Migration is about much more than Sweden’s borders, emphasises Joseph Trawicki Anderson. His research ranges from labour migration between Mexico and the US to migration agreements in Southeast Asia and the EU’s externalisation of migration control to Africa.
”My focus has generally been other parts of the world so I think that's one thing in particular that I'll be bringing. Often, if I tell someone I’m a migration researcher, they immediately assume I’m studying migration to Sweden, but most people in the world migrate elsewhere”, he says.
So why REMESO?
”As a migration researcher, it's a pretty amazing place to do migration research, just the interdisciplinary nature of it. And REMESO is a very critical, thoughtful department. Also, I was really impressed with the sense of community there.”
After twelve years in Sweden, having originally come from the US, these kinds of assumptions – as well as his own experiences of migration – have shaped Joseph Trawicki Anderson’s perspective on his research:
”As a migrant to Sweden I have not really faced that much discrimination. And I know other people who have definitely faced a lot more issues than I have, even though they speak better Swedish. You can absolutely see how it follows particular prejudices in terms of who counts as a migrant and who doesn't.”
Furthermore, according to Trawicki Anderson, the perceptions many people have of migration differ considerably from the reality of migration:
”You say migration and people think refugees and especially these days a pretty small amount of the migration that comes to Sweden is protection-based or refugee-based.”
Conducts power, governance and control
Right now Joseph Trawicki Anderson is based at the Department of Global Studies at the University of Gothenburg. There, he has conducted research on migration, the labour market and the relationship between state and private actors in migration policy. He holds a PhD in Peace and Development Studies and describes his academic background as distinctly interdisciplinary.
“I have moved between political science, human rights, and peace and development studies. And I have spent much of my academic career working alongside anthropologists and researchers in international relations.”
At REMESO, he hopes to contribute his global perspective on migration. A recurring theme in his research is the involvement of private actors in the governance and control of migration. He also examines how the interaction between public and private actors and interests give rise to new forms of power and control over migrants.
The rapid developments in migration policy, set against the slower pace of academic work, is also a subject that interests him.
In Sweden, we see consultation bodies, legal experts and the Council on Legislation highlighting major problems, and yet the proposals go ahead anyway. It’s quite worrying. Migration as a field of research has been exploding as an established discipline, at the same time that it feels like our impact on policy is getting worse. Our ability to make effective change in the world gets worse. So how do we want to deal with that?
says Trawicki Anderson, adding that this is something migration researchers at the Department of Global Studies have begun to discuss.
”I don't know that we've come to any great answers, but it's something we've been thinking about. How do you actually address these issues in a way that makes sense?”
Joseph Trawicki Anderson expects to continue discussing this question at REMESO. He is currently leading two major research projects. One examines the new role of Swedish employers in migration policy, as employment has become increasingly significant for people’s legal status in Sweden. The other concerns labour recruitment and bilateral migration agreements in Southeast Asia and how they affect migrant workers’ protection and conditions.
Outside academia, he describes himself as someone with an interest in the outdoors. Among other things, he has embarked on multi-week white-water rafting trips through the magnificent desert landscape of the Grand Canyon in the USA.
“One time it was organised, the other time I was basically just given a raft and told ‘you’ve done this before’. Then it suddenly turned into quite an adventure.”
