SC REFLEX seeks to raise awareness that Migration Studies as a research field is shaped by wider societal and power relations rooted in colonial and nationalist histories. Given the political hype around migration and the parallel growth, relevance and impact of Migration Studies, we draw attention to the role we, as researchers, have in cementing or challenging harmful societal discourses that see migration through the prism of “crisis”, “threat”, or a problem to be “managed”. Our principal focus is to rethink and critically investigate the embeddedness of migration research in specific epistemological, methodological and political modes of knowledge production. The objectives of this SC are to:
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promote reflexive migration scholarship
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provide a platform for research on migration knowledge production and its link with power
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address the risk of Migration Studies reproducing and cementing hegemonic discourses, harmful categories and problem definitions
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develop alternative, emancipatory ways of producing knowledge on mobility and diversity.
Where we started - and where we are heading to
The Standing Committee "Reflexivities in Migration Studies" started its work in January 2020 at a kick-off workshop at the University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Members convened around the idea that knowledge about migration is bounded to specific epistemological, methodological and political modes of knowledge production. Recognizing the embeddedness of the field of migration studies in wider societal and power relations and the risk to reproduce hegemonic structures through our research, the guiding question was: How could we study migration without turning it into a problem?
In May 2025, after 5 years of work, the members of the Standing Committee's governing board re-convened at the Centre of Migration Research/University of Warsaw, Poland, to take stock of what has been achieved and identify the fields of action for the upcoming years (read a report on the workshop here). Collectively, they drafted the following future priorities:
- A future research agenda, retaining the focus on knowledge production and its entanglement with power relations, but rearticulating it more explicitly through the ideas of double reflexivity and reflexivity as practice. This work will involve turning the gaze inwards by addressing the structural conditions of doing reflexive knowledge and the mainstreaming (including instrumentalization and tokenization) of reflexivity.
- A future activities agenda to expand the work of the SC by examining the following themes, for each of which a specialized working group was established:
- Teaching reflexivities
- Increasing collaborations within and beyond IMISCOE
- Develop alternative visions on migration (research)
- Examine the link between reflexivities and activism, i.e. social justice struggles
- A newsletter to inform of current and future activities (subscribe here)
- Adopting an ethics of care within the work of the SC, that emphasizes the role of the SC as a supportive platform for doing reflexive migration research.
Coordinators and governance structure
The standing committee is managed by a team of three coordinators, as well as a governing board. Within the governing board, one position is assigned to a PhD representative.
Names and institutional affiliations of (key) members
Institutional leadership of the standing committee is at the Brussels Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Migration and Minorities (BIRMM) at the Free University of Brussels (VUB).
Coordinators
PhD representative
Further members of the governing board
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The newsletter of the Standing Committee is sent 1-2 times per year and provides you with information on events, people, jobs and other interesting stuff. You can subscribe here - you do not have to be member of the Standing Committee to subscribe to the newsletter.
Recent Newsletter: Issue June 2025
Newsletter Archive: Issue June 2024
AGENDA OF ACTIVITIES
Working Groups to Shape the Future Work of the Standing Committee
Resulting from the revision of the Standing Committee's agenda in 2025, three working groups were set up to which all members of the Standing Committee are cordially invited to participate. If you are interested in joining or contributing to one of the working groups, please do get in touch with the person responsible for the respective working group:
- working group on "Activism": what is the current state of activism and activist initiatives and how can collaborations look like to strive for social justice? --> please contact Janine Dahinden if you want to join this working group
- working group on "Vision": where are we heading in the SC and in migration studies? --> please contact Stefan Manser-Egli if you want to join this working group
- working group on "Teaching": what does it mean to teach with a reflexivities perspective and how can we do it? --> please contact Gunjan Sondhi if you want to join this working group
NEWS
New Team to Lead the SC Reflexivities!
After more than five years, the founding directors and coordinators of the Standing Committee ‘Reflexivities in Migration Studies’, Janine Dahinden, Anna-Lisa Müller, and Andreas Pott hand this task over to Nadine Blankvoort, Iva Dodevska and Stefan Manser-Egli. Read more about this here.
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Out now: Special Issue "Towards reflexivity in the study of mobility and diversity" (2025)
We are delighted to announce the publication of the Special Issue Towards reflexivity in the study of mobility and diversity: Theories, positionality, and the political economy of knowledge production. Edited by the SC coordinator Dr. Iva Dodevska and board member Dr. Maissam Nimer for the journal Migration Studies, this Special Issue represents a contribution to the ongoing reflexive turn in migration studies, emphasising the need to integrate reflexivity in the epistemological stance when researching migration and related topics. The volume brings together voices that have been working to transform how we produce, circulate, and engage with knowledge about migration and diversity. You find the Special Issue here. The introduction to the special issue can be downloaded here.
