Dr Maja Korac-Sanderson is Reader inMigration and Refugee Studies specialising in gender, conflict and development, as well as gender, migration and integration. The primary geographical focus of her research is Europe, the EU as well as Eastern, Central and South Eastern Europe.

Maja has held positions at the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford (Britain), Centre for Refugee Studies and the Centre for Feminist Research, York University (Canada), and University of Belgrade (Yugoslavia/Serbia). She is affiliated to the Centre of Narrative Research, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, as well as the Centre on Human Rights in Conflict, School of Law, University of East London. She is also holds a research affiliation to the Centre for Sociological Research, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade. Maja has done consultancies for government institutions as well as non-governmental organisations. Her research has been supported by the EC Community Action Programme to Combat Social Exclusion, The Hayter Fund, The British Council, The Oppenheimer Fund, Ford Foundation, Open Society Institute, and Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada: Professional Partnerships Programme.

Maja is a co-founder of the Women in Conflict Zones Network (WICZNET), an international network of scholars, policymakers and grassroots women’s groups from around the world. She co-coordinated the WICZNET collaborative international project: “A Comparative Study of the Issues Faced by Women as a Result of Armed Conflict: Sri Lanka and the Post-Yugoslav States” (1998-2000).

Maja Korac-Sanderson teaches undergraduate courses in International Development, post-graduate in Refugee Studies and supervises PhD students.

She is member of the Research Excellence Framework School working group (Social Sciences) and of the LSS Research Degree Sub Committee.

Maja is also jointly leading the MA in Refugee Studies Programme, with Giorgia Dona.

• Refugee and (Forced) Migration Studies
• Gender dimensions of displacement and mobility
• Conflict, humanitarian intervention and development
• Gender dimensions of conflict, post-conflict and development
• Ethnic and gender based violence in war
• Diversity, social inclusion, citizenship and social policy
• Diasporic and transnational networks and practices
• New Chinese migration to transition societies and developing countries
• Ethnographic research methodologies

• BA International Development
• MA Refugee Studies
• PhD Programme

• AI1201 Poverty, Inequality and International Development
• AI2207 Gender and Development
• AI3207 Conflict, Intervention and Development
• AIM406 Introduction to Forced Migration
• AIM408 Migration, Citizenship and Social Policy
• AIM403 Dissertation (MA in Refugee Studies)

Supervision of PhD students

Current supervisions:

• Godin Marie, dissertation:  ‘Diasporic engagement’: Congolese women in Belgium and in the UK working with women in the East of DRC
• Sheila Osmanovic, dissertation: The Emergence of Islam as a New Paradigm in the Conduct of International Relations: the Role of Islam in the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Break-up of Yugoslavia
• Rumana Hashem, dissertation: Gender and armed conflict: the case of Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh
• Bahar Taseli, dissertation: Representations of Collective ‘Self’ and ‘Other’ in the Turkish Cypriot Print Media Discourses: A Critical Approach.
• Michaela Told, dissertation: A Gender Perspective on Transnationalism of the Sri Lankan Diaspora Communities in Germany – Influence on the Ethnic-Nationalist Conflict and Peace-Building on Sri Lanka

Past supervisions:

• Amira Ahmed, dissertation: Aliens and Locals: Maids in Contemporary Egypt.

Migration to transition societies: Chinese in Serbia

(Funded by UEL SHSS Sabbatical Research Support)

Maja Korac-Sanderson’s current research focuses on migration to transition societies and developing countries. It examines how global restructuring, transnational processes and practices are linking new sending and destination areas. While the research explores intersections of these, it moves beyond the macro structures by looking into the agency of the migrants themselves and how they transform transition societies into attractive destinations. Theoretically, this research challenges dominant notions of temporary or permanent settlement and incorporation in migration literature. Specific focus of this research is Chinese migration to Serbia. The project combines ethnographic fieldwork in Serbia, analysis of the (local) media concerning ‘the exotic stranger in our midst’, as well as survey of literature on new Chinese migration as well as on rural-urban migration within China.

