Race, Gender, and Migration in the Global South Workshop

On June 29, 2023 the network of scholars researching migration, gender and race in Global South contexts convened its first workshop. The workshop consisted of two sessions dedicated to sharing research and a final session of planning for future collaboration and meetings. 

Presentation topics included the gendered dynamics of migration among Cameroonian women in Libya, the transnational circulation of diasporic memories among Nigerian traders in China and the Arabian Peninsula, the politics of race in Moroccan urban spaces experiencing new migrations from West Africa, the limited mobilities of Palestinian Jerusalemites, and a model for quantifying the effects of border externalization on migrant groups.  

Key themes emerging from presentations and discussion in the final session included the need for more comparative work to tease out both the global dynamics of migrant experiences as well as specific local concerns. In terms of both race and gender, comparison across Global South contexts offered opportunities to theorize race and gender beyond Euro-American paradigms. Another theme was the need for a more robust discussion of the ethical dilemmas and stakes for such research. Outcomes of this meeting included the decision to expand the network to include more social science scholars, host a panel at AAA or similar academic conference to connect to more people and gain visibility, and initiate a quarterly newsletter to disseminate new research, collaboration opportunities, and upcoming events. The first newsletter will be sent out in mid-October. 

This workshop was generously supported by the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale, the Program on Refugees, Forced Displacement, and Humanitarian Responses (PRFDHR), the Council on African Studies (CAS), the Council on Middle East Studies (CMES), and the Center of Race, Indigeneity and Transnational Migration (RITM). 

Prepared by Leslie Gross-Wyrtzen, October 1, 2023