Research group
Research Team at the Department of Anthropology, Philosophy and Social Work
The research team at the Department of Anthropology, Philosophy and Social Work (DAFITS) of the University Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona has been carrying out extensive research into migration and transnationalism-related processes, and has focused in particular on changing mobility dynamics and social identity patterns within the framework of Spain’s integration into Europe.
During the last decade of the 20th century Spain underwent an important economic and demographic transformation: rapid metropolization brought together increased transnational immigration flows from Latin America, eastern Europe and the Mediterranean basin and led to wide-ranging social changes such as the new family structures, redefinition of gender and sexual identities, cross-cultural exchanges and new practices and paths concerning welfare, healthcare and eating, amongst others.
During the last two decades, Spain has changed from a country with a significant emigrant tradition to one of the most prominent migrant destinations in Europe, receiving immigrants from both Europe and other continents. The contact with other cultures, as well as a market development, has made it one of the most appreciated and sophisticated gastronomies in the world. Furthermore, within a European integration process, Spain has progressed from a traditionalist male centred society to a pioneer in the implementation of advanced gender politics in Europe. Both regarding migratory issues and gender politics, Catalonia has had a pre-eminent position within the Spanish state. When those sudden and fast changes are subject to scrutiny, it becomes apparent that there is still a large gap between the progress made in legislation and changes in common everyday practices and beliefs.
Tarragona, Catalonia and Spain as a whole have been the subject of a good deal of empirical quantitative analysis and, in particular, qualitative research run by the DAFITS. This research has been multidisciplinary in nature (involving the fields of sociology, history, philosophy, cultural studies, medicine and geography) and has covered a broad spectrum of studies investigating transcultural marriages, emotional distress of adolescents, female migration in rural Catalonia, young adult immigrants on the margins of European community, new spiritualities, etc. At the moment, there are three projects running funded through the National I+D+I Plan 2008-2011 and few other Autonomous Community funded. Our researchers are also interested in taking part in European research and networking projects, in order to contribute to collaborative analysis of the European social reality.
KEY WORDS
Migration, transnationalism, interculturality, identity, European integration, transition, gender system transformation, families, healthcare, eating
TITLE
Social transformation in Spain: migration-related issues, mobilities, multiculturality, new family organization, health services and eating, gender system and identity changes.
