Ricard Zapata-Barrero
Ricard Zapata-Barrero is Professor at the Department Of Political and Social Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona, Spain). In 2009, he founded GRITIM-UPF (Interdisciplinary Research Group on Immigration), a multi-departmental group of researchers interested in the aspects of innovation in research and management of change processes arising from human mobility and immigration. That same year, he also set up the Official Master of Immigration Management that is accredited by the Spanish Government. He is a regular contributor to media and policy debates, and has served on a number of commissions and government committees.
Lines of research
Over the last five years, Ricard Zapata-Barrero’s main lines of research have been focused on contemporary liberal democracy in contexts of diversity immigration, wherein he combines political theory, public policy and applied research. His research follows a multidisciplinary analysis and interdisciplinary knowledge of immigration that is case study-oriented, with a conflict-driven analysis. He also undertakes comparative studies that use a contextual approach and discourse analysis.
His academic production has been mainly centered on two categories: Border and Diversity management. Within the Border Management category, he has undertaken empirical research on: circular migration, externalization of migration policies mainly in the Mediterranean area, the ethics of migration, political theory of Borders and global human movement, political discourse of borders and control of flows.
As regards Diversity Management, he has carried out a comparative analysis of Quebec, Flanders and Catalonia taking into account two types of cultural pluralism (immigration and minority nations). Furthermore, he has investigated: Federalism and immigration policies, multi-level governance and policy in immigration management, political discourse and xenophobia, Muslims and religious diversity in Europe, local diversity policies and intercultural approaches, cultural policy and diversity management.
His main academic objective is to contribute to the European approach on matters related to immigration and diversity.