -- 5.1.1 Theoretical assumptions -- 5.1.2 The focus on storytelling -- 5.1.3 The autobiographical presentation -- 5.1.4 Narrative constraints -- 5.1.5 Cognitive figures of autobiographical presentation -- 5.2 The reflexive research process -- 5.3 Constructing the sample -- 5.4 Interview settings -- 5.5 The interview process -- 5.6 A brief summary of interviewees -- 5.7 Ethnographical notes -- 5.8 Transcription -- 5.9 Analysis -- 5.9.1 Formal analysis of the text -- 5.9.2 Structural description -- 5.9.3 Analytical abstraction and the construction of types -- 5.10 Reflections on the research process -- 5.10.1 Reflections on the research process in transnational settings -- 5.10.2 The role of language and translation in the research process -- 5.10.3 Being part of it: reflections on my own position within thefield -- 6 Biographies -- 6.1 Background: the Czech educational system.

6.2 Lenka: the difficult route from private to publicsphere -- 6.2.1 Interview setting and biographical presentation -- 6.2.2 Lenka's migration and social pathways -- 6.2.3 Summary -- 6.3 Martin: moving places and passing classes -- 6.3.1 Interview setting and biographical presentation -- 6.3.2 Martin's migration and social pathways -- 6.3.3 Summary -- 6.4 Barbora: a story of reorientation -- 6.4.1 Interview setting and biographical presentation -- 6.4.2 Barbora's migration and social pathways -- 6.4.3 Summary -- 6.5 Arnošt: living in "exile" -- 6.5.1 Interview setting and biographical presentation -- 6.5.2 Arnošt's migration and social pathways -- 6.5.3 Summary -- 7 Cross-case comparisons and findings -- 7.1 Biographical reflections on borders and bordercrossings -- 7.1.1 Borders and border regions in biographical renderings -- 7.1.2 Becoming an "Eastern European" after migration -- 7.2 Migration as an enlargement of possibility spaces -- 7.2.1 Experiences of inequality in the region of origin -- 7.2.2 Discovering new possibility spaces through initial border crossings -- 7.2.3 Moving back and forth in transnational spaces -- 7.2.4 Doing "transnational work" -- 7.3 Linking spatial and social mobility -- 7.3.1 Biographies at the intersection of migration and gender regimes -- 7.3.2 Negotiating one's own possibilities, skills and knowledge across borders -- 7.3.3 The question of translatability and recognition of social positions across the border -- 8 Conclusion -- Bibliography and references -- Index.