ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE WINNERS OF THE 2024 MIDI RESEARCH PRIZE

Sciences Po's Migration and Diversity (MiDi) interdisciplinary collective is pleased to announce the winners of its 2024 MiDi Research Prize. This prize, launched in 2024 for the first time, aims to reward the outstanding efforts of young researchers at the master’s and PhD levels across all Sciences Po schools and departments, and raises the profile of rigorous and innovative research on issues related to international migration and/or ethno-cultural diversity.

MiDi was created in 2020 as a collective interdisciplinary initiative with the aim of strengthening interactions between researchers from different Sciences Po research centres around issues of international migration and ethno-cultural diversity. It brings together scientists from the Centre for International Studies (CERI), the Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics (CEE), the Centre for Research on Social Inequalities (CRIS), the Law School, the Department of History, the Department of Economics, the Centre for Political Research at Sciences Po (CEVIPOF) and the Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Evaluation of Public Policies (LIEPP). The research produced at Sciences Po on these issues covers a wide range of themes, such as asylum and migration flows, the right of asylum, borders, the integration of migrants, ethno-racial discrimination and inequalities in the European and global contexts.

This year’s submissions highlight an impressive breadth of themes and methodologies across disciplines such as sociology, political science, history, and law. The master’s theses, marked by their originality and depth, cover diverse topics. These include the sociocultural integration of French- and British-born Chinese, explored through a comparative lens of French republicanism and British multiculturalism, using mixed methods that combine quantitative datasets with qualitative interviews. Another thesis investigates the precarious working conditions of undocumented bicycle couriers in Paris, relying on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews to uncover their social networks and legal vulnerabilities. Historical inquiry appears in a study on Portuguese Catholic migrants in France (1958-1980), examining the interactions between French and Portuguese churches in supporting migration through archival research and interviews. Another critical piece evaluates the French "Contract for Republican Integration," assessing its legal and philosophical implications within the framework of civic integration policies. Other theses delve into emotional dynamics in pro-Palestinian activism, responses to Islamophobia among Swedish Muslims, and the intersections of migration governance and identity formation, such as among LGBTQ+ migrants from France's overseas territories or Chinese marriage migrants in Taiwan navigating cross-strait political tensions.

The doctoral submissions exhibit a sophisticated engagement with international migration and diversity through five standalone articles and three chapters. Topics include the criminalisation of humanitarian aid along the French-Italian border, analysed through legal ethnography, and the experiences of African students in China, framed within public diplomacy and racialisation narratives. Historical studies address the evolution of the "vagabond" figure into the "illegal migrant," focusing on sub-Saharan migrants in Malta, and a critical analysis of Tunisia's racialising migration governance policies. Other works examine the paradoxes of state-led emergency accommodation for migrants in Paris and explore how local and broader migration patterns intersect in Corsica and Martinique, using mixed methods to illuminate social and geographic dynamics. Further contributions investigate refugee integration in France through behavioural skills training and the challenges faced by São Paulo social workers during COVID-19, blending ethnographic and policy analysis.

Across both categories, the research reflects methodological diversity, including ethnography, archival research, content analysis, and mixed methods. These studies collectively offer nuanced perspectives on migration governance, identity politics, integration, and diversity, bridging empirical depth with theoretical innovation. The MiDi Research Prize not only rewards these achievements but also raises the profile of groundbreaking research conducted by Sciences Po’s young scholars, contributing valuable insights to migration and diversity studies.

The jury, composed of Hélène LE BAIL (Sciences Po, CERI), Virginie GUIRAUDON (Sciences Po, CEE), Hélène THIOLLET (Sciences Po, CERI), Christophe POULY (Sciences Po Law School), and Mathilde EMERIAU (Sciences Po, Médialab), was pleased with the number and quality of all applications. After deliberation, the jury chose to award the MiDi Research Prize to two PhD candidates and three master's students, as follow:

DOCTORAL LEVEL

Bastien CHARAUDEAU SANTOMAURO (Sciences Po, École de droit) for his article La frontière étatique, terme de l’aide humanitaire ? Une analyse du droit en action. This article studies the criminalization of humanitarian aid on the French-Italian border, examining the ambiguities of legal frameworks and their implications for state and non-state actors. The article uses legal ethnography, combining field observations with a detailed analysis of the interplay between policy and practice. 

