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Department of Sociology, Politics and International Relations
  1. School of Society and Environment – Department of Sociology, Politics and International Relations
  2. People
  3. Politics Media Experts
  4. Migration and human rights

Migration and human rights

Dr Rachel Humphris

Rachel is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Politics and author of Home-land: Romanian Roma, domestic spaces and the state (2019) and Making Sanctuary Cities: Migration, Citizenship and Urban Governance (2025). She is a political sociologist whose research focuses on migration and citizenship, governance and policy-making, gender and race. 

Rachel's research focuses on the welfare-migration nexus and the impact on local lives, identities and places in North America and Europe. Her current research focuses on ‘digital welfare bordering’ and the role of Artificial Intelligence and digital technologies in merging welfare governance and the international migration regime. 

Dr Cristina Juverdeanu

Cristina is a Lecturer in Politics and International Politics. Her research focuses on migration and citizenship in the EU and in the post-EU UK contexts.

Cristina researches the evolving relationship between the UK and the EU, with a particular emphasis on the end of the free movement and the implementation of the new immigration framework in the UK. Her recent work has focused on the EU Settlement Scheme and the post-Brexit intersectional vulnerabilities of immigrant women. 

Prof Maria Grasso

Maria is Professor of Political Science and Political Sociology. Her research focuses on political sociology, social change, social and political inequalities, political generations, social movements, youth politics, gender gaps and the shift from traditional means of political participation relating to parties, electoral politics and left-right conflict, to more diffuse and irregular forms of involvement such as demonstrations, consumer boycotts and issue campaigns.

Maria is currently Scientific Coordinator on a 3.5-year €4m Horizon Europe, UKRI and SERI-funded project, DEMETRA, which aims to demonstrate means to alleviate tensions between democratic governance and sustainability transitions through an analysis of new deliberative participatory processes in seven European countries.

Maria’s research has appeared in The Times, The Financial Times, The Economist, The Independent, The Guardian, The Telegraph among others.

Dr Keren Weitzberg

Keren is a Senior Lecturer and Fellow of the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences. Working at the intersection of science and technology studies, migration and border studies, and critical race studies, she examines problematics related to mobility, biometrics, and fintech. She has over 15 years of experience carrying out archival research, fieldwork, and interviews in Kenya.

Keren has expertise in borders and migration, digital technologies (e.g., digital identity systems and fintech), the political history of East Africa, climate technology, degrowth, and low-carbon economies.

Prof Tim Bale

A photo of Tim Bale against a plain backgroundTim is Professor of Politics at Queen Mary and one of the most respected commentators on British politics. He is an expert in political parties and their membership, grassroots campaigning and the politics of immigration.

He is the author of The Conservative Party After Brexit: Turmoil and Transformation and co-author of The British General Election of 2024.

Prof Jef Huysmans

Jef is a Professor of International Politics. He is best known for his work on the politics of insecurity, the securitisation of migration, critical methods in security studies and international relations, and International Political Sociology.

Jef's research focuses on the social and political processes that securitise issues and their consequences. Much of his work has focused on the securitisation of migration, asylum and refuge in Europe, the relation between citizenship and security and implications for democratic politics of the diffusion of insecurities.

Dr Foteini Kalantzi

Foteini is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Politics and International Relations.

Her research focuses on migration, the securitisation of migration, European borders, biometrics, EU, diaspora(s), sustainability and resilience.

Dr Corina Lacatus

Corina LacatusCorina is a Senior Lecturer in Global Governance. She is an expert in international co-operation and global governance, focusing on the influence that international organisations like the United Nations and the European Union have on domestic institutions, politics, and societies.

Her research has explored different areas of policy-making and practice, including the governance of care for migrants, social exclusion and vulnerability, south-to-north and south-to-south migration, human rights institutions, peace agreements and human rights after conflict, and corruption control. She also has expertise in political communication, focusing on the formation and strategic uses of electoral rhetoric to advance populist political agendas. 

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