Panel 24: Migration, Shelter and Contemporary Inclusion (EN & PT)

Chair: Mariana Meneses Muñoz (CHAM, FCSH, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa)

17 April, 9:00 | Room C009

Mandarin Mastery: Linguistic Landscape in the Era of Mass Tourism and Migration in Lisbon

Suvro Parui (Amity School of Languages)

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013, advocating for collaborative development with countries along the route. China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has garnered growing international attention and scholarly interest. This study examines the progress of BRI in reality in Portugal and its implications on Sino-Lusophone relations. Drawing on firsthand interviews conducted in Portugal, alongside secondary data from publications and official statistics, the research presents four key findings. In reality, embracing cultural diversity aligns with the collaborative development goals of the BRI, promoting soft powers amongst nations, achieving holistic cultural complementarity; keeping ‘Mandate of Heaven’ in mind, this approach fosters social harmony and maintains balance within the system. This study offers an in-depth examination of Lisbon’s shifting linguistic landscape, focusing on a neighbourhood transformed by mass tourism and Asian immigration. Once perceived as a monolingual city, Lisbon has undergone notable linguistic diversification in response to globalization, making it a compelling site for exploring multilingualism in urban contexts. Grounded in linguistic landscape analysis and sociolinguistic theory, the research investigates how Asian immigrant communities and international tourists shape the city’s evolving language ecology. Through conversational interviews and photographic documentation, the study compiled a corpus of public signs from a neighbourhood with a high concentration of Asian residents.

Findings reveal that the linguistic landscape reflects more than functional communication—it embodies socio-cultural dynamics such as identity maintenance and economic adaptation to tourism. By tracing the interplay between immigrant, local, and global languages, the study contributes to broader discussions on urban multilingualism, highlighting both the challenges and opportunities of fostering linguistic inclusivity and intercultural dialogue in globalized cities like Lisbon.

Keywords: linguistic landscapes; Belt and Road Initiative (BRI); socio-cultural dynamics; Asian immigrants; diversified globalization

Redes de Apoio Formais e Informais na Inclusão de Requerentes de Asilo e Refugiados num Contexto Neoliberal: A Externalização da Proteção Social em Portugal e Espanha

Beatriz Águas (ISCTE-IUL)

Esta apresentação analisa o papel das redes de apoio formais e informais nos processos de acolhimento e inclusão de requerentes de asilo e refugiados em Portugal e Espanha. Analisa-se como, num contexto onde o Estado Social adota um modelo neoliberal, há a transferência intencional de responsabilidades para o terceiro setor e a sociedade civil no que diz respeito ao acolhimento e à inclusão de requerentes de asilo e refugiados, em dimensões como o acesso à habitação, à saúde, à educação/formação, ao mercado de trabalho, a serviços e à pertença. Este modelo assenta na convicção de que o Estado Social não cumpre integralmente as suas funções e que a delegação de responsabilidades para o terceiro setor ou para entidades privadas, através de financiamento, poderá resultar em políticas mais eficientes. Esta realidade revela-se especialmente visível na Europa do Sul, onde a tradição familialista e a lógica neoliberal convergem para empurrar a proteção social para o domínio privado e informal. Ao mesmo tempo que estas redes de apoio se tornam espaços de construção de pertença e agência, surgem também como uma resposta a uma transferência deliberada e estrutural de responsabilidades do Estado para o campo moral, emocional e prático da sociedade civil. Assim, é necessário refletir criticamente sobre os efeitos sociais e políticos da externalização da responsabilidade pública para redes da sociedade civil. Através de uma metodologia qualitativa — com observação participante no Centro de Acolhimento para Refugiados em Portugal e entrevistas a membros de redes de apoio formais em Portugal e informais em Espanha, tendo em conta a sua heterogeneidade — pretende-se compreender como estas redes de apoio formais e informais operam, quais os seus impactos nos processos de inclusão e que desigualdades resultam da sua presença ou ausência. A apresentação propõe uma reflexão crítica sobre a externalização da proteção social e as consequências de uma inclusão assente num capital social informal e desigual.

