Advertise on podcast: Conversations with Iris: Podcast series on migration, diversity and displacement

Nando Sigona speaks to Nandita Sharma, professor of Sociology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Nandita's work examines the historical and political production of migration, borders, and national belonging, with a particular focus on how distinctions between “natives” and “migrants” are created and sustained. In her work, she challenges the “figure of the migrant” as a taken-for-granted category and invites us to rethink how we understand migration governance and the politics of belonging today.This episode, filmed by Sam Liebmann, was recorded at the British Academy-sponsored workshop "Writing for Change: Slavery, Violence and Exploitation" in Praia do Forte, Bahia, Brazil on 16 April 2026. Additional readings/viewings: Natives with Nandita Sharma, Uncommon Sense, S1 E9 (2022): https://thesociologicalreview.org/podcasts/uncommon-sense/natives-with-nandita-sharma/ Palestine, Nationalism, and the Statehood Illusion with Nandita Sharma, Dilemma Podcast (with Jay Shapiro): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skwRJ1Ghykk

We begin Series 6 of Conversations with Iris with an interview with Professor Michelle Pace, author of Un-welcome toDenmark, a critical examination of Denmark’s restrictive turn in asylum and migration policy, published in December 2025. We are recording this episode a week after the UK Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, confirmed her firm intention to draw on the Danish model for the reform of the asylum system during a highly choreographed two-day visit to a returns centre on the outskirts of Copenhagen. To find out more about Michelle's book: https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526175311/ Additional readings: Border controls in Europe undermine the Schengen Area and the EU itself (6 Sept 2025): https://www.chathamhouse.org/2025/09/border-controls-europe-undermine-schengen-area-and-eu-itself German election: Far-right firewall weakens as immigration concerns take centre stage (20 Feb 2025): https://www.chathamhouse.org/2025/02/german-election-far-right-firewall-weakens-immigration-concerns-take-centre-stage

Is the UK immigration system really 'fairer' as the government claims? Fairer to whom? Nando Sigona asks Luke Piper, Head of Immigration at the Work Rights Centre. In this episode of Conversations with IRIS we examine the production of exploitable and precarious migrant workers at the intersection of the immigration and labour regime in post-Brexit Britain. We explore the structural factors that contribute to producing vulnerable migrants impacting not only on migrant workers but also on their families.

Dr Seb Rumsby, Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at IRiS, speaks with Mariko Hayashi, Executive Director at Southeast and East Asian Centre (SEEAC) about the challenges facing Southeast and East migrants and diasporas based in the UK, before comparing post-Brexit UK with East Asian labour migration regimes to explore how policies lead to labour migrant exploitation and rights abuses and what can be done about it.

This episode of Conversations with IRiS offers insights into the experiences of Brazilians in London and questions assumptions on 'community' and its boundaries. Nando Sigona speaks to Angelo Martins Jr, the author of 'Moving difference' an ethnographic exploration of how race, class and gender constructions travel with migrants and shape their migratory plans and trajectories as well as their experiences in the countries of residence and origin. Angelo also reflects on his work with sub-Saharan African migrants in Europe and Brazil and how his positionality plays a role in how he interact and engage with research participants. Dr Angelo Martins Junior is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Birmingham, UK.

In this new episode, Anna Papoutsi discusses with Inka Stock, author of the excellent book ‘Time, migration and forced immobility: Sub-Saharan African migrants in Morocco’, published by Bristol University Press. The episode examines the temporalities of forced immobility, and the long-term impact of specific migration policies, which forcibly immobilise migrants in intermediary or ‘transit’ countries, on the everyday lives of those migrants.

In this conversation, Birmingham Fellow Dr Jennifer Allsopp and Professor Michael Jackson from the Harvard Divinity School discuss the inter-relational aspects of migration research and how literature has informed their fieldwork both in terms of method and interpretation, from Sebold to Dante. In a wide-ranging and deeply personal discussion, they cover topics including the nexus between autobiography and ethnographic research; the possibilities and limits of empathy and the relationship between narrative as told and lived in life, books and art. Follow Jennifer on Twitter at @JennifeAllsopp and @DanteRefugees.

