The International Migration Institute (IMI) aims to advance understanding of how migration shapes and is shaped by broader development processes. IMI is committed to developing a long-term and forward-looking perspective on international migration as part of global change. It pioneers new theoretical and methodological approaches, working with researchers and policy-makers in the global South and North to foster better understanding of the multi-level forces driving current and future migration processes.
IMI’s research includes investigations into the impact of conflict on migration (creating new or reinforcing pre-existing patterns of movement), as well as the role of migrants and the diaspora in homeland politics and post-conflict recovery, interrogating the relations between migration, development and peace-building.
Past project Mobility in the African Great Lakes sought to understand the extent to which conflicts and crises impacted migration patterns in the region, as well as exploring those underlying mobility dynamics which may remain in post-conflict settings.
Ongoing project Transnational migration, citizenship and the circulation of rights and responsibilities examines how migrants contribute to political and social change in their countries of origin. This includes electoral, non-institutional collective action and armed conflicts seeking to maintain or challenge existing power structures.
The current project Migrants in countries in crisis seeks to understand what happens when international migrants are caught up in crises such as natural disasters or conflict situations in the countries where they have settled. The research project aims to provide empirical analysis to inform international policy on the legal provisions that are required to protect these migrants.
Researchers
Oliver Bakewell – intersections between migration and mobility and broader processes of development and change, with a particular empirical focus on migration within Africa
Julien Brachet – patterns of mobility to and through the Central Sahara, in particular in Niger and Chad, migration networks, transport systems and trade between sub-Saharan and northern Africa
Ali R Chaudhary – immigrant/migrant transnational political action, diaspora politics, war on terror, migration-security nexus, Muslim integration in North America and Europe
Solange Fontana – DPhil student in Development Studies, research focus ‘Living with conflict: A story of social networks, class, mobility and violence in eastern DR Congo’
Marie Godin – migration and development, with a focus on diaspora engagement and women's participation in peace-building and (post)-conflict reconstruction
Marieke van Houte – migration, return migration, and transnational (political) engagement of migrants from (post-) conflict countries, and processes of structure and agency in mobility
Robtel Neajai Pailey – citizenship, migration, transnationalism, conflict, post-war recovery, governance, and the political economy of aid, trade and remittances, all with respect to Africa
To find out about forthcoming events at IMI, please follow this link.
IMI is a member of the Oxford Martin School and forms part of the Oxford Department of International Development at the University of Oxford.