Palavras-chave: redes de apoio; inclusão; requerentes de asilo e refugiados; estado social; neoliberalismo

Bridging the Gap: The Role of Refugee Organizations in the U.S. and Spain

Elizabeth Salley (Saint Louis University)

At the end of 2024, 123.2 million people across the world were reported to be forcibly displaced due to persecution, conflict, violence, or human rights violations (UNHCR, 2024). Refugee organizations (ROs) play an essential role in filling service gaps left by governments and providing essential services such as housing, social support, transportation, mental healthcare, and other integration assistance, but their capacities are profoundly shaped by national policy environments and funding structures. This study investigates how ROs respond to shifting political and institutional conditions by comparing two case studies: St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States, and Madrid, Spain. The U.S. case is defined by the disruptions of the Trump administration, which suspended refugee admissions, withheld most federal funding for refugees, and drastically reduced eligibility for asylum. In this context, St. Louis ROs faced the dual challenge of serving thousands of existing refugee residents while losing the federal resources historically used to support them. Organizations have developed local partnerships, mobilized community resources, and recalibrated their services in ways that reveal both resilience and precarity. Madrid, by contrast, offers a counterpoint for comparison. Under Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Spain has expanded its role as a leader in refugee resettlement, pairing increased arrivals with national integration policies. While this policy environment provides more formal support than in the U.S., Madrid-based ROs still contend with high demand, bureaucratic constraints, and funding dependencies that shape their ability to meet refugee needs. The project utilizes qualitative methods, including semi-structured interviews, thematic analysis, and systems thinking. The sample includes 15-20 service providers in each city (30–40 total) and 20–25 refugee participants (12–15 in St. Louis, 8–10 in Madrid). Data collection in St. Louis is already underway and expected to be completed in March 2026; fieldwork in Madrid will commence in April 2026. Analysis will be guided by thematic coding and synthesized through systems thinking tools, including the iceberg model and causal feedback loop diagrams. These frameworks allow for the identification of leverage points within complex systems, offering both theoretical and applied insights into refugee resettlement. This study ultimately highlights how divergent welfare regimes and political climates influence both the organizational strategies of ROs and the lived experiences of refugees. This comparative design demonstrates that refugee integration is not determined solely by policy frameworks but also by the adaptive practices of local organizations navigating shifting resource environments. The ultimate goal of the project will be to contribute to scholarship on migration and organizational sociology while also providing actionable knowledge for refugee organization practitioners and activist leaders in the respective communities.

Keywords: refugee; resettlement policy; refugee organizations; comparative case study; systems thinking

"Second-Generation" Italians on the Move: Transnational Youth and the Uneven Geographies of Development in the Global North

Alessandra Turchetti (University of Milan Bicocca)

This paper explores a growing yet underexamined phenomenon: the emigration of second-generation youth—particularly of North African descent—from Italy to other European countries. Drawing on qualitative data from the research project "Growing Old, Feeling Like Citizens?" (PRIN – University of Padua & Milan-Bicocca), we investigate how this intra-European mobility contributes to rethinking the migration–development nexus within the Global North. Despite growing up in Italy, many of these young adults seek social recognition, professional advancement, and cultural inclusion abroad—in France, Belgium, Germany, or the UK. Their trajectories are often lived as extensions and re-significations of their parents’ migration stories, giving rise to intergenerational comparisons and reflective mobility. Importantly, these patterns echo broader emigration trends among young Italians without a migrant background, who also leave due to structural marginalization and limited opportunity. This convergence allows us to interrogate internal hierarchies and uneven development within the Global North itself.

Rather than positioning Italy solely as a destination country, we argue that it should also be understood as a site of economic and symbolic emigration. Importantly, these processes contribute to a reconfiguration of Italian identity and what it means to be European today. The mobility experiences of these young people — both with and without migrant backgrounds — challenge traditional, static notions of national and continental belonging, highlighting fluid and multiple senses of identity shaped by transnational trajectories.

We also examine how these young people maintain ties with their communities of origin through social and cultural remittances—such as digital activism, mentoring, and cultural production—which contribute to the social fabric of their places of departure. These forms of engagement call for an expanded understanding of development, beyond economic remittances or South–North flows.

By conceptualizing development as a multi-scalar and socially embedded process, this paper contributes to decentering dominant narratives within migration–development studies and highlights the transformative role of mobility within the Global North.

Keywords: second-generation youth; intra-European mobility; development; belonging; transnational practices