Tag: ego networks

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José Luis Molina about migratory corridors between Romania and Spain (interview)

José Luis Molina, professor at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, gave a talk for Scena9, an online platform that analyzes and promotes the cultural life in Romania. José Molina was asked about the social relationships between Romania and Spain. The link for the interview, in Romanian, can be accessed here.

José Luis talked about ORBITS, his ongoing project, one developed together with a team from University of Bucharest, coordinated by Marian-Gabriel Hâncean. The aim of the project is to study how European citizens seek better opportunities through intra-European mobility, employing a transnational perspective. The project analyzes two important Romanian enclaves established in Spain, having connections with migrant areas of origin. In the first part of the project, the Castellón – Dâmboviţa migratory corridor (the county where most of the Romanians come from the city of Valencia) was documented. The second corridor will analyze the relation between Roquetas de Mar and Bistrița Năsăud.

At this moment (i.e. October 2018), both teams have just finished the first phase of the project- studying the migration corridor Castellon-Dâmboviţa by interviewing 150 people from Castellon and 150 people from Târgoviște, using a link-tracing methodology. At this phase the project aim is to rebuild the huge network of interactions between these two cities, from Facebook communication to money transfer processes. The second phase of the project will start in the begging of 2019.

Nowadays, Castellon is considered to be the new home for many Romanians leaving from Târgoviște. There is a very wide cultural transformation, possible due to the European Union which allows such an extensive mobility. The question which arises is linked to the reason why Romanians chose Spain as their main destination, together with Italy. Professor Molina proposes an answer closely related to legislation. In the 1990s, the legal framework in Spain and Italy allowed a massive process of migration regulations. Thus, the legislation turned them into countries of destination for migrants. Another important reason was that, during that period, both in Spain and Italy, an explosion in the construction sector took place, and that meant a big volume of unskilled workers who could work in both countries.

José Luis pointed out that ORBITS project helped the research team to realize that in Spain (Castellon) the category of people around whom several connections are build is that of the “firstcomers”, the entrepreneurs. They are essential because they have set the conditions for the migration chain to work. These few people who came in the beginning offered support to any Romanian who arrived in the area.

Those enclaves are interesting to study because they are part of an emerging phenomenon: an enormous number of people migrate to a specific place without someone planning that in advance.

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Whole, personal or egocentric networks?

We had the pleasure to listen to Professor José Luis Molina from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, in Timișoara. He gave an inspiring keynote address titled Whole, personal or egocentric networks? What do we know about personal networks and why it matters. The talk about social networks was linked to the concept of liquid society which refers to emergent, changing social structures, which are partially based on agency and personal interactions.

During his talk, professor Molina pointed out that the study of egocentric/personal networks is especially suited for identifying such structures, linking places within and across nations, and networks of organizations or institutions. Egocentric/personal networks informed social network thinking from its inception but just recently the availability of personal network data with both strong and weak ties have contributed to the development of a growing number of contributions in this area.

Nevertheless, in order to fully develop this approach is necessary to distinguish between egocentric (small number of alters), and personal networks (large number of alters). Thus, while egocentric networks are especially useful for social support and health applications, he contended that personal networks are better suited for the study of emergent social structures.

Drawing on more than a decade of research collecting personal networks with a large number of alters, the presentation aims to take stock of the main lessons learned, and reflect upon the theoretical contribution of personal networks to the understanding of social structures and its dynamics.

The talk was held at the West University of Timișoara, Romania, on September, 15.

The presentation delivered at the University of Bucharest, Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, Romania, on September, 17, can be seen below.

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Analyzing multiple networks from diverse perspectives – international workshop

The first ICONIC international workshop Analyzing multiple networks from diverse perspectives will take place from September 15 to 26, 2018, actually representing a series of lectures, seminars, roundtables and a hands-on workshop meant to cover many different uses and practices of social network analysis. This omnibus workshop is the first of such scale in Romania, taking place in two cities – Timisoara and Bucharest –, for six days, and approaching numerous topics, like personal networks, transnational (migrant) networks, coauthorship networks in science and semantic networks. It has also a multidisciplinary purpose, bringing together social sciences, computer and data science, linguistics and digital humanities, and ethics.

The special guest and keynote speaker is Professor José Luis Molina (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology) who will deliver two lectures. The first one, on September 15, 09.30 AM, opens the second day of the 5th International Conference of the Romanian Sociologists Society, Living in a liquid society, in Timisoara, held at the West University of Timisoara. A second one is due on September 17, 09.30 AM, in Bucharest, at the Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, University of Bucharest. Professor Molina’s lectures will start from a general question: Whole, personal or egocentric networks? What do we know about personal networks and why it matters. Alongside professor Molina, two invited guests will join the workshop: Adina Nergheș (Digital Humanities Group at the KNAW Humanities Cluster) and Angelina Irena Kussy (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology).

During the whole period no more than five sessions, roundtables and a practical workshop will bring together around 20 researchers. In Timisoara, the ICONIC team and its guests are part of a panel devoted to Living in a liquid society, living in transnational social fields. In Bucharest, we will analyze networks from multiple perspectives for two consecutive days (September 18 and 19, 2018). The last two days of this scientific meeting, September 25 and 26, are dedicated to semantic networks, from a theoretical and practical standpoint. The hands-on workshop speaker and mentor is Adina Nergheș.

The full programme is available here.

For detailed information about lectures and panels, participants and abstracts please check the booklet.

If it’s September, it’s the social networks season!