Ethnographies of Migration Beyond the Ethnic Lens

Presentation as part of workshop - Methods in Dialogue - Researching Migration

Most qualitative research on migrants and refugees is based on a concept of ethnic, or minority, or diasporic “community” and focuses on a specific neighborhood or set of “community organizations” or leaders. Often data from such a sample in a gateway city is generalized to an entire nation-state. I explore some of the problems with relying on this “ethnic lens,” and the methodological nationalism it reflects. Drawing on my ethnographic field work in several different cities, I explore alternative approaches to the study of migrant settlement and transnationality.