Branka Likic-Brboric was born and raised in Sarajevo, where she worked as a university teacher at the Faculty of Economic Sciences. Her research area was political economy with a focus on economic policy based on post-Keynesian economic theories and interest groups.
“When the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina broke out in 1992, I fled Sarajevo with my two children, aged 7 and 6 months. We thought the ethnic conflict would end quickly and expected a short stay on the Croatian coast, but as the conflict developed into a full-scale war we couldn’t go back. My cousin who lives in Sweden asked us to come; we arrived in June 1992 and, after a month, applied for asylum.”
After spending a year and a half at a refugee centre in Dalarna, she was granted permanent residency along with tens of thousands of Bosnians and ex-Yugoslavians.
“Being granted permanent residency made us tremendously happy and hopeful”.
She carried with her powerful experiences of flight, which meant a life without identity or basic human rights.
Visiting senior lecturer at LiU in 2008
After a few years in Sweden, she came via Uppsala University to Linköping University and REMESO, where she started as a visiting senior lecturer in 2008, and then became an associate professor in 2012.
“My experiences and knowledge from my years as a refugee have influenced, and still influence, my research on globalisation and social transformation, migration regimes and the integration of new arrivals.”
What is your research about?
“I divide my research into four themes, all of which contribute to a critical understanding of global societal transformation from a political-economic perspective. They focus on emerging forms of global governance and how migration regimes are constructed at different levels. They highlight how forced migration and labour migration are used to legitimise political decisions that undermine the welfare state, citizenship, work and human rights.” (See facts box for thematic specification.)
Integration from a migrant’s perspective
Before Branka came to LiU, she worked as a researcher at the National Institute of Working Life (in 2004), where she began to include migration in her research.
“With Professor Carl-Ulrik Schierup, I investigated the EU’s enlargement toward Eastern Europe and the consequences of a neoliberal economic policy involving rapid privatisation – such as growing unemployment, poverty, ethnic conflicts. My focus was on irregular migration and the informal economy, which were people’s only survival strategies in these countries.”
Another track in her migration research is the project “Citizens at Heart”, funded by the Swedish Research Council. Together with Professor Li Bennich-Björkman at Uppsala University, she studied the socio-economic and political integration of highly educated migrants from Bosnia-Herzegovina in Sweden, the UK and Germany.
“We interviewed about fifty people who had been successfully established in the labour market, meaning that they had found work that corresponded to their profession and level of education. Their life stories showed how important it is that welfare state institutions, such as civil rights and social networks, function. An integration policy adapted to immigrants' professional identity and social inclusion.”
Ongoing research projects
Branka is involved in several ongoing research projects investigating the causes and consequences of the restrictive turn in migration policy at national, EU and global levels.
“Migration is part of the UN’s Sustainable Development Agenda. My colleagues Carl Ulrik Schierup and Aleksandra Ålund and I contribute knowledge about the effects of this. We examine how different state and non-state actors influence processes that shape global migration governance, as well as the implementation of migration-related frameworks and sustainable development goals (SDGs). We focus on the networks and strategies of global civil society organisations for the promotion of human rights in guaranteeing decent working conditions and civil and human rights for migrants. Our work has resulted in international collaborations with prominent researchers and in several publications.” (See facts box.)
Another project examines the Swedish restrictive political turn following the large influx of refugees in 2015. Temporary residence permits were introduced; a change that affected refugees’ housing situation and integration.
“The project is based on how this limbo affects how the newly arrived can create their own home, anchor themselves and settle in a new place. We investigate the challenges and solutions at play when newly arrived refugees try to find acceptable housing. We also compare the newly arrived immigrants’ own perspective with other social actors’ perspectives on issues related to finding good and sustainable housing.”
What would you like to focus more on in your research?
“I want to contribute to a more balanced narrative on migration and immigrants, far away from the narrow focus of looking at everyone with an immigrant background as criminals. Right now I’m focusing on several co-authored articles, book chapters and book projects within the framework of collaboration with other colleagues in my ongoing research projects.”
Branka plans to write a monograph in which she integrates her previous and current research on global, EU and Swedish migration regimes, ethnicity, citizenship and migrant inclusion.
“I hope that my work contributes to a knowledge production that highlights the migrants’ own experiences and perspectives. That I can contribute to an open and constructive migration dialogue aiming to develop effective strategies for an inclusive social climate.”