In the last few years, the Mediterranean gained more and more relevance in Migration Studies and, currently, it is a regional focal point where several types of large-scale human displacement converge. This is a global and local geopolitical challenge with major effects on origin/transit/destination countries, both at the North and South, as well as East and West shores of the Mediterranean. This special issue aims to provide an updated picture of some new trends mapping the Mediterranean Migration Research Agenda. The contributions included in this Special Issue have been selected from the 15th IMISCOE Annual Conference in Barcelona (2018), which reaffirmed the importance of the Mediterranean region for research in Migration Studies. They offer recent and original reflections coming from several disciplines and applying a variety of methodologies and levels of analysis. The selection of articles covers different approaches that go from the nature of human (im)mobility to the policies and relations among states that arise within this context. It also includes a first contribution on the political ethics of migration that frame a reference for dialogue with the rest of contributions. Authors focus on what is structural about migration in the region without forgetting the circumstantial and the normative dimensions, and how they might intersect. Ultimately, this collection not only provides clues for analyzing current affairs in Mediterranean Migration Research, but also for constructing scenarios and anticipating future developments in the region.
Editors: Ricard Zapata-Barrero and Luisa Faustini