Findings of this research have been presented at international conferences and seminars:

• 2011 ‘Migration to Transition Societies: Chinese in Serbia’, paper presented at the conference Migration: Economic Change, Social Challenge, University College London, UK

• 2011 ‘Migration to Transition Societies: Chinese in Serbia’, seminar, Centre for Migration and Diaspora Studies, SOAS, London, UK

• 2010 ‘Invisible Visible Minority: Chinese in Serbia’, paper presented at the conference New Migrations, New Challenges, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

• 2010 ‘Ethnic Entrepreneurship, Transnational Strategies and Incorporation: Chinese in Serbia’, paper presented at the conference Diaspora as a Resource: Comparative Studies in Strategies, Networks and Urban Space, University of Hamburg, Germany

Plenary and keynote presentations

• 2010 ‘Intersection of contexts in research on migrant incorporation and diversity’,  paper presented at the ‘Diversity for sustainable development: towards a new research agenda?’ final conference of the EU Network of Excellence on “Sustainable Development in a Diverse World” (SUS.DIV, 2005-2011), Fondation Universitaire, Brussels, Belgium
• 2008 ‘Integration of Refugees in Italy and the Netherlands: Contrasting Models’, paper presented at the conference Di Rifugiati a Cittadini possibili: percorsi di integrazione nella Diocesi di Milano, co-organised by Consorzio Farsi Prossimo and Caritas Ambrosiana, Milan, Italy.
• 2008 ‘Crossing Boundaries, Challenging Dominant Structures in Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations’, paper presented at the seminar Women and Politics: Women in Aftermath of Conflict. International seminar co-organised by Zenska Infoteka Zagreb, Croatia, and Women in Conflict Zones Network, Centre for Feminist Research and Centre for Refugee Studies, York University, Toronto, Canada;  held in Dubrovnik, Croatia.
• 2007 `Rubbing along, bonding and bridging: Social networkds and the formtion of cross-cultural reltionships in urban areas', keynote paper presented at the EURODIV Conference Diversity in cities: Visible and invisible walls, held at Univerisity College London, UK.

Single authored books, edited volumes and journal special issues:

• 2009 Remaking Home: Experiences of Reconstructing Life, Place and Identity in Rome and Amsterdam. Berghahn Books, Oxford
• 2003 Feminists Under Fire: Exchanges Across War Zones. Co-editor with Wenona Giles, Malathi De Alwis, Edith Klain, Neluka Silva, Djurdja Knezevic, and Zarana Papic. Toronto: Between the Lines
• 2000 Women in Conflict Zones. Co-editor with Ariane Brunet, Aliosn Crosby, Malathi de Alwis,Vanessa Farr, Wenona Giles, Zarana Papic, Goli Rezai-Rashati, Neluka Silva, and Barbara Traviranus. Special Issue of Canadian Women’s Studies, Vol. 19, No. 4, York University Publications
• 1998 Linking Arms: Women and war in post-Yugoslav sates, Women and Nonviolence Series, No. 6. Uppsala: Life & Peace Institute
• 1994 Special Issue on the Former Yugoslavia. Guest Editor, Special Issue of Refuge, Vol. 14, No. 3, York University Publications.
• 1991Captives of Their Sex:  Social Identity of Young Rural Women Between Traditional Culture and Contemporary Values, Institute of Sociological Research, University of Belgrade (published in Serbo-Croatian)

Translations

• 2011 Serbian translation of Remaking Home: Experiences of Reconstructing Life, Place and Identity in Rome and Amsterdam (2009. Berghahn Books, Oxford). Belgrade: Zavod za izdavanje udzbenika
• 2008  Sinhalise translation of Feminists Under Fire: Exchanges Across War Zones. Co-editor with Wenona Giles, Malathi De Alwis, Edith Klain, Neluka Silva, Djurdja Knezevic, and Zarana Papic. (2003.Toronto: Between the Lines). Colombo: International Centre for Ethnic Studies
• 2004 Croatian translation of  Feminists Under Fire: Exchanges Across War Zones. Co-editor with Wenona Giles, Malathi De Alwis, Edith Klain, Neluka Silva, Djurdja Knezevic, and Zarana Papic. (2003. Toronto: Between the Lines). Zagreb: Zenska Infoteka
• 1992 Spanish translation of ‘Rural Woman in Public/Social Life: Their Position and Perceptions’. Zbornik matice srpske za drustvene nauke, Vol. 36, No. 86, 1989. (Anthology in Social Sciences; published in Serbo-Croatian), published in  Las mujeres ante los cambios producidos en los paises del Este y la Union Sovietica. Duca Aranguren (Ed.). Madrid: Instituto de la Mujer

