East European migrant women in Greece: intergenerational cultural knowledge transfer and adaptation in a context of crisis

This paper draws on a larger oral history project entitled ‘Gendered Histories of Resilience and Resistance: Eastern European Women’s Narratives of Mobility and Survival’, a narrative ethnography of Albanian, Bulgarian, Romanian, and Polish immigrant women living in Greece. The paper explores intergenerational cultural knowledge transfer and adaptation in a context of crisis with an analysis contextualised within the current crisis in Greece. We consider here the degree of uncertainty and the emotional challenges and constraints, but consider also the creativity and agency that participants display. Following on from that we aim to unravel the impact of ‘family and cultural values’ on migrants’ everyday lives in the diaspora

Diasporic youth identities of uncertainty and hope: second-generation Albanian experiences of transnational mobility in an era of economic crisis in Greece

This paper explores various dimensions of ‘gender’ and ‘mobility’ among immigrant youth from a transnational perspective in an era of economic crisis. The extent and parameters of continuity, contestation and change in migrant youth identities are analysed and we suggest that neither gender nor identity are stable categories but are embedded in sociocultural particularities both in the country of residence (Greece) but also in the country of origin (Albania). Through in-depth interviews with 52 participants, all second-generation Albanian immigrants in Greece born to two Albanian parents, the paper addresses youth identification in relation to gendered representations of belonging. The narrative accounts that we have selected and analysed reflect the emotional challenges, constraints and creativity of Albanian youth

Youth mobilities, crisis, and agency in Greece: second generation lives in liminal spaces and austere times

This paper explores various dimensions of “mobility” and “agency” among second-generation immigrants in Greece who have experienced the economic crisis throughout their studies at Higher Education Institutions. Following their studies in Greece, second-generation youth migrants graduated at a time when the crisis had already been leading hundreds of thousands of mostly highly skilled Greeks to emigration, resulting in a severe “brain drain” for Greece. First-generation immigrants’ investment in their children’s education has been vital as an integration strategy and as a means of achieving social mobility. It has also been an asset during crisis times when the prospect of re-migration seems more than a possible option setting new challenges for youth mobility on a local, global, and transnational level. Nevertheless, the vast majority of our participants manifest their will to remain in Greece and struggle for their future in the host country. Through in-depth interviews with 130 participants, all second-generation Albanian, Bulgarian, and Romanian immigrants in Greece, 30 born in the host country and the rest in the country of origin, the paper addresses youth agency in relation to geographical mobility, education, and personal development

Post-socialist narratives of being, belonging and becoming: Eastern European women migrants and transformative politics in an era of European crises

This paper draws from an oral history project on ‘Gendered Histories of Resilience and Resistance: Eastern European Women’s Narratives of Mobility and Survival’, which is a narrative ethnography of Albanian, Bulgarian, Romanian and Polish migrant women living in Greece. The paper explores these women’s life stories, memories and experiences, in both their ancestral homelands as well as country of settlement, in order to examine the intersections of gender and identity in how the recollection of socialist pasts informs the understanding of living present and future capitalist lives. The diverse, compelling but also competing accounts of women’s childhood and early adult lives in socialist times in their Eastern European countries of origin is an intriguing way to explore issues of being, belonging and becoming. Discussions on feminism and identity are also revealing as they highlight the discourses and political projects at the intersections of personal experiences with broader socio-cultural and economic fields, in particular as regards the context of migration and the current crisis in Greece

'A window to knowledge is a window to the world': socio-aesthetics, ethics and pedagogic migrant youth journeys in crisis-shaped educational settings in Greece

This paper explores the processes, tensions, opportunities and constraints that migrant youth in Greek higher educational institutions experience at the present time which are characterised by social crises, economic austerity and political instability. In doing so, we also put forward an agenda of critical and feminist pedagogies in developing inclusive spaces of educational citizenship and social justice. Building on a larger collaborative study on youth and migration, this paper draws on a sample of 130 interviews with women and men second generation migrants who are currently, or have been in the past, university students at various institutions in Greece. Migrant youth expanding on their aspirations and capacities harness a developmental pathway of cosmopolitan pedagogies which alter their circumstances and social possibilities. The paper advances alternative discourses in crafting spaces of anti-oppression in the academy through a feminist lens which will cultivate learning communities of equity, justice and reflexivity

