The starting point is the approach of understanding migration as the product of a social construction process. Migration, according to this guiding principle, is not simply a given but is constructed—through categorization and other practices in politics, the economy, media, and many other social spheres. In the first season of the “Production Site” podcast, researchers from the SFB engage in conversation with international researchers to explore these processes of negotiation and their consequences, challenging established perspectives on migration and examining them from a research standpoint. “We invite listeners to engage with the powerful impact of migration-related labels and attributions,” says Prof. Dr. Andreas Pott, spokesperson for the Collaborative Research Centre.
The six episodes of the first season are preceded by a bonus episode that answers fundamental questions: What is a Collaborative Research Centre? What exactly is meant by “production of migration”? What does it mean to approach migration from a reflexive research perspective, in which researchers critically examine how their own assumptions, methods, and interpretations influence their research?
After that, each episode focuses on a separate topic—ranging from the relationship between migration and the city to climate change-induced mobility and the relationship between migration research and activism. “With this podcast, we aim not only to critically examine key questions surrounding migration but also to provide insight into our interdisciplinary research and the initial findings of the Collaborative Research Center. Furthermore, we explore how research itself contributes to the construction of migration and its significance,” says Prof. Pott.
The “Production Site” podcast invites listeners to take a fresh look at migration as a social reality—critically, interdisciplinarily, and through dialogue. The podcast is available on all major podcast platforms. The conversations were conducted primarily in English, with some episodes in German.
Further information is available on the website.
The Collaborative Research Centre “Production of Migration” (SFB 1604) at Osnabrück University is the first Collaborative Research Centre in Germany to focus on migration. An interdisciplinary team conducts research in subprojects on the actors, infrastructures, and spaces of migration.
Further information is available on the SFB's website.
Further information for the media:
Vera Hanewinkel, University of Osnabrück
Institute for Migration Research and Intercultural Studies (IMIS)
