Ayşen Üstübici is an Assistant Professor in the Department of International Relations at Koç University (with dual appointment with the Sociology Department). She is a member of the executive board of the Migration Research Center at Koç University (MiReKoc). She studies power, inequalities and contestations in relation to different aspects of international mobility. Her research interests include irregular migration, externalization of migration policies, forced displacement, local integration, future aspirations, informal labour market and gender.
She is the author of ‘The Governance of International Migration: Irregular Migrants' Access to Right to Stay in Turkey and Morocco’ (Amsterdam University Press, 2018). She published articles in Geopolitics, New Perspectives on Turkey, Comparative Migration Studies, Disasters, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Journal of Refugee Studies among other outlets. She is one of the editors of the journal International Migration.
Recent and Select Publications
Müller-Funk, L., Üstübici, A., & Belloni, M. (2023). Daring to aspire: theorising aspirations in contexts of displacement and highly constrained mobility. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 49(15), 3816-383.
Üstübici, A. and Elçi, E. (2022) “Aspirations among Young Refugees in Turkey: Social Class, Integration and Onward Migration in Forced Migration Contexts.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 48(20), 4865-4884.
Üstübici, A. (2022) “‘Street-level justifications’: Service providers mediating refugee reception in the urban context of Istanbul”, Journal of Refugee Studies, 35 (1), 274-92.
Üstübici, A. (2019). “The impact of externalized migration governance on Turkey: technocratic migration governance and the production of differentiated legal status”. Comparative Migration Studies, 7(1), 1-18.
Üstübici, A. (2018). The governance of international migration: Irregular Migrants' Access to Right to Stay in Turkey and Morocco. Amsterdam University Press.
Main sub-Fields:
Political Sociology
Migration Studies
International Migration
Governance
Gender Studies
Urban Studies
Social Policy
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2015
Ph.D., University of Amsterdam
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2015
Ph.D. (Joint Degree), Koç University
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2008
MA, London School of Economics
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2007
BS, Boğaziçi University
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2021
2021 Science Academy Young Scientist Award (BAGEP)
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2020
MIGNEX, Aligning Migration Management and the Migration-Development Nexus, funded by EU Horizon 2020, (September 2018 - September 2024) (principal investigator).
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2020
ADMIGOV, Advancing Alternative Migration Governance, funded by EU Horizon 2020 (February 2019-February 2023) (principal investigator).
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2018
IPC-Stiftung Mercator Fellow at SWP, Berlin, Germany (01/2018 – 08/2018)
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2016-2018
LOC-INTEG Refugees and Local Integration, funded by Koç University Seed Research Grant (December 2016 – May 2018) (principle investigator).