East European migrant women in Greece: intergenerational cultural knowledge transfer and adaptation in a context of crisis

This paper draws on a larger oral history project entitled ‘Gendered Histories of Resilience and Resistance: Eastern European Women’s Narratives of Mobility and Survival’, a narrative ethnography of Albanian, Bulgarian, Romanian, and Polish immigrant women living in Greece. The paper explores intergenerational cultural knowledge transfer and adaptation in a context of crisis with an analysis contextualised within the current crisis in Greece. We consider here the degree of uncertainty and the emotional challenges and constraints, but consider also the creativity and agency that participants display. Following on from that we aim to unravel the impact of ‘family and cultural values’ on migrants’ everyday lives in the diaspora

Analysis of the use of models by the European Commission in its Impact Assessments for the period 2009 - 2014

Impact Assessments (IA)are a key element in the development of policy proposals by the European Commission (EC). They provide evidence for political decision makers on the advantages and disadvantages of possible policy options by assessing their potential impacts. This evidence should be quantified whenever possible, and hence it is of interest to examine to what extent models have been used in IAs. The purpose of this report is to understand how the EC is positioned with respect to external providers as regards modelling contributions to IAs, as well to provide an input into potential future development of the Commission's model portfolio. The results of a statistical analysis for the period 2009-2014 shows that 16 % of the published 512 IAs used models or were predominantly model-based. In terms of absolute numbers, Directorate Generals (DGs) CLIMA, ENER, ENV and MOVE account for more than half (51) of the 91 model-based IAs . Within the model-based IAs, 52% used results exclusively or partially provided by external contractors, while 48% used models run in-house by DG JRC. The Commission uses a wide range of models (91 for the IAs during 2009-2014), roughly 60% of which were used only once. The 24 most frequently-used models represent 70% of all cases in which modelling were used for an IA. Notably 11 of them account for roughly 48%, almost all being run by contractors, mostly in tandem for energy-transport-climate policy scenarios. The most frequently-used model is PRIMES, used in 28 out of 263 cases (11% of the cases), followed by 10 other models which are used exclusively or predominantly with PRIMES in the context of the energy-climate scenarios (GEM-E3, TREMOVE, CAPRI, POLES, G4M, GAINS, GLOBIOM, LUISA, PROMETHEUS and TRANSTOOLS). Frequently-used models for the economic and monetary union are the in-house models QUEST and SYMBOL. The most frequently-used models of DG JRC number about 10 which have been used in 46 cases; these are energy models (GEM-E3 and POLES), followed by environmental models (the LUISA modelling platform and LISFLOOD), the micro-economic model for financial markets SYMBOL, the transport model TRANSTOOLS and the agricultural models belonging to the iMAP platform - CAPRI and AGLINK-COSIMO.JRC.A.2-Work Programm

'A window to knowledge is a window to the world': socio-aesthetics, ethics and pedagogic migrant youth journeys in crisis-shaped educational settings in Greece

This paper explores the processes, tensions, opportunities and constraints that migrant youth in Greek higher educational institutions experience at the present time which are characterised by social crises, economic austerity and political instability. In doing so, we also put forward an agenda of critical and feminist pedagogies in developing inclusive spaces of educational citizenship and social justice. Building on a larger collaborative study on youth and migration, this paper draws on a sample of 130 interviews with women and men second generation migrants who are currently, or have been in the past, university students at various institutions in Greece. Migrant youth expanding on their aspirations and capacities harness a developmental pathway of cosmopolitan pedagogies which alter their circumstances and social possibilities. The paper advances alternative discourses in crafting spaces of anti-oppression in the academy through a feminist lens which will cultivate learning communities of equity, justice and reflexivity