Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
I have a PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of Sussex, where I also worked as an associate lecturer and tutor, until I joined DEV in July 2014. Before moving to Sussex I worked for several years as a professional researcher and consultant in academic and non-academic sectors in Portugal, including the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the High Commission for Migration in Lisbon. I have also worked continuously as a professional trainer in migration-related issues, in public and private non-profit organisations.
Key Research Interests
My research is mainly concerned with mobility and migration. I have worked for many years in Lusophone Africa (Guinea-Bissau and Angola), where I looked at the social and cultural aspects of food, and their integration in transnational economic life. More recently I have started researching migration in the UK, and I became interested in the use of photography, film and in arts-based methods of research more genereally. My work has involved a combined use of visual and oral narratives in the study of racism, political attitudes and social inequalities in the context of Brexit in Great Yarmouth, and I am currently involved in a ESRC-funded international research project on Coastal Transformations (https://site.uit.no/fishercoast/), where I coordinate the WP on Heritage in the East Anglian region of the UK, looking at experience, discourse and performance in people's memories of the past. I work in collaboration with the local museum sector, following a Museum-University partnership that I coordinated, funded by the Arts Council, exploring issues around migration in Norfolk through a combination of arts and research. My most recent project, "When the Dust Settles: Exploring the Lived Experience of Refugee Families after Reunion" is a British Academy Innovation Fellowship project in collaboration with Together Now - http://togethernow.org.uk/ - to explore the longer term lived experience of refugee families – one or more years after the arrival of relatives through the process of family reunion – in the UK. It uses participatory methods based on oral and audiovisual narratives.
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Projects
- 5 Finished
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A partnership for community-led health behaviour change research in areas of high socio-economic disadvantage
Hardeman, W. (Principal Investigator), Abranches, M. (Co-Investigator), Gordon, J. (Co-Investigator), Hanson, S. (Co-Investigator), McNeil, J. (Co-Investigator), Minihane, A.-M. (Co-Investigator), Sweeting, A. (Co-Investigator), Abranches, M. (Researcher), McNeil, J. (Researcher), McWatt, T. (Researcher), Robinson-Pant, A. (Researcher) & Varley, A. (Researcher)
National Institute for Health and Care Research
1/06/23 → 30/11/25
Project: Research
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When the Dust Settles: Exploring the Lived Experience of Refugee Families after Reunion
Abranches, M. (Principal Investigator)
31/03/22 → 30/03/23
Project: Fellowship
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Coastal transformations and fisher wellbeing - synthesized perspectives from India and Europe (EQUIP)
Menon, A. (Principal Investigator), Rao, N. (Principal Investigator), Abranches, M. (Co-Investigator), Bautes, N. (Co-Investigator), Bavinck, J. (Co-Investigator), Bofulin, M. (Co-Investigator), Dhandapani, B. (Co-Investigator), Dhandapani, S. (Co-Investigator), Finstad, B.-P. (Co-Investigator), Gowrappan, M. (Co-Investigator), Inamdar, A. (Co-Investigator), Natesan, B. (Co-Investigator), Parthasarathy, D. (Co-Investigator), Paudel, K. (Co-Investigator), Proisy, C. (Co-Investigator), Rogelja, N. (Co-Investigator), Taylor, B. (Co-Investigator) & White, C. (Co-Investigator)
Economic and Social Research Council
1/01/19 → 31/12/22
Project: Research
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Lessons of diversity in Norfolk
Theuerkauf, U. (Principal Investigator), Abranches, M. (Co-Investigator), Scott, C. (Co-Investigator), Tebboth, M. (Co-Investigator) & White, C. (Co-Investigator)
Economic and Social Research Council
4/11/17 → 4/11/17
Project: Other
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Exploring historic and contemporary migration in Norfolk - Maria Abranches, MUPI
Abranches, M. (Principal Investigator)
31/03/17 → 30/12/17
Project: Other
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Time and displacement: Changed temporal experiences of refugee families after reunion
Abranches, M. & Jaber, N., Feb 2025, In: Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. 51, 5, p. 1322-1345 24 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile12 Downloads (Pure) -
Heritage through collage: A participatory and creative approach to heritage making
Abranches, M. & Horton, E., Jan 2024, In: International Journal of Heritage Studies. 30, 1, p. 81-102 22 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile8 Citations (Scopus)20 Downloads (Pure) -
Memories of a fishing landscape: Making sense of flow and decline
Abranches, M., Dec 2024, In: Memory Studies. 17, 6, p. 1631-1645 15 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile2 Citations (Scopus)59 Downloads (Pure) -
Food Connections: Production, Exchange and Consumption in West African Migration
Abranches, M., May 2022, Berghahn Books. 202 p.Research output: Book/Report › Book
3 Citations (Scopus) -
Materiality, morality and masculinities in the social transformations of war in Angola
Spall, J. & Abranches, M., 1 Jun 2022, In: Men and Masculinities. 25, 2, p. 195-212 18 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile4 Citations (Scopus)94 Downloads (Pure)
Prizes
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UEA Engagement Project Award
Theuerkauf, U. (Recipient), Abranches, M. (Recipient) & Barwick, M. (Recipient), 30 Jun 2018
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Press/Media
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The Friday Night Show with Sam Day on BBC Radio Norfolk and BBC Radio Suffolk - What is the most effective way of challenging misconceptions?
23/06/23
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Media Coverage or Contribution