All Day

Call to Participate in a Workshop on Rethinking Knowledge Politics in Migration Research, Teaching & Practice

Recently, there has been a proliferation of representations of refugees, asylum seekers and irregular migrants waiting at land, sea as well as air border crossings headed towards Europe. These groups are often framed in highly emotive language that associates them with threats, or portrayed as either tragic or miserable, or as the exemplary citizen. There has also been an increase in emphasis on normative concepts such as ‘safe, orderly and regular migration’ in contemporary migration debates and policies; over and above already established ones such as ‘integration’. Often, we also find inherent presumptions that structural disparities between Europe and Africa can be resolved by addressing the root causes of migration and displacement via research and practice without necessarily addressing the causes of oppression. Conversations about African migrants tend to portray Europe as the main host continent for the majority of African migrants in spite of the greater numerical significance of internal and cross-border migration within and across the countries of the global South. All these developments point to the need for ongoing reflection and in particular the need to address northern-centric views in social science and public debate. This call invites abstract submissions to participate in an online workshop as […]

PROTECT Expert Forum: Exploring the Boundaries of International Protection and Human Rights Instruments in South(ern) Africa

The African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS) is running a series of interventions (including public workshops) to unpack the role of international protection and the reality of human rights-based protection claims on the ground in Southern Africa today. Special attention will be given to the influence and impact of both the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) and Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) in the current context of Covid-19. These events are part of PROTECT's Expert Forums series, all of which seek to explore the legal potential and impacts of the Global Compacts on Refugees and Migration. The events are organized by PROTECT's South Africa-based researchers, Jo Vearey, Nicholas Maple, and Kudakwashe Vanyoro. Key topics and issues to be covered in this series: • Protection claims of refugees in South Africa • The stretching and shrinking of international protection via state and local practices • Ground-level approaches to protection for marginalised groups The impact of Covid-19 on: • International protection and localised forms and norms of protection •State approaches to health security and the international securitisation agenda • Regional responses to forced displacement, crisis and instability Program 22 September Exploring the Boundaries of International Protection and Human […]