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"Migration affects both the people who leave and the societies they move into and depart from. In the long term, it shapes identity, economic and social relations, political participation, and social cohesion. To view migration as something that can or should be strictly controlled or avoided ignores its complexity,” says Prof. Dr. Ana Mijić, Professor of Qualitative Social Research at the Institute of Sociology, University of Vienna.

Lorenzo grew up in Tyrol, spoke the local dialect, and danced the Schuhplattler. Yet as the child of migrants, he never fully belonged. A story about guilt and adaptation.

The so-called 1.5 generation experienced war and displacement as children or adolescents and grew up under the influences of their new home. Social scientist Ana Mijić compares biographies in Austria and the United States.

Thirty years after the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, “IRI.S – Creating Identity out of War and Migration” (FWF, 2025–2028) explores the long-term effects of early experiences of war and forced migration on the identity formation of individuals who fled as children or adolescents to Vienna and Chicago, the so-called “1.5 generation”. Prof. Ana Mijić and her team, Slađana Adamović and Jelena Jokić-Bornstein present the theoretical and methodological framework of the project and provide insights in the recently completed first fieldwork phase in Vienna and Chicago.

In the summer of 2025, Ana Mijić conducted her first interviews in Chicago and immersed herself in the lives of people who fled Bosnia 30 years ago. At the Rudolphina of the University of Vienna, she provides insight into her research and her time in the United States.

Wie die 1,5-Generation in Chicago und Wien ihre Identität aufbaut