TRANSMIT – Transnational Perspectives on Migration and Integration

Insights into migrants’ socioeconomic integration in Germany is expanding. Yet, migration is mainly investigated retrospectively, that is, after the migration process. Rarely is it linked with pre-migration biographies and with the social, cultural and political contexts that shape migration before the arrival in the host society. Research investigating life realities of migrants in origin and transit countries, in turn, neglect the subsequent processes of continued migration and integration.
The TRANSMIT project within the DeZIM research community aims to fill this gap by building a long-term oriented data infrastructure. This structure collects and systematically links quantitative and qualitative data in origin, transit and destination countries and enables investigations into migration and integration processes across borders (transnational) and over time (longitudinal).
The data collection involves (potential) migrants before, during, and after individual migration episodes, as well as non-migrant populations and relevant actors from politics and civil society. Thus, individual and family dynamics, region-specific characteristics, and political processes are taken into account.