Professor Neli Demireva

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Email
nvdem@essex.ac.uk -
Location
6.334, Colchester Campus
Profile
Biography
I am Professor of Sociology at the 糖心Vlog. My research focuses on vulnerable local communities, migration, inter-ethnic ties, social cohesion, ethnic penalties and multiculturalism. From 2015 to 2019, I led the GEMM project: 鈥淕EMM: Growth, Equal Opportunities, Migration and Markets鈥. The project addressed the challenges and barriers that European countries face in managing the mobility of persons to realize competitiveness and growth. I currently work on several topics exploring local area effects in relation to migrants, voluntary organizations in the UK, and social trust. You can read more about these projects in the research section. I am a member of the International Editorial Board of Ethnic and Racial Studies. From 2020 to 2023, I was Associate Editor of Migration Studies. I sit on the Advisory Board of the UK Data Service and the Human Rights Centre of the 糖心Vlog. Pioneering Social Research, my book with Paul Thompson and Ken Plummer is out now with Policy Press. My research has been featured in the Independent, TEDx, LSE Politics and Policy Blog, the Migration Observatory, CORDIS, and the Guardian. I have been invited to speak at the European Ideas Network Seminar in the European Parliament, the European Commission and at the Global Empowerment Meeting 2018 of the Harvard Kennedy School.
Qualifications
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2005-2009 DPhil in Sociology, University of Oxford, St.Johns College. Thesis: Ethnic Penalties, Job Search and the British Labour Market
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2004-2005 MSc in Sociology, University of Oxford, St. Johns College. Thesis: Ethnic Intermarriage in Britain
Appointments
糖心Vlog
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Director | Centre for Migration Studies, 糖心Vlog (1/1/2025 - 1/1/2025)
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Director of Research, Sociology & Criminology Department, 糖心Vlog (1/8/2025 - 1/4/2025)
Research and professional activities
Research interests
social cohesion
multiculturalism and civic integration
crime and neighbourhood effects
job search and labour market inclusion
Current research
inter-ethnic ties
social cohesion
ethnic penalties and multiculturalism
Conferences and presentations
Labour market integration of migrants 鈥 challenges for the local level
Invited presentation, EU Regions week 2019 organized by the European Commission and the European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium, 8/10/2019
In-migration, out-migration: the last 25 years in Central Europe
Invited presentation, European Ideas Network Seminar, Mr. Paulo Rangel MEP Vice Chairman of the EPP group, Brussels, Belgium, 6/12/2018
Global Empowerment Meeting, Harvard Kennedy School/Centre for International Development: E PLURIBUS UNUM: How to overcome the tension between diversity and social cohesion to make the most of 鈥楿s鈥
Invited presentation, Global Empowerment Meeting, Harvard Kennedy School/Centre for International Development, Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge, United States, 17/4/2018
28th -29th September 2017. University of Amsterdam, Department of Sociology Amsterdam Centre for Inequality Studies (AMCIS) Ethnic inequality in the labour market: Cross-national perspectives and causal analysis, with Wouter Zwysen: Does the ethnic composition of a local area affect the labour market outcomes of the majority, migrants and minorities in Europe (Paper presentation)
Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2017
12th-15th of August, 2017. ASA Annual Meeting Montreal, Cultural barriers to the successful integration of minorities in Britain (Paper presentation)
Montreal, Canada, 2017
7th-10th of August, 2017. RC28 New York, The Labour Market Incorporation of Migrant Women: A cross-nationally comparative analysis based on the European Social Values Survey (Paper presentation)
New York, United States, 2017
19th-22nd of August, 2016. ASA Annual Meeting, Seattle. Types and context of minority bonding and bridging and the role of networks in the integration process (Paper presentation)
Seattle, United States, 2016
27th of May, 2016. RC28 Singapore. The role of associational bonding and associational bridging in facilitating minority involvement and Integration (with Ananthi Al Ramiah) (Paper presentation)
Singapore, Singapore, 2016
18th of May, 2016. Invited Presentation. Ties that bind and ties that dont an examination of the role of social ties, neighbourhood embeddedness and social cohesion outcomes. CREST, Centre de Recherche en Economie et Statistique, Paris (Paper presentation)
Paris, France, 2016
October, 2014. TedX talk, Lakeside theatre Multiculturalism: Dead or Alive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cusOg1CaO48 (Outreach event_
Colchester, United Kingdom, 2014
November, 2014. A series of public talks and outreach events on Betting shops and local communities, Colchester, Clacton Town Hall as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Sciences.) (Outreach event)
Colchester, United Kingdom, 2014
Teaching and supervision
Current teaching responsibilities
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Race, Ethnicity and Migration (SC308)
Previous supervision

