Ep.9 (S4): Loren Landau reflects on migration studies and migration to African cities

The Migration Podcast

“What does that [balancing research objectives and donor priorities] mean for us training the next generation and for people entering the field? I think what it requires….is that we all have to work in multiple registers.” In this episode we hear Silindile Mlilo interview Loren Landau about his latest research on African cities. He talks about how patterns of migration to cities in Africa is distinct from urbanization in other parts of the world. He has been looking the regulation of space and how migrants relate to cities, as well as issues around ethics of inclusion and visibility. Loren also talks about how he sees the current state of migration studies and the importance of keeping space for research that shifts perspectives away from donor priorities. Loren Landau is Professor of Migration and Development at the University of Oxford, and at the African Centre for Migration & Society at the University of the Witwatersrand. His interdisciplinary research includes the topics of representation, multi-scale governance, and the transformation of socio-political communities across the Global South. He is currently overseeing a multi-year initiative exploring mobility, temporality, and urban politics in Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa. Below is a selection of Loren's work. 1. N. Iskander and L.B. Landau. 2022. The Centre Cannot Hold: Arrival, Margins, and the Politics of Ambivalence,’ Migration Studies 10(2): 97-111 2. L.B. Landau. 2021. ‘Asynchronous Mobilities: Hostility, Hospitality, and Possibilities of Justice,’ Mobilities. 16(5): 656-669. DOI: 10.1080/17450101.2021.1967092 3. J.P. Misago and L.B. Landau. 2022. ‘Running Them Out of Time: Xenophobia, Violence, and Co-Authoring Spatiotemporal Exclusion in South Africa.’ Geopolitics. DOI: 10.1080/14650045.2022.2078707 4. J.P. Misago and L.B. Landau. 2022. ‘Running Them Out of Time: Xenophobia, Violence, and Co-Authoring Spatiotemporal Exclusion in South Africa.’ Geopolitics. DOI: 10.1080/14650045.2022.2078707 Loren would like to acknowledge the following persons for contributing to his work: Caroline Wanjiku Kihato, Mary Setrana, Mary Muyonga, Carina Kanbi, Kabiri Bule, and Brittany Birberick