Papers in Refereed Journals

• 2009  ‘Policy, agency, and intercultural dialogue: Experiences of refugees from war-torn Yugoslavia in Italy’, in Mondi Migranti Issue no. 3, November- December
• 2006  ‘Gender, Conflict and Peace-Building: Lessons from the conflict in the former Yugoslavia’, Women’s Studies International Forum, special issue entitled: ‘Framing Gender Identities: Local Conflict/Global Violence’, Vol. 29, No. 5 (p. 510-520).
• 2003  ‘The lack of integration policy and experiences of integration: a case study of refugees in Rome’, Journal of Refugee Studies; Vol. 16, No. 4 (p. 398-421).
• 2003 ‘Integration and how we facilitate it: A comparative study of settlement experiences of refugees in Italy and the Netherlands’, Sociology (BSA), Vol. 37, No.1 (p. 51-68).
• 2002 ‘The role of the state in refugee integration and settlement: Italy and the  Netherlands compared’, Forced Migration Review, No. 14, June (p. 30-32).
• 2001  ‘Cross-ethnic networks, self-reception system, and functional integration of   refugees from former Yugoslavia in Rome, Italy’, Journal of International Migration and Integration, Vol. 2, No. 1 (p. 1-26).
• 1998 ‘Ethnic Nationalism, Wars and the Patterns of Social, Political and Sexual Violence against Women: The Case of Post Yugoslav Countries’. Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power, Vol. 5, No. 2 (p. 53-181).
• 1996‘Understanding Ethnic National Identity and its Meaning: Questions from Women's Experience’. Women's Studies International Forum, Vol. 19, Nos. 1-2. (p. 133-144).
• 1994‘Representation of Mass Rape in Ethnic Conflicts in what was Yugoslavia’. Sociologija, Vol. 36, No. 4, p. 369-527 (Sociology – the journal of the former Yugoslav Sociological Association; published in English).
• 1993‘Serbian Nationalism - Nationalism of My Own People’.  Feminist Review, No. 45, Autumn (p. 108-113).