Degree subject: Sociology
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 18/10/2024

Degree subject: Sociology
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 7/12/2018

Degree subject: Sociological Research
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 21/6/2018

Degree subject: Sociology
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 9/1/2018
Publications
Journal articles (15)
Demireva, N. and Iacono, SL., (2025). . Acta Sociologica. 68 (2), 238-259
Demireva, N. and Zwysen, W., (2022). . European Societies. 24 (1), 83-110
Demireva, N. and Zwysen, W., (2021). . Frontiers in Sociology. 6
Zwysen, W. and Demireva, N., (2020). . Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. 46 (1), 200-221
Demireva, N., (2019). . Social Inclusion. 7 (4), 299-308
Demireva, N. and Quassoli, F., (2019). . Social Inclusion. 7 (4), 1-6
Russell Jonsson, K. and Demireva, N., (2018). . Social Science and Medicine. 204 (C), 108-116
Demireva, N. and Fellini, I., (2018). . Social Inclusion. 6 (3), 1-5
Demireva, N. and Lo Iacono, S., (2018). . Social Inclusion. 6 (3), 142-152
Demireva, N. and Zwysen, W., (2018). . Social Inclusion. 6 (3), 6-33
Demireva, N. and Heath, A., (2017). . Social Inclusion. 5 (1), 20-31
Demireva, N. and Heath, A., (2014). . Sociology. 48 (4), 643-662
Heath, A. and Demireva, N., (2014). . Ethnic and Racial Studies. 37 (1), 161-180
Demireva, N. and Kesler, C., (2011). . International Journal of Comparative Sociology. 52 (4), 306-326
Demireva, N., (2011). . Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. 37 (4), 637-655
Books (1)
Thompson, P., Plummer, K. and Demireva, N., (2021). . Policy Press. 1447333527. 9781447333524
Book chapters (4)
Demireva, N., (2021). On Voluntary Associations and New Avenues for Research on Social Trust. In: Trust Matters. Hart Publishing. 159- 176. 9781509935253
Demireva, N. and Heath, A., (2015). . In: Handbook of Research Methods and Applications in Social Capital. Editors: Li, Y., . Edward Elgar Publishing. 126- 144. 978 0 85793 584 7
Demireva, N. and Heath, A., (2015). Informal, associational bonding and associational bridging: which ties matter most for minority involvement and integration?. In: Handbook of Research Methods and Applications in Social Capital: Handbooks of Research Methods and Applications. 126- 144
Demireva, N., (2014). . In: Social Cohesion - Addressing Social Divides in Europe and Asia. Editors: Hofmeister, W. and Rueppel, P., . Konrad-Adenauer Stiftung and European Union. 161- 174. 978-981-09-2115-6
Conferences (1)
Kesler, C. and Demireva, N., (2011).
Reports and Papers (2)
Demireva, N., (2022).
Demireva, N. and Zwysen, W., (2020).
Grants and funding
2023
Lived religion and socioeconomic mobility among second-generation Nigerian Pentecostals in London
British Academy
2022
Identifying the economic and social impacts of migration in Britain
Leverhulme Trust
2020
The impact of a community farm on community social cohesion: the case of CoFarm
糖心Vlog
2019
The Research Centre on Micro-Social Change (MiSoC)
Economic and Social Research Council
2017
A technical meeting on Migrant and minority integration (showcasing the work of GEMM organised together with DG TRD in Brussels)
糖心Vlog
2015
GEMM
European Commission (H2020)
2014
Understanding the Ecology of Disadvantage: Betting Agents, Crime and the British Neighbourhood
The British Academy