Biography

Gert Verschraegen is Professor of Sociology at the University of Antwerp in Belgium. His research and writing are situated in the fields of cultural sociology, social theory, sociology of ethnicity and migration studies. His research has appeared in the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Ethnicities, Comparative Migration Studies, European Societies, Current Sociology, and Futures, among others.

During his stay at the Migration Policy Centre as a Visiting Fellow, he will explore how European demographic futures are imagined in relation to migration and migration policies. Gert holds BA degrees in Social Sciences and Philosophy, an MA in Sociology and a PhD in Sociology from KULeuven. He also holds an MA in Global Political Economy from the University of Hull. He has held post-doctoral positions at the Universities of Leuven and Luxembourg and has been a visiting scholar at Harvard University (USA) and the University of Alberta (Canada). He was Chair (2018-2021) and Vice-Chair (2021-2024) of the Department of Sociology at the University of Antwerp.

His most recent books are ‘Divercities. Understanding super-diversity in deprived and mixed neighbourhoods’ (2019, co-edited with S. Oosterlynck) and the forthcoming ‘Elgar Encyclopedia of Global Social Theory’ (2025, co-edited with R. Vanderstraeten) and ‘Project Europe: Remaking European Futures through Digital Innovation Policies’ (2025, co-edited with L. Marelli, J. Dratwa and I. Van Hoyweghen).

Fields of research: Sociology, ethnicity and migration, diversity, migration futures, environmental mobility, social theory.