Dr İdil Akıncı-Pérez
Job Title
Lecturer in Race and Social Policy
Street (Address)
15a George SquareCity (Address)
EdinburghPost code (Address)
EH8 9LDResearch interests
Research interests
My work explores how immigration and citizenship frameworks shape opportunities and challenges from a global perspective. More specifically, I examine the lived experiences of temporary migration systems across generations, focusing on the strategies individuals and families use to access long-term security. By focusing on the Arab Gulf region, home to the world’s largest South-South migration corridor, my work highlights diverse social and economic distinctions within the ‘global South’ and their impact on migration pathways and perceptions of citizenship.
Since 2021, I have focused on the experiences of aging migrants and their life plans after retirement in the United Arab Emirates. In light of new visa reforms and voluntary pension schemes, I examine decision-making processes around where to retire and how to achieve financial security in old age. This work uncovers the complex interdependencies between younger and older generations, portraying retirement as a “family matter” in the Gulf.
Project grants
Lund Mission Society (2021-2022)
Together with Dr Ulrich Schmiedel from the School of Divinity, in this project we examined the sociological conditions under which religious diversity can act as a force for cohesion, rather than conflict, in pluralist societies.
Alexander Humboldt Foundation Post-doctoral Fellowship, GIGA Middle East (2021)
This project provided insights into a number of retirement strategies older migrants and their adult children develop in the UAE. Findings are published in a special issue in the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies(2022)
ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship, (2018-2019)
In this project, I investigated the impact of changing political circumstances in countries of origin (or nationality) for foreign residents living abroad. In particular, I explored the impact of war in Syria on long term Syrian residents in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Findings are published in International Migration Review(2023)
Chancellor’s International Research Excellence Scheme, University of Sussex, fully funded doctoral research (2014-2018)
My doctoral research explored experiences of migration and citizenship among different groups in the context of Dubai. Some of the findings are published in the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies(2019) and Ethnic and Racial Studies(2020)
Background
Prior to joining the Social Policy department at the University of Edinburgh in 2022, I worked as an Early Career Teaching and Research Fellow, cross-appointed between the Department of Sociology, the Alwaleed Centre, and IMES. I convene a course titled Race, Power and Social Policy, which examines why and how race matters for the study and practice of social policy, while exploring the global reconfigurations of power and inequality today.
I hold a PhD in Migration Studies from the University of Sussex (2018), where I explored the everyday experiences of national identity and citizenship among young Arab migrant communities and Emirati citizens in Dubai. I also conducted fieldwork in Dubai with South Asian communities during 2012-2013 as part of my MA in Sociology at City, University of London.
Additionally, I have taught various undergraduate and postgraduate courses in sociology, migration, human geography, and social anthropology at both the University of Sussex and Zayed University in Dubai.