Professor Nando Sigona

• PhD in Sociology of migration and forced displacement, Oxford Brookes University
• BSc in Politics (Hons), University of Naples L’Orientale, Italy

Before joining the School of Social Policy as a Birmingham Fellow in February 2013, Nando was Senior Research Officer at the Refugee Studies Centre and Senior Researcher the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) at the University of Oxford.

Nando has a background in Politics, Sociology and Social Anthropology. He has taught on the MSc in Migration Studies and the MSc in Forced Migration and Refugee Studies at the University of Oxford and in October 2012 was awarded the University of Oxford’s Teaching Excellence Award for ‘outstanding contribution to the MSc in Migration Studies’. Previously, he taught sociology of diversity, migration and forced migration to undergraduate and postgraduate students at Oxford Brookes University and City University London.

His research sets to explore the impact of globalisation, migration and human rights regime on meanings and practices of citizenship and non-citizenship in countries affected by significant population movements. His research interests include: forced displacement; statelessness, diasporas and the state; Romani politics and anti-Gypsyism; ‘illegality’ and the everyday experiences of undocumented migrant children and young people; and governance and governmentality of forced migration in the EU.

His work has appeared in a range of peer reviewed journals, including Sociology, Social Anthropology, Citizenship Studies, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies and Ethnic and Racial Studies. He is author or editor of books and journal’s special issues including Within and beyond citizenship: Borders, membership and belonging (with Roberto G. Gonzales, 2017), Unravelling Europe’s ‘migration crisis’ (with Heaven Crawley, Franck Duvell, Katharine Jones, and Simon McMahon, 2017), Ethnography, diversity and urban space (with Mette Berg and Ben Gidley, Identities, 2013), The Oxford Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies (with Elena Fiddian Qasmiyeh, Gil Loescher, Katy Long, 2014), Romani politics in contemporary Europe: poverty, ethnic mobilisation and the neoliberal order (with Nidhi Trehan, Palgrave, 2009). 

Nando is also one of the founding editors of Migration Studies.

Nando speaks about his work on Mediterranean boat migration with IOM’s Global Migration Data Analysis Centre. Find out more about research into Migration and Displacement at the University of Birmingham.

Nando discusses his research into the experiences of EU families after the Brexit referendum in Breaking Brexit podcast series (2017)

Nando is the Director of the MA Migration Studies where he teaches on module: Globalisation, international migration and citizenship. He also contributes lectures and seminars to undergraduate and postgraduate modules in the Department of Social Policy and Social Work.

Nando welcomes proposals for doctoral and post-doctoral research in the following areas: 

• Forced displacement and globalisation
• Sociology of statelessness
• Dual citizenship and the experiences of dual citizens
• The intersection between migration, rights and citizenship 
• Everyday experiences of superdiversity
• Neoliberalism, globalisation and governance of human mobility
• The politics of refugee voices and silences
• Romani politics and anti-Gypsyism 
• Undocumented migrants and experiences of ‘illegality’ through generations
• Child and family migration 
• Transnationalism and diasporas
• Policy and practice of migrant integration and ideas of membership in the EU
• Freedom of movement and intra-EU mobility

Current PhD students and projects include:

Anna Papoutsi, Refugee crisis and rebordering of Europe, January 2016-ongoing

Ozlem Young, Unaccompanied minors in the West Midlands, September 2017- ongoing

Koreana Ko, Homemaking practices among Korean elderly in Greater London, January 2016 – ongoing

Anja Benedikt, Integration and national identity in Germany, expected completion Dec 2018

Ayse Aydin, Asylum governance and refugee women in Turkey, January 2017 – ongoing (distance learning)

Aleksandra Koluvija, Refugee integration in Germany, January 2017 – ongoing (distance learning)

Bobby Beaumont, Children and circus in refugee camps, September 2017 - ongoing

• ESRC-funded EU families and ‘eurochildren’ in Brexiting Britain (April 2017-October 2018)
• Unravelling the Mediterranean Crisis (MEDMIG)
• Becoming adult: Conceptions of futures and wellbeing among young people subject to immigration control in the UK
• Causes and experiences of poverty among refugees and asylum seekers in the UK: Review of Evidence
• Precarious status, migration governance and new geographies of mobility
• Legal status, rights and belonging: International symposia
• In protracted limbo: A comparative study of the transitions to adulthood and life trajectories of former unaccompanied children in Europe. In collaboration with the Oxford Institute of Social Policy, University of Oxford.
• Stateless diasporas and immigration and citizenship regimes in Europe. Lead researcher, part of the Leverhulme-funded Oxford Diasporas Programme, University of Oxford.
• Undocumented migrant children and families in the UK. Completed in 2012 and funded by the Barrow Cadbury Trust.

• Editor-in-chief, Global migration and social change Book Series, Policy Press
• Associate Editor, Migration Studies, Oxford University Press 
• Editorial board member, ‘Anthropology’ series, SEID Editore, Italy
• Editorial board member, ‘Migration’ series, CISU, Italy
• Member, British Sociological Association
• Research Associate, Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford 
• Member of the European Academic Network in Romani Studies, European Commission and Council of Europe
• The Independent Advisory Board Group on Country Information (IAGCI), member