MEETINGS ON MIGRATORY EXPERIENCES
The next Meeting on Migratory Experiences, titled "Formal and Informal Support Networks in Refugee Inclusion Processes in a Neoliberal Context", will take place on 17 November 2025, in room A202, Building 4, Iscte.

SPEAKER
Beatriz Águas
PhD Candidate in Sociology, CIES-Iscte

COMMENTARY
Cristina Santinho
Anthropologist, CRIA

ABSTRACT
This presentation will introduce a sociological research project that examines the role of formal and informal support networks in the reception and inclusion processes of refugees in Portugal and Spain, building on research initiated at the master's level. The project aims to analyse how, in a context where the Welfare State adopts a neoliberal model, there is a deliberate transfer of responsibilities to the third sector and civil society regarding refugee reception and inclusion, in dimensions such as access to housing, health, education/training, the (formal) labour market, services, and belonging.

Through a qualitative methodology – including secondary data analysis from participant observation conducted during the master’s dissertation, interviews with recognised refugees, and members of formal and informal support networks, considering their heterogeneity – the research seeks to understand how these support networks operate, what impact they have on inclusion processes, and which inequalities arise from their presence or absence. The project offers a critical reflection on the outsourcing of social protection and the consequences of an inclusion process based on unequal and informal social capital.

The Meetings on Migratory Experiences are co-organised by researchers from CIES-Iscte and CRIA, in partnership with the Observatory of Emigration, and are aimed at researchers, scholars, and others interested in this field of work.

The main goal is interdisciplinary exchange on studies in the field of international migration. Each meeting focuses on specific research projects or works, bringing together practices and questions regarding methodological and/or theoretical aspects, whether ongoing or already completed.

Coordination:
Cecília Menduni Luís (CRIA-Iscte),
Cláudia Pereira (Observatory of Emigration),
Jannis Kühne (CRIA-NOVA FCSH),
Liliana Azevedo (CIES-Iscte),
and Priscilla Santos (CIES-Iscte)