Migrants and incorporation processes
The field of migration studies is very focused on understanding how people who move across borders start-up their new lives.
What resources can they draw on in this process, what opportunities and constraints do they encounter?
My research redefines how we describe and conceptualise these processes, looking in particular at social class resources. I base my ideas on a range of theoretical influences, including Bourdieu.
Recent publications include:
Schäfer, G. & Maxwell, C. (2025) Inclusion and exclusion of high‐skilled migrants in Copenhagen - the effect of neighbourhood atmospheres. Population, Space and Place. https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.70058
Schäfer, G. & Maxwell, C. (2025) Figurations of belonging – How high-skilled migrants form relations of recognition. Geoforum. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2025.104249
Maxwell, C., Leybenson, M. & Yemini, M. (2024) Managing protracted displacement: How anchoring shapes ‘agency-in-waiting’ among middle-class Ukrainian female refugees in Berlin. International Sociology. https://doi.org/10.1177/02685809241252102
Maxwell, C., Yemini, M. & Gutman, M. (2022) National cultural capital as out of reach for transnationally mobile Israeli professional families - making a ‘return home’ fraught. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2022.2156326
Please email me if you would like a full PDF of either of these papers.