About GRABS
Hello. Thank you for showing an interest in the GRABS project and visiting our website.
GRABS stands for Growing Up Across Borders and it is a five year project where we explore the lived experiences of young people growing up in situations of forced migration. Particularly, we seek to better understand how youth knowledge, lived-experiences, agency and ideas shape their pathways into adulthood across borders. GRABS is composed by a small team of five researchers (you can read more about our team here) and many collaborators and partners (you can read about our partners and collaborators here).
The project is funded by the European Research Council (ERC), and hosted at the Université Paris 8 and the CRESPPA research centre (Centre de recherches sociologiques et politiques de Paris).
How we work – our values, ethics, and methods
Through GRABS we aim to bridge a critical gap in understanding youth migration and mobility, particularly in contexts of forced migration, where young people’s voices are often unheard. Focusing on young individuals’ lived experiences, knowledge, memories, ambitions, and imaginaries of migratory journeys, border crossings, and adaptation in host countries, this project addresses the need for comprehensive research that not only informs theory but also strengthens policies and programs supporting young refugees and migrants.
Our aim is to better understand and inform academic scholars, policy makers, humanitarian, development and third-sector practitioners, and other community members on how lived-experiences of violence, displacement, migration and borders impact young people’s lives and transition to adulthood. Our work ethic and research methodological approach is grounded in critical feminist intersectional theories and inclusive, participatory, and ethically responsible practices.
In carrying out our research, we will always strive to work WITH youth, and not just ON youth as mere “subjects” of study; this means, youth become central collaborators in the co-creation of knowledge – from the co-design of research questions and methods, to the co-production of academic and non-academic creative outputs, through field-work activities, training, information exchange and restitution.
Amongst other innovative research methodologies we are engaging in participatory action research workshops where young people will have the opportunity to share their perspectives and shape the research questions and methodologies. With this approach, we aim to recognize and value their knowledge, lived-experiences, agency and ideas, making space for young people to lead and shape the understanding of migration in ways that resonate with their realities.
Where do we work?
The research will be carried out in three countries in Europe (France, Greece, UK), in Canada and South Africa. These countries are all countries of destination for people on the move, but with varying asylum and refugee regimes, different health and social welfare structures, and contrasting economic and political contexts. The choice of case study countries involved in the research has been made on the basis of a background review of the situation with regards to migration in each country, including the numbers of arrivals, migration and asylum laws and policies, public attitudes towards asylum and refugees, and any specific issues regarding young people on the move which may be relevant. The comparison between the different countries will allow us to point the impacts of differing socio-political and socio-economic contexts on the experiences of the young people with whom we work. You can read more about our research work and the case studies in Our Research page.