On this page, you can find information about upcoming or past events organised by AMMODI.
Page contents
3rd AMMODI Keynote Lecture by Prof. Amanda Hammar
AMMODI Virtual Roundtable: Making African(its) Migration Research Visible
Speaking Back to Theory: Africanist Migration Research beyond the Categories
Africans on the Move: Critical Reflections on on Mobility, Citizenship and Belonging
2nd AMMODI Key Note Lecture by Prof. Francis Nyamnjoh
Critical Reflections on Afro-European Relations in Migration Governance
1st AMMODI Key Note Lecture by Nanjala Nyabola
3rd AMMODI Keynote Lecture
18th March 2026, 12pm CEST / 13 EAT / 12 pm SAST / 11 am WAT
5pm CEST / 6pm EAT / 5pm SAST / 4pm WAT
Changing African ID Systems and the Selective Reconfiguration of Citizen Mobilities
Amanda Hammar
Centre of African Studies
University of Copenhagen
In recent decades, linked to a conjuncture of external and internal conditions, interests and pressures, there have been intensified moves by African states to substantially reform or upgrade their national identification systems. This trend has been marked by increased digitisation of earlier paper-based systems, alongside hyper-centralisation and singularisation of previously more diverse and decentralized ID systems. These changes, widely promoted by so-called global policy models and supported by techno-capital, have been legitimised through interweaving discourses of progress, security and democratization. In practice, they have had both intended and unintended effects on the everyday life conditions and futures of differentiated populations. This talk draws on research from a five-year collaborative research project I’ve been leading on Certifications of Citizenship in Africa (CERTIZENS), with Ghana and Uganda as specific country cases. It aims to make visible the various ways in which these continent-wide changing national ID systems are reconfiguring the status, rights, experiences and prospects for both spatial and social mobilities of socially, ethnically, economically and in other ways differentiated citizens. It also points to the ways in which citizens (and those often newly classified as non-citizens) are finding their own means of making themselves mobile in the face of growing techno-political exclusions.
To see more about Amanda Hammar’s research profile and publications, see here.
AMMODI Virtual Roundtable
Making African(ist) Migration Research Visible
Online event, 28 November 2023
Global academia is in the midst of renewed debates and interventions against the persistent inequalities in African and Africanist higher education following calls for decolonising academia. Migration patterns and policies, as well as research on them, are often deeply informed by post-/colonial relations, and migration research has been slow in exposing and addressing its post-/coloniality. This roundtable therefore seeks to address the structural inequalities embedded in Africanist migration research through a set of dialogues between researchers, journal editors, and librarians who confront these issues in different ways. What are the most important actors, structures, cultures and other barriers denying African and Africa-based scholars access to visibility and possibilities in mainstream migration research? What are the main grievances and aspirations of African academics in terms of their career goals and their place in international migration scholarship? What are examples of practices, strategies, and changes that have increased the visibility of African(ist) migration scholarship? Through these guiding questions, the roundtable aims to diagnose the persistent inequalities in our field, and offer inspiration for ways to work towards more equity and inclusivity.
The roundtable will also briefly introduce the AMMODO database of over 200 Africa-based scholars working on migration, mobility and displacement and their work, which aims to be one step towards increasing the visibility of African migration research.
Structure of the roundtable
The roundtable will consist of 3 brief dialogues, with speakers representing Africa- and Europe-based perspectives on the workings of African(ist) migration scholarship. Each speaker will share some initial thoughts, and then engage in dialogue with their counterpart.
Speaking back to Theory
Africanist migration research beyond the categories
Accra & Cape Coast, 15-18 March 2023
This 4-day symposium seeks to address the structural inequalities embedded in Africanist migration research
in its epistemological, ontological, and institutional dimensions. Overall, the symposium seeks to address these parallel trends of restrictive public discourses on African migration and the calls for “decolonising”, or critically reassessing our analytical categories and assumptions. It thereby offers a space for critical reflection and commentary on the possibilities of power-analytical, decolonial and critical research on African mobilities in all their diversity, through research-based analyses rather than opinion-based conjecture. It explicitly aims to open space for a conversation between African and European migration, mobility and displacement scholars, with a clear focus on centering African perspectives.
The idea for the symposium was developed in a collaboration between the Centre for Migration Studies at the University of Ghana (CMS), the Centre for Mixed Migration and Diaspora Studies (CeMMiDS) at the University of Cape
Coast, and the Collaborative Research Group on African Migration, Mobility, and Displacement (AMMODI) within the Africa-Europe Group for Inter-disciplinary Studies (AEGIS).
Africans on the Move
Critical Reflections on Mobility, Citizenship and Belonging
The series explores a central theme in migration research, namely the identity-mobility nexus, but does so through ongoing research from across the African continent. The theme encompasses issues relating to xenophobia and migrant integration, documentation and migrant rights, and the role of the diaspora. The emphasis is on intra-African migration, to balance the previous series’ focus on Afro-European relations.
