The first interdisciplinary fellow group (IFG) started its work at MIASA on Monday 4 February, 2019. Nine fellows from various universities in Africa and Europe (Ghana, Germany, South Africa, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and UK)  have come together on the University of Ghana campus in Legon-Accra to carry out research on the topic of migration, mobility and forced displacement for the next four months. The fellows work together in the beautiful, newly renovated bungalow on Legon Hill.

While migration research in recent decades has increasingly highlighted the transnational dimension of migration as a bottom-up process, policy responses have so far mostly been framed as an issue of control or management from the top down. However, the migration experience is shaped not only by nation-states but also by a multitude of actors that directly and indirectly influence the politics of migration and how it is governed. The aim of the IFG is to bring together a variety of disciplines in order to develop a multi-level, multi-stakeholder perspective on migration, mobility and forced displacement.

The main research focus of the IFG is migration within and from Africa. Some fellows will also contribute a comparative perspective with regard to regional migration processes in other regions of the Global South. The group will draw from the different disciplines represented by the fellows, including sociology, political science, geography, anthropology and development studies.

A conference on the topic of migration, mobility and forced displacement hosted by MIASA will take place from 23-24 May 2019 at the University of Ghana.