Introduction and research interest

In the course of global migration, the group of minors is a large and often inadequately considered group. The estimated number of people aged 19 or younger living in a country other than the one where they were born increased to 40.9 million in 2020 (IOM, 2021, 48). In 2019 children and adolescents under the age of 18 make up 12 percent of all international migrants (2020: 14,6 percent, UN DESA, 2020), but account for 50 per cent of refugees and 42 per cent of internally displaced persons in 2019 (IDAC, 2020).

The conditions of youth migration differ widely in terms of the reason for migration, the legal conditions, the economic circumstances, the educational qualifications, the time periods as well as the place of origin and destination of migration. In the symposium, the educational trajectories of young people will be examined with special focus on the intersections between (forced) migration and further social group categorisation in the context of school. The three contributions chose a critical perspective on the multidimensional social inequality arising from this.

The symposium on youth and (forced) migration brings together research from the three Western European countries England (Julie Wharton), Germany (Henrike Terhart) and Austria (Seyda Subasi Singh et al.) as central destinations of migration towards Europe. The contributions are discussed by Anke Wischmann, Germany. The symposium is chaired by Rory Mc Daid, Ireland.

Theoretical framework

The term "youth" as an independent phase of life is closely linked to the emergence of modernity (Roth 1983). Over time and depending on the geographical context, the understanding of youth is subject to processes of social change. Political developments, social systems and their institutions shape the lives of young people over time as well as young people's voices and action influence society (Clarke et al., 1979). In this context, the phase of youth defined along the social category of age cannot be considered separately from other relevant social categories: Gender, socio-economic status, disabilities, nationality, migration religious affiliation etc. have an influence on the socially unequal experience of youth (Center of Intersectional Justice, n.d.).

Therefore, in the symposium the contributions focus on the intersection of youth and (forced) migration also taking further socially relevant categories into account. In order to use the potential of an intersectional approach (Crenshaw, 1989), the interconnection of youth, migration, disability, socio-economic status as well as nationality and the respective migration regime is taken into account. In doing so transnational inequality relations, postcolonial structures and dependencies between countries and regions must be taken into account in order to be able to grasp in the lifes of many young people in Europe (Wimmer & Glick Schiller, 2002). The contributions critically examine the asymmetries of the power interests involved and question a Eurocentric understanding of the migration of youth (Hummrich, 2020).

Methodologies

Based on the respective research interest presented in the contributions, different methodological approaches of qualitative interview research are used. These range from visual mapping and interview techniques, to a dialogue orientated interview setting to cross-border interview case studies.  

Outcomes

The outcome of the symposiums on youth and (forced) migration in an intersectional perspective are to

1. broaden the perspective on youth migration in its variety and reveal the similarities and differences in the experiences of migrated youth under the conditions of social inequality.
2. use the approach of intersectionality as a sensitising concept to examine and theorise the conditions of educational trajectories of young migrated people.
3. provide a space for discussing different methodological approaches of interview analysis to analyse the migration paths regarding education of young people migrating to Europe.

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