Chapters in Books

• Forthcoming  ‘Refugee Women Doing Paid Domestic Work: Disempowering structures of settlement and the question of agency’, in Valerie Preston, Mary Romero, and Wenona Giles eds. Global Migration of Care and Domestic Workers, Brill Publishers (2012)
• 2008 ‘Gender, Conflict, and Social Capital: Bonding and Bridging In War’, in Michaelene Cox ed. Social Capital and Peace-Building: Creating and Resolving  Conflict with Trust and Social Networks, Routledge (p.107-121)
• 2005 ‘The role of bridging social networks in refugee settlement: The Case of Exile Communities from the Former Yugoslavia in Italy and the Netherlands’. Homeland wanted: Interdisciplinary perspectives on the refugee resettlement. Peter Waxman and Val Colic-Peisker (Eds.). New York: Nova Science Publishers Inc. (p. 87-109)
• 2004  ‘War, Flight, and Exile: Gendered Violence among Refugee Women from Post-Yugoslav States’. Sites of Violence: Gender and Conflict Zones. Wenona Giles and Jennifer Hyndman (Eds.). University of California Press. (p. 249-272).
• 2004 ‘Living Ethnicity in Exile: Identity Processes in Refugees from Former Yugoslavia’. Gender, Identitaet und kriegerischer Konflikt. Das Beispiel des ehemaligen Jugoslawien; Ruth Saifert (Ed.).Muenster: Lit Verlag. Bi-lingual, German-English volume. (p. 131-151).
• 2003‘Women Organizing against Ethnic Nationalism and War in the Post-Yugoslav States. Feminists Under Fire: Exchanges Across War Zones. Co-editor with Wenona Giles, Malathi De Alwis, Edith Klain, Neluka Silva, Djurdja Knezevic, and Zarana Papic. Toronto: Between the Lines.  
• 2002 ‘Dilemmas of integration: settlement experiences of refugees in Rome’. Refugee Studies and Politics:Human Dimensions and Research Perspectives. Susanne Binder and Jelena Tosic (Eds.).  Vienna: Vienna University Press. (p. 25-62).
• 1999‘Refugee Women in Serbia: Their Experiences with War, Nationalism and State Building’. Women,Citizenship and Difference. Nira Yuval Davis and Pnina Werbner (Eds.). London: Zed Books. (p. 192-204).
• 1998 ‘Rural development and education of rural women’. Europäische landfrauen auf neuen wegen. Doris Janshen, Mathilde Schmitt (Eds.), Essen: Universität Gesamthochschule Essen. Bi-lingual German-English volume. (p. 147-156)
• 1996 ‘Understanding Ethnic National Identity in Times of War and Social Change’. The Literature of Nationalism: Essays on East European Identity. Robert B. Pynsent (Ed.) London: MacMillan Press. (p.236-246).
• 1996 ‘Gender, Nationalism, and Ethnic National Identity Crisis: The Case of the Former Yugoslavia'. Development & Diaspora: Gender and the Refugee Experience. Wenona Giles, Helene Moussa and Penny Van Esterik (Eds.), with Victoria Foote. Toronto: Artemis Enterprises. (p. 87-99).
• 1996 `Ethnic Conflict, Rape and Feminism: The Case of Yugoslavia'. Research on Russia and Eastern Europe: Women in Post-communism, Vol. 2, Metta Spencer and Barbara Wejnert (Eds.). Greenwich, Connecticut; London, England: JAI Press Inc. (p.247-266)

Reports

• 2003 Integration: Mapping the Field. Home Office On-line Report, in collaboration with Stephen Castles, Ellie Vasta, and Steven Vertovec. (http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs2/rdsolr2803.doc)
• 2003 Integration: Mapping the Field: Distilling Policy Lessons. Home Office On-line Report, in collaboration with Alastair Ager, Gavin Curley, and Claire Fyvie. (http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs2/rdsolr2903.pdf)
• 2002 Indicators of social exclusion of refugees in London. Report prepared for the Advice on Individual Rights in Europe (AIRE Centre), London
• 2001 Dilemmas of Integration and Ways Forward: Problems of refugee settlement in Italy and the Netherlands. On-line report prepared for the Refugee Studies Centre, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford. (http://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/PDFs/rrdilemmasintegration01.pdf)

Book Reviews

• 2008 Review of Dubravka Žarkov The Body of War: Media, Ethnicity, and Gender in Break-up of Yugoslavia. Durham, NC, and London: Duke University Press. Nations and Nationalism, 14(4): 830-832.

• 2009 Reviewer for the ESRC for the project entitled ‘Chinatown Europe? Migration, integration and settlement  in Southern Europe’.
• 2009 Reviewer for the Portuguese Academy of Science for project proposals on Gender and Women Studies.
• 2007 Reviewer for The Leverhulme Trust for the project entitled “Transforming Borders: A Comparative Anthropology of Post-Yugoslav ‘Home’”
• 2006  A referee for the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) for the project entitled ‘Social networks of Bosnian refugees in Austria’.
• 91/92 Member of the Editorial Board of Socioloski Pregled (Sociological Review – the journal of the Serbian Sociological Association – former Yugoslavia).
• 89/91 Member of the Editorial Board of Sociologija (Sociology – the journal of the former Yugoslav Sociological Association).

Scholarships and Awards

• Mary McEwan Memorial Award
• Noami Harder Award
• Visiting Research Scholar Fellowship, Centre for Refugee Studies, York University, Canada
• York University Scholarship, Canada.
• Wainwright Trust Fellowship
• The British Council Scholarship
• Webb Memorial Scholarship
• The British Council Scholarship
• Webb Memorial Scholarship