25 March 2020 – As country after country adopts stricter measures to combat the spread of COVID-19, our listeners want to know what to expect in a lockdown. Abbey and Darshan speak to Oxford scholar, Andrea Ruggeri about his experiences, the impact on Italian democracy and daily life. And yes, Andrea advises buying…
Author: Darshan Vigneswaran
Darshan Vigneswaran is the Co-Director of the Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies and Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science, University of Amsterdam. He edits the journal European Journal of International Relations, and hosts the podcast Monday Morning Meetings on Migration. He is also a Senior Researcher at the African Centre for Migration and Society, WITS University. From 2010-12 he was a Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Religious and Ethnic Diversity where he co-coordinates an international working group on Public Space and Diversity. In 2008, he was a British Academy Fellow at the International Migration Institute, University of Oxford.
His research lies at the intersection of International Relations and Political Geography. He aims to understand and explain deep changes in the structure of international politics and his work is primarily interested in how the state's claim to territory has been reconfigured in response to changing patterns of human mobility and settlement. Since completing his doctoral studies at Monash University, Australia in 2006, he has authored Territory, Migration and the Evolution of the International System (2013), co-edited Mobility Makes States: Migration and Power in Africa (2015) and Slavery, Migration and Contemporary Bondage in Africa (2013), and published peer-reviewed articles in journals including Political Geography, Environment & Planning D: Society & Space and Review of International Studies. Darshan has also provided expert consultation for INTERPOL, the EU and the South African Police Service and comment for Reuters, the BBC, and the New York Times. His profile and publications can be found at academia.edu and google scholar.
Winter is Coming
20 March 2020 – As Europe shuts down in response to the spread of COVID-19, other African countries are just beginning to grapple with the early signs of the pandemic. In this show, we discuss the COVID-19 response in South Africa, where an impending winter, a long history of the HIV-AIDS pandemic, and xenophobic…
Much Ado About Le Pen?
April 24 2017 – Francois Bonnet. Emmanuel Macron has emerged as the frontrunner in the first round of elections for the French Presidency. Though, the leading story of the night was the success of Marine Le Pen of the National Front Party in securing second place and an opportunity to participate in the run off…
Open Letter to Mark Rutte [English version of the article in Joop]
We’re wrecking Dutch culture: One day you will thank us for it An open letter from an immigrant to Mark Rutte Hi Mark, Sorry its taken me so long to respond. I decided to wait because in your letter you seemed, well, so upset. And my response to your whining was never going to make…
Killing in the Name of…
March 13 2017 – Loren Landau. South Africans have been rioting against, attacking and murdering foreign nationals since the end of Apartheid. The past month has seen another upsurge of this type of violence. While most have attributed this violence to a deep-seated South African nativism, in this week’s podcast we speak to Loren Landau in…
The Bratislava Declaration: “Never Again”
September 26 2016 – Sandrino Smeets European leaders recently met in Bratislava to sift through the ashes of Brexit and chart the organization’s way forward. Migration and asylum dominated the agenda with their Declaration vowing “[n]ever to allow return to uncontrolled flows of last year”. This week we asked Sandrino Smeets – an expert on EU…
No More Mr. Nice Guy? Germany’s New Anti-terror Laws
September 12 2016 – Matthias Leese Responding to recent attacks in Ansbach and Wuerzburg, German CDU Minister for the Interior, Thomas de Maiziere recently tabled a proposal for wide ranging changes to Germany’s security and anti-terror policy. The 16 page proposal calls for increases in police numbers, changes to data protection laws and protocols, new methods of popular…
Better off in Turkey?
June 6 2016 – Can Mutlu. Will Syrian refugees be better off in Turkey? European leaders are banking on it, but have little idea about the quality of protection Turkey offers Syrian nationals. Can Mutlu, currently based at Bilkent University, is one of the few researchers who has been studying Turkish refugee reception processes up close…
Independent not Unaccompanied, Ambitious not Afraid: A Rejoinder to Elaine Chase
May 30 2016 – Stanford Mahati. Early this month, Elaine Chase told us how child migrants in Europe struggle to plan for their own future. In this week’s rejoinder, Stanford Mahati argues that we have underestimated the considerable capacity of child migrants to make their own migration plans and establish their own livelihoods in South Africa. He asks us to abandon the term ‘unaccompanied minors’ and instead…
The New Hope for Diversity?
May 23 2016 – John Bowen. London has a new Mayor: Sadiq Khan. His Muslim and immigrant background have been front and centre in the social media celebrations of his election. At the same time, Khan has sought to play down his background, asserting that he is a mayor of a major capital city, not a…
Monday Morning Meetings on Migration 