Trained in law (Sciences Po Law School), philosophy (Paris IV) and migration studies (ULB), Bastien Charaudeau Santomauro studies the mechanisms of exclusion of migrants at borders. His approach, inspired by grounded theory, combines fieldwork with legal and political theory. A PhD candidate in law at Sciences Po, he will submit his thesis in January 2025. He is currently Postgraduate Associate at Yale University's MacMillan Center and, since September 2022, has been coordinating the Migration program at the Sciences Po Law School Clinic.

Lucas PUYGRENIER (Sciences Po, CERI; EHESS) for his chapter The New Vagabonds: Labor, Mobility, and Virtue in the Making of “Illegal” Others in Malta. This chapter uses a historical approach to study the criminalization of sub-Saharan migrants in Malta, contextualized by the evolution from the figure of the “vagabond” to that of the “illegal migrant”. It highlights the role of state authorities and their attempts to organize the world of work in the creation of otherness.  

Lucas Puygrenier prepared a doctoral thesis at CERI entitled Les gens de trop: gouvernement des populations et mise au travail sur l'île de Malte. In this thesis he studied the involvement of state authorities in the formation of migrant labor in the context of a border area of the European Union where highly repressive policies against migration are being deployed. His research has led to several publications, most recently in Tracés, Terrains & Travaux, Theory and Society and the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. He also co-edited Palgrave Macmillan's States and the Making of Others (with Jeanne Bouyat and Amandine Le Bellec). Lucas recently became a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre Maurice Halbwachs (EHESS). His current research focuses on Malta's golden passport programs and the granting of residency and citizenship privileges to wealthy foreigners in the context of a dwindling right to immigrate. It thus explores the role of the state in the manufacture of classes of foreigners with differentiated rights and obligations within offshore capitalism.

MASTER'S LEVEL

Camille DESCATEAUX (Sciences Po, School of Research) for her dissertation Droit de livrer? Réseaux et trajectoires de livreurs à vélo. This sociological study examines the experiences of undocumented bike delivery drivers in Paris, analyzing their networks, working conditions and precarious legal status through ethnographic fieldwork and interviews.

After a master's degree in sociology at Sciences Po and a research project on bicycle delivery drivers, with a particular focus on their migratory routes and the networks that form between them, Camille Descateaux is currently working on a doctoral thesis. This doctoral work concerns the evaluation of the City of Paris' access to rights policy, based on the recipients of these policies, and is being carried out under the supervision of Claire Lemercier (CNRS, CSO, Sciences Po) and Anne Revillard (LIEPP, CRIS, Sciences Po).

Yuyang HONG (Sciences Po, School of Research; CERI) for his master’s thesis Across the Stormy Strait: Chinese Marriage Migrants in Taiwan Navigating the Whirlpool of Cross-Strait Political Tensions. The dissertation analyzes the experiences of Chinese marriage migrants in Taiwan in a context of cross-strait political tensions, from a political science perspective. Using interviews and textual analysis, the thesis investigates how these migrants navigate complex political landscapes. 

Yuyang Hong is a first-year PhD candidate of International Relations at CERI Sciences Po, under the supervision of Françoise Mengin and Jérôme Doyon. He previously authored a master’s thesis exploring the political role of Chinese marriage migrants in Taiwan. His current research examines the quasi-diplomatic practices of local Chinese bureaucrats in their interactions with Chinese communities in Taiwan and Taiwanese individuals in China, shedding light on how these practices influence the formulation and implementation of China's policy towards Taiwan.

Bryan ROMANO (Sciences Po, School of Research) for his dissertation La rencontre de deux Églises. Accueillir et accompagner les immigrés catholiques portugais en France de 1958 aux années 1980. This dissertation is based on a historical survey represented by a study of Portuguese Catholic migrants in France (1958-1980), examining the interactions between Portuguese and French churches and their roles in supporting migration, using archival research and interviews. 

Bryan Botelho Romano is the son and grandson of immigrants from northern Portugal. His mother tongues are French and Portuguese. He developed an early interest in the history of Portugal and its emigration. In 2022, he joined the Master’s in History at the School of Research. Fully determined to write his dissertation on Portuguese immigration to France, his discovery of the archives of the Centre national des archives de l'Église de France (CNAEF) steered his research work towards the encounter between French and Portuguese ecclesiastics and Catholics.