In this conversation, Paladia Ziss (@pyziss) talks with Meena Sadr, student from Afghanistan, and Hannah Pool (Max-Planck-Institute Cologne) about the ethics and politics of collaborating with research assistants in research in and on Afghanistan. Hannah is the author of the award-winning PhD dissertation '"Doing the Game": The Moral Economy of Coming to Europe" (@hnnhpool). Meena (@meenasadr) transcribed Hannah's interviews with Afghan migrants; later she was forced to flee Afghanistan herself following the takeover of the Taliban.

In this episode, Dawn River talks to Zhenya Tramvay Yevhen Trachuk from Kyiv Pride. Zhenya focuses on the achievements of LGBTQI people in Ukraine and their hope for the future, issues related to the border crossing of transgender people and the frictions and potential alliances between the Russian and Ukrainian LGBTQI movements.

To mark the 6th anniversary of the 2016 Brexit referendum we spoke with Dr  Djordje Sredanovic (Free University of Brussels), author of Implementing Citizenship, Nationality and Integration. In this analysis, Sredanovic compares and contrasts the experiences of citizenship and integration policies in the UK and Belgium. In-depth interviews with officials show both the everyday application of approaches to citizenship and integration, and their evolution in recent years.

This episode explores transnational political mobilisation by migrant communities. Catherine Craven (Research Fellow on the MIGZEN project) speaks to Ashwini Vasanthakumar (Associate Professor at Queen’s University, Canada), about her recently published book The Ethics of Exile: A Political Theory of Diaspora, which explores the normative and political agency of exiles. In their conversation, Ashwini and Catherine discuss the importance of thinking of migrants and members of exile communities as powerful actors in international politics. They talk about the ways in which exiles – and diaspora communities in general – have the power to affect change, both ‘at home’ and ‘abroad’, and about the ways in which they might contribute to creating a more equal and just world. They agree that, despite the significant challenges that exiles face as they navigate complex political environments at the local, national and international level - including the risk of co-optation by powerful state and non-state actors - hope is nevertheless warranted!

In this new episode, Dr Stefano Piemontese, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellow at IRiS, speaks with Dr Karolina Nikielska-Sekula (Jagiellonian University, Krakow) and Dr Amandine Desille (University of Bordeaux) about their co-edited book "Visual Methodology in Migration Studies. New Possibilities, Theoretical Implications, and Ethical Questions", published in Summer 2021 in the Springer IMISCOE Research series.   📕 The book is available open access at https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-67608-7

To mark 2021 International Migrants Day, we are releasing a new episode of Conversations with IRiS (#CWI29) dedicated to understanding the policy encounter between climate change and international migration, how it began, who was involved and where it is heading. Professor Nando Sigona, Director of IRiS, speaks with Dr Sarah Louise Nash, author of "Negotiating Migration in the Context of Climate Change", published by Bristol University Press.

Anna Papoutsi talks to Natani Petros about identity and belonging among second generation individuals of African decent in Athens (Greece). We discuss the experience of growing up under a citizenship regime that is based on jus sanguinis, meaning that nationality is determined by the nationality of the parents and not the place of birth (jus soli). While born and raised in Greece, children of African migrants had until recently no access to citizenship. Even today many of them still practically have no way of becoming citizens, while their sense of belonging is further curtailed by narrow and racialised understandings of Greekness. In our discussion we draw on the work of the grassroots organisation ‘Generation 2.0 for Rights, Equality & Diversity’, who led the campaign for the right to citizenship for the second generation.  Natani Petros is the Diversity Network Officer at Generation 2.0 for Rights, Equality & Diversity. She is of Ethiopian origin and was born and raised in Athens. Her work now focuses on diversity and inclusion, campaigning for racial injustice in Greece.

In this episode of Conversations with Iris we examine the unresearched phenomenon of indigenous migration with a focus on Guatemala, Mexico and the US diaspora. Despite the heterogeneity of indigenous populations in terms of language culture, age, gender and family make-up, they often face a range of specific vulnerabilities on the move. The challenges they meet both on their journey and once they settle are significant. They include gender-based violence, human trafficking, racism and language barriers that undermine their rights and due process. Indigenous populations in Central America are at risk of displacement owing to range of factors, including climate change and environmental degradation alongside extreme poverty, lack of socio-economic opportunity and violence. In this conversation, Dr Jennifer Allsopp talks to Dr Walter Flores and Professor Valentina Glockner, Co-Investigators on the GCRF funded Life Facing Deportation project about recent trends in indigenous migration. Together, they discuss the need for a localized and global response to rights literacy for indigenous people on the move.