Our current research program consists of five research clusters, as depicted in the figure below.

Cluster 1 deals with various structural drivers of migration in regions of origin: failing democratization, human rights violations, violent conflicts, and climate change. These do not impact on migration directly but are mediated by transnational social (e.g., network connections to diaspora communities) and cultural (e.g., narratives of migration) linkages between origin and destination countries, which are studied in Cluster 2. The extent to which migration aspirations can be realized depends on the migration policies of destination countries, addressed in cluster 3. Integration and citizenship policies also belong to this cluster, and are a further factor shaping socio-economic and socio-cultural integration outcomes for immigrants, as well as patterns of discrimination they encounter (cluster 4).

Together, policies (e.g., those dealing with religious diversity) and integration outcomes (e.g., ethnic segregation) affect the degree and forms of ethnic and religious conflict related to migration, as well as potential negative impacts of increased diversity on social trust and solidarity (cluster 5). Vice versa, conflicts related to migration, e.g. the simultaneous rise of right-wing populism and Islamic religious fundamentalism, may have negative impacts on integration and reinforce stereotypes and discrimination. The double arrows between clusters 2 and 4 indicate that cultures of migration in origin countries may affect integration outcomes in destination countries, not just through selective migration, but also, e.g., through family pressures on migrants to send remittances. Conversely, the (often embellished) stories that migrants convey back to the origin country shape and reinforce migration aspirations.

The double arrow between clusters 1 and 5, finally, indicates that conflicts in destination countries are often linked to those in origin countries. For instance, movements and regimes from origin regions and their local organizational affiliates in destination settings affect religious fundamentalism and radicalization among Muslim immigrant communities. Conversely, diaspora communities may intervene in conflicts in regions of origin, as when thousands of young European Muslims joined the so-called Islamic State.