I thought to quickly comment on two articles published this week following statistical releases: Firstly, Israel has entered the Top 3 of access to Portuguese citizenship last year! And, secondly, Portugal sees a demographic growth for the first time in a decade, and this, due to immigration.
Continue readingThe potential of Jewish tourism in Portugal
I have already shared some thoughts on the participation of several small cities of Portugal in a Judaism touristic itinerary.
This week, despite the focus of the news on the management of the spread of the coronavirus disease, Publico published this article, on the sustainability of Jewish tourism!
Continue readingDocumentary watching binge
Sick of watching the same series again and again? Looking for a change? At a time where we cannot leave our houses, here are some resources on Northeastern Portugal, migration and return (this also works in winter, rainy days, sick days or just when one cannot read or write anymore!).
Disclaimer: Some I haven’t seen entirely (yet). And if you think of more, feel free to share!
Continue readingReturn migration and aging rural areas in the time of Covid-19
Disclaimer: this post was first published on 24 March 2020, but I tried to update it regularly… Last update: 30 April (day of the declaration of the State of Calamity, to replace the State of Emergency).
The academic community is extremely involved in the debate on the Covid-19 pandemy. And this does not only concern the ones in public health, microbiology and medecine. Migration scholars too are following closely the news. Just as an illustration, my colleague Thomas Lacroix has created a thread where he compiles articles on the topic.
In fact, people who experience migrations are particularly vulnerable at this moment. Decent housing, health insurance coverage, the possibility to work from home, virtual social networks to deal with the social isolation, language command, and savings… all what I don’t really have to think about… some are haunted by the lack of it every minute the last few weeks.
Continue readingPublic service work and discretion in migration policies
A publication is out!
Some weeks ago, the RIEM (Revista Internacional de Estudios Migratorios) published my article “The role of established immigrants within institutionalised immigrant integration in Israel“. I wrote this article after having submitted my dissertation, with the idea to focus on one aspect of it: street level bureaucrats.
As a matter of fact, a large part of the interviews I conducted was with persons working in municipalities and other governement agencies, and were in direct contact with the residents. They were part of the welfare department, the employment department and more frequently, the department dealing with immigration and so-called integration-related matters.
The many differences I could spot between each city’s policies were in part to be attributed to these street level bureaucrats. I tried to make sense of it through this article.
This has also impacted our arrival in Portugal. Throughout the administrative maze that one immigrant follows, one can only recognise the high level of discretion public service workers have: at the tax office, at social security, at the clinic, and at the home office (SEF here in Portugal). Every person tells a different story, and by coming twice for the same thing, you might get two different responses.
Continue readingWinter is coming
The title of this post is obviously a marketing ploy.
But more seriously, after a week in Trás-os-Montes, I believe again in the power of seasons over our overall rhythm.
While the Christmas decorations were mere reminders that a week before, families were celebrating the end of the year’s festivities together, I arrived in Trás-os-Montes through a thick fog, and surrounded with the smell of burnt wood.
I had a plan to shoot some images at the houses of the people I met during the summer. Unfortunately, everyone was gone, had a cold, and in general, was not as eager as during summer days to show outside of their home.
First, I was frustrated. But I thought this was part of winter life in the region: empty villages once the sun sets, cold and foggy weather… So I took the decision to film just this. The absence.

To be fair, there were some people: the ones working – in agriculture in the villages, and in shops and services in Bragança. In the city, it seems that winter was also an opportunity to renovate the roads and sites. I decided to expand my horizons, and I visited Vimioso, Mirando do Douro, Vila Real and Chaves. Every where were works, renovations, and… empty streets, closed shops… The north was getting ready for its visitors!
Celebrating return: emigrants’ festival(s)
My former institution, Migrinter at the University of Poitiers, hosts for the last years a large project called CAMIGRI – Les campagnes françaises dans la dynamique des migrations internationales. And CAMIGRI publishes regularly works carried out by their team, or by collaborators in their newsletter.
I was happy to be invited to present a short account of my work in Trás-os-Montes this month, and here is the result!

and a little bit on policies
This Wednesday 6 November, the second roundtable of our Migration and Return cycle of workshops took place in ISCTE-UL.