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Out now: Edited book on "Reflexivities and Knowledge Production in Migration Studies" (2025)
We are delighted to announce the publication of the book Reflexivities and Knowledge Production in Migration Studies. Pitfalls and Alternatives. It is edited by Prof. Dr. Janine Dahinden and Prof. Dr. Andreas Pott , founders and former co-directors of the Standing Committee "Reflexivities in Migration Studies", and is published with Springer. This edited volume provides a comprehensive perspective on reflexive migration studies and discusses a wide range of topics for consideration when developing reflexivity in research, and it also identifies alternatives for problematic aspects of knowledge production in migration studies. It is fully open access and available here.
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In preparation: blog series on "Visions and narratives in Migration Studies"!
We are happy to announce that the Standing Committee Reflexivities in Migration Studies (SC REFLEX) is launching a new blog series titled Visions on/for migration (society). The editing team - Anna-Lisa Müller, Sorina Carstea, Stefan Manser-Egli and Iva Dodevska – curated a collection of powerful blog posts answering the burning question: how does who we are shape how we do migration research, and what kind of world do we hope our research can contribute towards? We therefore asked migration scholars to make explicit the political in their work, and to help us envision how we can enact social change through the work we do - a task that we see as non-negotiable in the current turbulent times. You'll find detailed information, including a more extensive description of the aims, scope and content of the blog series, here.
We are currently reviewing the proposals for contributions sent to us. Stay tuned for news and updates!
RECENT ACTIVITIES
Recent workshops and conferences:
- Workshop "Reflexivities in Migration Studies: Heading towards the Future!" in Warsaw, Poland, May 2025: see the program and a brief summary of our work
- Conference on "De-centring migration in migration studies", 14-15 September 2023, University of Tübingen. Organizers: Iva Dodevska (Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier & Charles University), Stefan Manser-Egli (University of Neuchâtel), Boris Nieswand (University of Tübingen), Anja Weiß (University of Duisburg-Essen)
- Webinar on "Reflexive approaches to methodology and research methods", organized in cooperation with the Standing Committee "Methodological Approaches and Tools in Migration Research", 30 January 2023. moderated by Justyna Salamońska (Kozmiński University) & Marta Kindler (University of Warsaw).
- Webinar on "Racism at the border", 29 April 2022, with Kamila Fiałkowska (Centre of Migration Research, University of Warsaw) and Katarzyna Czarnota (Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań), moderated by the Standing Committee's board member Marta Kindler.
- Authors' workshop on "Reflexivities in Migration Studies. Pitfalls and Alternatives", 30 September-1 October 2021, Osnabück University.
- RN35 Midterm Conference Towards Reflexivity in Migration Studies. Knowledge Production in Times of Contested Politics and Post-Colonial Dynamics, 21-22 January 2021 at Technical University Berlin, Germany.
- Virtual Conference The Moral Economies of Knowledge Production on Migration, 2-4 December 2020 at IMIS, Osnabrück University. Here, you find the initial CfP.
- Kickoff-Workshop in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, in 2020: see here for the program and a summary of our work
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PhD ACTIVITIES
Reflexivities PhD Feedback Sessions: Organized by PhD members of the IMISCOE Standing Committee "Reflexivities in Migration Studies", these sessions are designed to be a collaborative platform. Here, early career researchers can present their work, exchange feedback, debate methodological and theoretical challenges, and expand their networks with peers interested in reflexive migration research. This is a supportive environment for young scholars eager to explore alternative research approaches, mindful of the power dynamics in knowledge production about migration and striving to de-nationalize and de-migranticize studies of mobility and diversity. We warmly invite PhDs and early career researchers contributing to Reflexivities in Migration Studies to express their interest in presenting, discussing, or participating in other capacities in our online sessions. For further inquiries and updates, feel free to contact
Marina Lazetic
(
Online Writing Retreat: Are you working on a project in the field of Migration Studies and seeking a supportive and collaborative space to boost your writing productivity? Join the online writing retreat hosted by the Standing Committee "Reflexivities in Migration Studies". The online writing retreat offers a unique opportunity for researchers, scholars, and students to come together and engage in focused writing sessions. To be a part of the Online Writing Retreat, simply contact Paul and Orsolya: Paul (Paul.Schreiber[at]ipu-berlin.de) or Orsolya (Orsolya.Polyacsko[at]uni-corvinus.hu).
PUBLICATIONS
Blog series on Reflexive Migration Studies (2022)
Organised by our co-director
Janine Dahinden
, the contributions in this blog address Reflexive Migration Studies and critically discuss its development over the past two decades. The blog series is a collaboration between the Standing Committee and the nccr – on the move. The archive can be accessed here.
For further news you can also browse our newsletter archive: