Oliver Bakewell, from the International Migration Institute, at the University of Oxford, will be on the changing relationship between migration, diasporas and global development in a fascinating Brown Bag titled, Migration and African Cities.
Overview:
This presentation will look at different aspects of the complex relationship migration and African cities, highlighting points of comparison and contrast with other regions of the world. Over the last century, rural-urban migration has played a major part in the growth of African cities, stimulating many debates about people’s cultural values and social practices changes as they move to urban areas. More recently, there has been much concern about the role of some African cities as a transit point prior to international migration – the city as a stepping stone. Two other aspects have been less explored. First, there is the role of cities as gateways into global markets, which rely on the mobility of African traders across the globe –most notably to China in recent years. Second, there is the movement across Africa that is creating distinctive ‘foreign’ populations to be found in cities in every part of the continent. Despite (or perhaps because of) having no policy, ‘integration’ is taking place and people are becoming part of new societies, contributing to the diversity and dynamism of many African cities.
About the Speaker:
Oliver Bakewell’s research is centred on a broad interest in the changing relationship between migration, diasporas and global development. This encompasses a number of strands which he is following through various research activities: social theory and migration; examining the boundaries between ‘forced’ and ‘voluntary’ migration; mobility within sub-Saharan Africa; and African borderlands.
He is the principal investigator for the project Theorising the Evolution of European Migration Systems (THEMIS) funded by NORFACE, which examines the conditions that encourage initial moves by pioneer migrants to become established migration system. He is also leading research into the formation of African diasporas within the African continent as part of the Oxford Diasporas Programme. In addition, he is undertaking ongoing research into the changing patterns of cross-border movements between Angola and western Zambia from the mid 1990s to today.
Oliver is Co-Director and Senior Research Officer, and an Associate Professor at the International Migration Institute, University of Oxford holds a PhD and MSc in Development Studies from the University of Bath and a BA in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge. He has spent many years working with migrants and refugees as both a researcher and practitioner with a range of development and humanitarian NGOs. Immediately prior to joining ODID, he was Senior Researcher at the International NGO Training and Researcher Centre (INTRAC) in Oxford.