The lecture series combines three different virtual formats, all exploring aspect of the overall theme. The first session presents the Annual AMMODI Keynote Lecture, a traditional lecture format, followed by a Q&A session. The second session is in the form of a Research Lab, in which two scholars will present ongoing work and receive feedback from a discussant and from the listeners. The third and final session is organised as a Roundtable discussion with invited panellists, with speakers representing different geographical regions and thematic specialisations as well as prior research experience.
The full programme for the lecture series is available here.
Please pre-register for all three events here.
2nd AMMODI Key Note
30th June 2022 at 5pm CEST / 6pm EAT / 5pm SAST / 4pm WAT
The 2nd Annual AMMODI Keynote Lecture has been published in Strategic Review for Southern Africa, and is available here, with permission of the journal:
Research Lab
7th July 2022 at 2pm – 15h30 CEST / 3pm EAT / 2pm SAST / 1pm WAT
Roundtable
14th July 2022 at 5pm CEST / 6pm EAT / 5pm SAST / 4pm WAT
The full programme for the lecture series is available here.
Critical Reflections
on Afro-European Relations in Migration Governance
This nine-part online lecture series discusses securitization, perceptions on migration and new research agendas that decentralize the European perspectives when it comes to Afro-European Relations in Migration Governance. It brings together African, European, Anglo- and Francophone academics and activists.
Réflexions critiques
sur les relations afro-européennes en matière de gouvernance des migrations
Cette série de conférence en ligne, comportant neuf parties, se penche sur la sécuritarisation, les perceptions de la migration et les nouveaux programmes de recherche qui permettent de décentraliser les perspectives européennes par rapport aux relations afro-européennes en matière de gouvernance des migrations. Elle rassemble des universitaires et des activistes africains, européens, anglophones et francophones.
Introduction
Migration on the African continent is multifold, complex with varying effects. One angle in particular is the European efforts to control migration, which has reached far beyond its external borders to the African continent. For example, there has been an attempt to increase ‘cooperative agreements’ between the European Union (EU) with African states. This online lecture series critically discusses Afro-European relations that arise from EU-migration governance and the African responses in the multiple entanglements of border control, development and security.
The lecture series is jointly organized by the Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA), the Arnold Bergstraesser Institute at the University of Freiburg (ABI), the Centre for Global Migration Studies at the University of Göttingen (CeMig), the Centre for Migration Studies at the University of Ghana and the Nordic Africa Institute, Uppsala (NAI) and hosted in cooperation with the research network on African Migration, Mobility and Displacement (AMMODI).
It is funded by the MIASA, the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research, The ABI, the CeMig and the Internationalisation Funds of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Göttingen.
Introduction
Les migrations sur le continent africain sont multiformes, complexes et ont des effets variables. Les efforts déployés par l’Europe pour contrôler les migrations, qui dépassent largement ses frontières extérieures pour atteindre le continent africain, en est un aspect spécifique. Par exemple, des efforts ont été déployés pour multiplier les « accords de coopération » entre l’Union européenne (UE) et les États africains. Cette série de conférences en ligne aborde de façon critique les relations afro-européennes qui découlent de la gouvernance de la migration par l’UE et les réponses africaines face aux multiples enchevêtrements du contrôle des frontières, du développement et de la sécurité.
La série de conférences est organisée conjointement par le Merian Institut des études avancées en Afrique (MIASA), l’Arnold Bergstraesser Institute (ABI), le Centre for Global Migration Studies de l’Université de Göttingen (CeMig), le Centre for Migration Studies de l’Université du Ghana et le Nordic Africa Institute, Uppsala (NAI), en coopération avec le réseau de recherche sur African Migration, Mobility, and Displacement (AMMODI).
Elle est financée par MIASA, le Ministère fédéral de l’enseignement et de la recherche de l’Allemange, l’ABI, le CeMig et les fonds d’internationalisation de la faculté des sciences humaines de l’université de Göttingen.
Full programme in English
Programme complet en français
1st AMMODI Key Note
Thursday 17 June 12-13.15 CEST
1st Key Note transcript available here:
About Nanjala Nyabola
Nanjala Nyabola is an independent writer and researcher based in Nairobi, Kenya. Her work focuses on the intersection between technology, media, and society. She holds a BA in African Studies and Political Science from the University of Birmingham, an MSc in African Studies and an MSc in Forced Migration, both from the University of Oxford, as well as a JD from Harvard Law School. She has held numerous research associate positions including with the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), the Oxford Internet Institute (OII), and other institutions, while also working as a research lead for several projects on human rights broadly and digital rights specifically around the world. She has been published in several academic journals including the African Security Review and the Women’s Studies Quarterly, and contributed to numerous edited collections. Nanjala also writes commentary for publications like The Nation, Al Jazeera, The Boston Review and others. She is the author of Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics: How the Internet Era is Transforming Politics in Kenya (Zed Books, 2018) and Travelling While Black: Essays Inspired by a Life on the Move (Hurst Books, 2020).
