Dr Domiziana Turcatti

Domiziana is a sociologist. Her research focuses on and lies at the intersection of migration, education, family, and care. She is specialised in qualitative and ethnographic methods and is particularly interested in participatory methodologies, public engagement, and knowledge exchange approaches to foster learning and dialogue between researchers, policymakers, and the third sector.

Domiziana was awarded a DPhil in Migration Studies from the University of Oxford in 2023 as a Clarendon Scholar. Her doctoral thesis “The onward migration-family nexus: The lived experiences of London’s onward Colombian migrants from Spain and their families” investigated how families shape and are shaped by onward migration by focusing on the experiences of onward Colombian families who moved from Spain to London. While conducting her doctorate at the Centre on Migration, Policy, and Society (COMPAS), Domiziana co-led the participatory research project “Enhancing the impact of migration research with Latin Americans in London” with the charity Latin American House in 2021. The project sought to understand the impact of Brexit and COVID-19 on London’s Latin American migrants through knowledge exchange and engagement activities.

Domiziana completed her MPhil in Sociology at the University of Cambridge in July 2019 with a Gates Cambridge Scholarship, where she explored the challenges faced by Latin American parents in London to provide and care for their families and the role that migrant-led NGOs play in enhancing the welfare of migrants and their families.

Prior to moving to the UK, she completed her BA in Liberal Arts and Science at Amsterdam University College, where she ventured to understand the educational experiences and the peer culture of Moroccan-Dutch youth in Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

In 2023, Domiziana worked as a Researcher at the University of Reading for the project “Transnational Families in Europe: Care, Inequalities and Wellbeing”  – a  comparative, multi-sited, qualitative project led by Prof. Ruth Evans and which deployed participatory methodologies to investigate the relationships between caring responsibilities, inequalities and wellbeing among different generations of transnational families in the UK, Spain, France and Sweden.

From 2020 to 2023, she served as Convener of Migration Oxford  – a research network and hub bringing together migration researchers from across the University of Oxford and enhancing policymakers and the public’s access to the migration expertise in Oxford.

Domiziana carried out various research consultancies. For example, in 2023, she was contracted by the Centre on Migration, Policy, and Society (COMPAS, University of Oxford) to draft the response to the 2023 Homes for Ukraine Parliamentary Inquiry . In 2020, she worked as a research consultant for the project “Promoting Inclusion to Combat Early School Leaving” , led by the University of Seville and the International Association of Intercultural Education and co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union. The project aimed to promote inclusive intercultural pedagogies by bringing together researchers and teachers from schools across Europe (Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Croatia).

Domiziana’s academic service to date has included:

• Since 2024: Migration Oxford Advisory Board Member
• 2023: 2024 International Association of Intercultural Education (IAIE) Conference, Scientific Committee Member
• 2019 – 2021: Oxford Monitor of Forced Migration Journal, Editor and Co-Editor-in-Chief
• 2019 – 2021: IMISCOE PhD Network Board Member
• 2019 – 2020: Oxford Migration Studies Society, Co-President

Publications

Doctoral Dissertation

Turcatti, D. (2023). The onward migration-family nexus: The lived experiences of London’s onward Colombian migrants from Spain and their families. [Doctoral Dissertation, University of Oxford]. University of Oxford.

Journal Articles

Turcatti, D. (2023). Identities in onward migration: Young people of Colombian descent in London. Children’s Geographies, 21(6), 1171-1185.

Turcatti, D. (2022). Remapping onward migration through the trajectories of Colombian parents in London. Migration Studies, 10(4), 703-721.

Turcatti, D., & Vargas-Silva, D. (2022). “I returned to being an immigrant”: Onward Latin American migrants during Brexit. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 45(16): 287-307.

Montero-Sieburth, M., & Turcatti, D. (2022). Preventing disengagement leading to early school leaving: Pro-active practices for schools, teachers and families. Journal of Intercultural Education, 33(2), 139-155. https://doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2021.2018404

Turcatti, D. (2021). Migrant-led organisations as caring communities: Towards a re-appreciation of the reciprocal dimension of care. International Journal of Care and Caring, 5(4), 651-667.

Turcatti, D. (2018). The educational experiences of Moroccan Dutch youth in the Netherlands: Place-making against a backdrop of racism, discrimination and inequality. Intercultural Education, 29(4), 532-547.

Book Chapters

Montero-Sieburth, M., & Turcatti, D. (2021). Case studies across national boundaries: Underscoring nuanced factors in migrant peer youth groups. In M. Montero-Sieburth, R. Mas Giralt, N. Garcia-Arjona and J. Eguren (Eds.), Family practices in migration: everyday lives and relationships. (pp. 45-62). Routledge.

Turcatti, D. (2021). When social reproduction becomes political: How London’s Latin American women make families, communities and rights visible. In J. L. Diab (Ed.), Dignity in movement: Borders, bodies and rights. (pp. 161-175). E-International Relations.

Conference Proceedings

Turcatti, D., & Assaraf, K. (2020). Lessons gained from a case study of a Latin American NGO in London: The role intercultural competence plays in the delivery of services to migrant communities. Proceedings of the International Association for Intercultural Education (IAIE) conference: “Another brick in the wall” (pp. 113-133). Amsterdam: The Netherlands.

Reports

Turcatti, D. (2024). Response to the 2023 Homes For Ukraine Parliamentary Inquiry. Global Exchange on Migration and Diversity. Centre on Migration, Policy and Society.

Turcatti, D., & Vargas-Silva, C. (2021). The experiences of London’s Latin American migrants during Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic. COMPAS & Latin American House.

Turcatti, D., & Montero-Sieburth, M. (2020). An in-depth review of the literature on ‘best practices’ for the prevention of early school leaving in schools with intercultural contexts. International Association of Intercultural Education.

Turcatti, D., & Assaraf, K. (2018). The experiences of the Latin American clients of LADPP: Identifying what works & the interventions needed to enhance the well-being and quality of life of LADPP’s clients. Latin American Disabled People’s Project.

Media Interviews

2021: Interview on EL CAFÉ MAÑANERO with Jorge Rivera.

Blogs

Turcatti, D. (2024). Two Years On, How Can We Best Provide ‘Homes for Ukraine’? Centre on Migration, Policy and Society.

Turcatti, D., & Lopez-Prieto, C. (2020). Making visible the experiences of young Latin Americans living in London. COMPAS.

Turcatti, D. (2020). Between (im)mobility and resistance: ‘Low-skilled’ migrants in the pandemic. COMPAS.

Turcatti, D. (2020). Coronavirus: A (missed) chance to rethink racism? COMPAS.

Turcatti, D. (2020). On ‘reciprocity’ and ‘impact’: Some reflections from a junior researcher. Research to Action.

Podcasts

In this episode Luca Pieri is joined by NIESR Senior Social Researcher Dr Domiziana Turcatti and Associate Social Researcher Jasmin Rostron, and three leaders in the Latin American community in London: Ms Claudia Lopez, a Colombian English as Additional Language teacher at the Saint Gabriel’s College, a secondary school in London; Bruna Boscaini, Director of IRMO, The Indoamerican Refugee Migrant Organisation, and and Lucia Filinich, The Health and Wellbeing Project Lead at IRMO.