Student support for 2016 post-graduate studies of Migration and the Politics of Difference

Post-graduate fellowships are available for post-graduate students enrolled in a degree programme interested in the politics of human mobility. This includes topics related to, among others, urbanization; xenophobia; immigration and migration policy; and the governance of diversity. Newly enrolled and continuing students at the Masters and Doctoral levels are eligible.

Students will be expected to work closely – under the supervision or co-supervision – of Professor Loren Landau, the South African Research Chair on Mobility & the Politics of Difference. Based at the African Centre for Migration & Society, the Chair documents, explains and theorises the transformation of communities and politics due to the movements of people through space.

The Chair’s work is loosely organised around three primary themes:

·         Mapping Mobility and Diversity: Visualizing and Explaining Africa’s Socio-Spatial Transformations. Through the use of statistics and mapping, this strain of work explores how human mobility is reshaping Africa’s socio-economic landscape. More specifically, it aims to document: dynamic migratory trajectories and patterns of on-going mobility; linguistic, ethnic and religious heterogeneity; economic inequality, institutional and organizational affiliations, nationality, ethnicity, sex, household structure, and translocal connections and social networks.

·         Governing Mobile Spaces: This aspect of work seeks to understand the de facto regulation of territory and people in urban and peri-urban spaces being transformed or characterised by on-going mobility and heightening socio-economic heterogeneity. In doing so, it asks us to reconsider the most effective scale of inquiry and units of analysis along with the meaning of politics, power, and the state.

 ·         Emerging Spatial Patterns of Citizenship and Subjectivity: In the absence of muscular state institutions or dominant cultural norms, Africa’s cities have become fertile spaces in which varied forms of communities and politics are taking shape. Ranging from radical forms of exclusion (e.g., xenophobia and racisms) to remarkable modes of accommodation, this element of work challenges the conceptual foundations typically informing debates over migrant rights, integration, and the boundaries of belonging.

For further information on the chair or to discuss whether your interests might qualify you for support, contact Loren Landau. 

More info here http://www.migration.org.za/entry/363/student-support-for-2016-post-graduate-studies-of-migration-the-