Geographies of migration II: Decolonising migration studies

Abstract

Migration is deeply entangled with colonialism, not only in the historical emergence of nation-states, sovereignty and mobility but in the ongoing continuation of colonial power relations underpinned by racism and exploitation. This report on the geographies of migration explores this relationship through a focus on postcolonial approaches to migration in geography, and emergent efforts to instil a decolonising agenda into the study of migration.

Using a Decolonial Humanistic Sociological Lens to Teach Global Migration: The Global Migrations Exhibit Assignment

“…Today, the international system of nation-states shapes the global political dynamics of postcolonial rule, enabling nation-states to construct migrant “illegality” and forms of noncitizenship as social problems that require policy interventions (De Genova 2002; Sharma 2020). According to Collins (2022), decolonization involves a praxis-based commitment to nurturing epistemological perspectives that upend postcolonial forms of governance. A decolonial humanistic sociology, therefore, aims to dismantle the postcolonial forms of migration governance implicated in the dehumanization of migrants and erasure of first peoples (Riva 2022; Saldaña-Portillo 2017).…”

Liminal (trans)formative spaces: A temporary escape from intersectionality

“…Migration narratives and mapping of transnational movements across borders and territorial boundaries has been for most part explained in the domains of Consumer Research and related Psychology literature by individual factors, collective acculturation effects and generic cultural determinants that do not always recognize the long standing effects of historical disadvantage that persists from colonial pasts and the lingering and entrenched effects of invasion and enslavement of indigenous peoples. Collins (2022) describes the slowness with which post-colonial perspectives have been adopted as a lens to examine migration and the movement of transnational persons. She describes this as a kind of colonialism of ontology and of epistemology, a colonization of knowledge systems and ultimately of how research into migration flows across geography and topography is approached.…”

“…Collins (2022) describes the slowness with which post‐ colonial perspectives have been adopted as a lens to examine migration and the movement of transnational persons. She describes this as a kind of colonialism of ontology and of epistemology, a colonization of knowledge systems and ultimately of how research into migration flows across geography and topography is approached.…”

Geographies of migration III: The digital migrant

“…I begin with a discussion of forms of digitisation and datafication before addressing artificial intelligence and automated migration management and then a final section addressing research on digitally mediated migrations, solidarities and ethics. As in the previous two reports on platform migration (Collins 2021) and colonialism and migration (Collins 2022), the material reviewed here includes significant contributions by scholars identifying as geographers and material from geographical publications, but also draws on work by those aligning with other disciplinary areas who are addressing migration and digital technology. Departing from those two earlier reports, this final one is more centred on the Global North and in particular Europe.…”