The winner of the first IMISCOE Maria Ioannis Baganha Dissertation Award is Dr. Juljana Vullnetari from the Sussex Centre for Migration Research at the University of Sussex, UK. Her manuscript, entitled Dynamics between Internal and International Migration: A Development-Oriented Ethnographic Study in Albania, was unanimously endorsed for first place by the IMISCOE Award Committee, who also served as this year’s jury for the competition.
Of thirteen applications submitted from various prestigious institutes, the jury deemed five to be of outstanding quality. Yet from these, Juljana Vullnetari’s work stood out.
"Its rigorous, well-applied mix of ethnographic and sociological methods was coupled with an innovative approach of combining analysis of internal and international migration processes in transition and post-transition Albania, thus making very relevant use of the notions of intra-national and trans-national social fields. The jury considers the manuscript refreshingly ‘un-dissertation-like’, making its case without retreating into jargon, using excellent multi-sited fieldwork that follows migrant networks and arguing its theoretical points cogently and comprehensibly. Because it addresses the relationship between migration and development, this work has added value for policymakers and other experts interested in the development processes of emigrants’ sending regions. All things considered, Vullnetari’s dissertation is an excellent piece of research that honours Maria Baganha’s memory and would have certainly pleased her to read" (note by the IMISCOE Award Committee).
The presentation of this first annual award is scheduled for 13 September 2010 at the Seventh Annual IMISCOE Conference in Liège.