AMMODI Annual Network Meeting
Thursday 17 June, 13.15-14
The annual AMMODI meeting will follow after Nanjala Nyabola’s lecture. The meeting link is as follows:
https://uu-se.zoom.us/j/69156940340, Meeting ID: 691 5694 0340
Inaugural AMMODI Workshop
Uppsala 22-23 September 2018
The CRG on African Migration, Mobility and Displacement (AMMODI) is proud to welcome an impressive and wide-ranging selection of participants to our inaugural workshop in Uppsala. Our overall intentions with this meeting are to collectively discuss and refine the conceptual premise of the CRG; the potential uses of the CRG; as well as potential synergies among the workshop participants.
The two-day workshop will be divided into the three thematic blocks related to the CRG’s guiding concepts – mobility, migration and displacement. Each block will include one key-note introduction to the theme; a selection of paper presentations from CRG members; and plenty of room for discussion. The main purpose of the paper presentations during the workshop is introduce the participants’ research interests and to inspire reflections relevant to the three guiding concepts. In the spirit of working towards collaborations between members, the presentations should generally be forward-looking, and not dwell too much on research that is already finalised. Since we do not expect full conference papers, but rather brief reflection pieces to inform our collective reflection, each presentation should be limited to 10 minutes.
An additional concluding block will be dedicated to exploring the conceptual boundaries and overlaps between migration, displacement and mobility, and discussing the relevance and applicability of these concepts in relation to three different perspectives. Inspired by the AMMODI blog a number of breakout sessions will take place, these perspectives are articulated as “Fieldnotes” – focussing on the methodological and ethical aspects of data collection and representation; “Research notes” – encouraging more conceptual and theoretically oriented reflections; and “Policy notes” – reflecting more explicitly on how academic research may engage with policy thinking and implementation.
Both days of the workshop will end with plenary reflections on how best to make use of the CRG, and on the more specific goals and initiatives that we wish to pursue in the immediate future. If you have any further suggestions please do let us know. We look forward to seeing and meeting you in Uppsala!
Programme
Day 1: Saturday 22 September
| 9.30 – 10 | Welcome and introduction by Jesper and Franzisca |
10 – 12.30 |
Block I: MIGRATION |
| 10 –10.45 | Keynote: Oliver Bakewell, Global Development Institute, University of Manchester |
| 10.45 – 11 | Coffee break |
| 11 – 11.15 | “Migration, Mobility and Displacement: Agriculture In and Around Refugee Camps of Western Tanzania”, Clayton Boeyink, International Development, University of Edinburgh |
| 11.15 – 11.30 | “Taming Wilderness – Controlling Nature and People. Migration and (Re-) Settlement in Western Tanzania”, Nicole Wiederroth, University of Hamburg |
| 11.30 – 11.45 | “Circular migration between Niger and Libya. Forced return, displacements and translocality across the Sahara desert”, Oriol Puig Cepero, Universitat de Barcelona |
| 11.45 – 12.30 | Discussion |
| 12.30 – 13.30 | Lunch |
13.30 – 16.30 |
Block II: MOBILITY |
| 13.30 – 14.15 | Keynote: Nauja Kleist, Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) |
| 14.15 – 14.30 | “Transnational mothering, patterns and strategies of care-giving by Zimbabwean domestic workers in Botswana: A multi-sited approach”, Joyce Takaindisa, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg |
| 14.30 – 14.45 | “‘I have had it both ways’: Mobility, transnational lives and the third space subjectivities of British Nigerian girls”, Pamela Kea, University of Sussex |
| 14.45 – 15 | Discussion |
| 15 – 15.15 | Coffee break |
| 15.15 – 15.30 | “Life B and the productions of mobilities (from) inside Uganda’s “refugee capital city””, Jolien Tegenbos, Ghent University |
| 15.30 – 15.45 | “Africanizing Mobility Studies – Mobilising African Studies: bringing two transdisciplinary fields into closer dialogue” Birgit Englert, University of Vienna |
| 15.45 – 16.30 | Discussion |
| 16.30 – 17.30 | Strategic discussion: Purpose, potential, and format of AMMODI |
| Wrap up of the day |
Day 2: Sunday 23 September
| 9.30 – 9.45 | Recap by Jesper and Franzisca |
09.45 – 12.30 |
Block III: DISPLACEMENT |
| 9.45 – 10.30 | Keynote: Amanda Hammar, Centre of African Studies, University of Copenhagen |
| 10.30 – 10.45 | Coffee break |
| 10.45 – 11 | “‘Right now, I don’t know what the future might bring’ – Emotions and Mobility in the Burundian crisis”, Simon Turner, University of Copenhagen |
| 11 – 11.15 | “Proposed relevant Guiding Concept: Displacement”, Claire Walked, University of Oxford |
| 11.15 – 11.30 | “Tracing legacies of conflict: (Children of) Burundian migrants and refugees navigating identity and civic participation in Belgium and the Netherlands”, Lidewyde Berckmoes, NSCR Research Institute Amsterdam & University of Amsterdam |
| 11.30 – 12 | Discussion |
| 12 – 13 | Lunch |
| 13 – 14 | Breakout sessions: Fieldnotes, Research notes, and Policy notes |
| 14 – 14.30 | Next steps |
