Migration and Borders Studies: Prospects and Possibilities within and beyond Academia
When: Thursday, May 29, 2025 - Friday, May 30, 2025, 9:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Where: Room 2.26, Geography Building, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS
Queen Mary’s interdisciplinary Centre for the Study of Migration (CFSM) and the (B)Orders Centre for the Study of Borders, Migration and Displacement are co-hosting a two-day conference exploring prospects and possibilities for migration and border studies
The organisers aim to critically examine epistemological imbalances regarding who produces knowledge and whose knowledge counts, amid rapidly evolving political dynamics, legal frameworks and changing praxis worldwide. They engage diverse perspectives, including from academics, activists, policy makers, and migrants themselves.
Amid rapidly evolving political dynamics, legal frameworks and praxis, this timely intervention is informed by pivotal debates on the enduring coloniality of migration and border studies. We aim to critically examine epistemological imbalances regarding who produces knowledge, and whose knowledge counts, in spaces inhabited by diverse actors ranging from migrants, refugees and asylum seekers to academics, activists, and policymakers. Emphasizing the need for interdisciplinarity in fields characterised by multiple and overlapping areas of inquiry, our goal is to explore the possibilities for productive collaboration among scholars, practitioners, and those with lived experience of migration. These discussions are taking place against a backdrop of escalating anti-migrant rhetoric and systemic and normalised embodied violence fuelled by the rise of populism, authoritarianism and social media-enabled disinformation. Additionally shifting research funding landscapes presents both challenges, and generates possibilities, for creative thinking and doing migration and border research differently.
Keynote Speakers
Prof Audrey Macklin's, University of Toronto, address on 29 May at 10:15 am
Prof Jonathan Crush's, Wilfrid Laurier University, address on 30 May at 9:30 am
Prof Jonathan Crush is currently visiting QMUL as an IHSS Visiting Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Migration (CFSM). For more details about the scheme, visit its IHSS Visiting Fellowship scheme.
About the Conference
Please see the Programme Migration and borders studies conference 29-30 May 2025 [PDF 600KB] for more information.
All are welcome but please get your free ticket via Book now on Eventbrite.
If you have questions about the programme, please contact the organisers at cfsm@qmul.ac.uk.
The Organisers
The conference is organised by the Centre for the Study of Migration (CFSM) and the (B)Orders Centre for the Study of Borders, Migration and Displacement and supported by IHSS.