A little bit of politics
Last 6 October 2019, the Portuguese elected the new members of the parliament. Without much surprise, the Socialist Party led by Antonio Costa took the lead, followed by the Social Democrats and the Left Block. In the following days, the debates focused on the future coalition Costa might bring together, replicating the anterior minority government supported by the Left Bloc and the Communists (called here geringonça). Eventually, the Socialist Party will govern alone, and will have to request support and make compromise – a fragile position to hold.
I decided to check what this all means for the residents of Trás-os-Montes, and for (potential) returnees to the area.
Continue readingAirbnb is even in far away rural Tras-os-Montes!
Summer is over, and so are my trips to the north – well, surely I will do some follow-up in the upcoming weeks, but I will not be able to stay as long.
In order to make some sense out the data I collected, I courageously decided to end up the summer with a short presentation at the Royal Geography Society annual conference in London. I say courageously, because I felt quite stupid standing there after such a short time in the project… I was included in a great panel on rural areas and migration, with colleagues working in the field for much longer than me.
My idea was to share a first round of analysis. I decided to map in details of one of the villages I spent time at, and get a full picture of its current occupation. Here is, below, the result. This includes all the houses I could see while walking around.

A summer in Tras-os-Montes
This summer is dedicated to fieldwork. This means that, as my desk is finally freed from accumulated essays written by the students, or articles I must read to revise that or this paper, I can now focus on feeling, listening, letting myself surprised by the people and events of Bragança’s neighbouring villages.
Bragança: Terra de Sefarad
Last week, I participated in the second edition of Terra(s) de Sefarad – an event dedicated to the historical presence of Jews in the northern region of Trás-os-Montes.
The event included three days of lectures, hosted in the auditorium of the municipal theatre, exhibitions in various venues in the city, outdoor screening of movies and concerts.
Continue readingFrom Galegos to La Fontañera: walking on the smugglers’ path
I spent the week-end in northern Alentejo, in the natural park of Serra de São Mamede. And what started with a family hiking week-end, ended up in a research stroll!
On Saturday, we made our way to Castelo de Vide. The village hosts a museum in the old Synagogue, at the top of the old Jewish quarter (or the Judiaria), which was about to close for lunch time. We ran up the Judiaria to enter the museum. This was not the first time that I found myself in a museum dedicated to the Jewish communities that once lived at the Portuguese borders. In Bragança, a museum is dedicated to the Sephardic culture in the northern Tras-os-Montes region.

The old Jewish Quarter, Castelo de Vide 
View of Castelo de Vide from the old Jewish quarter
Borders, peripheries and the “subnational”
Last April 2019, I participated in the ECPR Joint Sessions in Mons. More specifically, I joined the workshop entitled “Subnational Immigration Policies and Politics: Towards a Second Generation Research Agenda”. Led by three political scientists from both sides of the Atlantic, the workshop aimed at sharing our research projects and getting quality feedbacks by peers.
Two months have passed since that week, but I still thought it would be of interest to reflect on the questions we addressed together. On the first day, the conveyors started the session with a set of questions, which they would eventually come back to the last day:
- What do we mean by “subnational” and “local”?
- What can we learn when looking at the subnational level?
- What are the relations between various levels (of policymaking and politics)?
- What are the actors and the targeted beneficiaries of these policies?
My co-author and I were the first ones to present. I, for my part, introduced my doctoral project, and presented my work on four cities located at the borders of Israel. And right after, the first comment made by the discussant related to the broader question “what is the subnational?”. Is it the municipal level? If so, are the cities connected?
Continue readingEnquiring at the border
In the last year of my PhD, and after months of writing, I decided to update the title of my thesis. First named Local policies for the integration of new Jewish immigrants (Olim) in peripheral Israel, it became Governing or being governed? A scalar approach of the transformation of State power and authority through the case of immigration and integration policies of four frontier towns in Israel.
This was a source of debate with my supervisor, and later with the examiners that attended the defence. Why using the term “frontier”? One of the examiners even stated: “I would comment that the use of the term frontier towns is a bit pretentious and indeed the author mentions the alternating use of ‘small and mid- sized cities’ and ‘peripheries’”.
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