Join our seminar that will analyse the complexity of migration in Africa.
The importance of migration for people and governments in Africa is complex and multifaceted – an issue that our research seeks to explain. It does so by asking in what ways governments, regional bodies such as the AU and IGAD, citizens and civil society frame migration normatively. In other words, what are the mobility norms? Moreover, how do such mobility norms align with public policies? By identifying what norms are prevalent in the African context and analysing how they converge with public policies (acknowledging their diversity), the speaker’s presentation aims to shed some light on the complexity of migration in Africa.
We define norms as collaboration and contestations between policy norms (norms as included in policies influenced by various actors) and social norms (a process-based understanding of norms that considers the wider socio-political context). The research, on which this seminar’s presentation will be about, identified eight different «norm statements on mobility». These norm statements were discussed with 22 interview partners, including academics, policy advisors, consultants, civil servants, civil society advocates, a legislator and representatives from the African Union (AU) between September and November 2023, in Nairobi and online.
The research finds that mobility norms are often a mismatch between social and policy norms. The contestations between social and policy norms create ambiguity that can negatively affect mobility. All of these contestations, discrepancies and tensions between social and policy norms contribute to the development and evolution of mobility norms on the African continent.
Speaker:
Amanda Bisong (European Centre for Development Policy Management).
Chair:
Andrew Geddes (Migration Policy Centre, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, EUI).