This seminar draws on the recent publications of two edited books in France (Des localités pour accueillir. Migrants dans les villes et villages de France et d’ailleurs, Editions du Bord de l’Eau) and in Canada (Urban Migrant Inclusion and Refugee Protection, Springer) to examine the role of local actors in migration governance. It gathers specialists from Europe, North America, Africa, and Asia to discuss the forms of civil society mobilizations and municipal policies worldwide. From unconditional welcome to sanctuarity, from ubuntu to buen vivir, what are the philosophies underpinning the reception of foreigners around the world? What does it mean for actors to develop welcoming initiatives in a context of security-oriented migration management? What are the practices and infrastructures available in African townships and Asian megalopoles? How do municipalities and activists weave cross-national networks, redefining the geography of migration governance? 

The seminar will start with a presentation of the books and two decentered perspectives on Asia and Africa. It will be followed by a discussion including the contributors of the book.

Speaker: 

• Thomas Lacroix, (Sciences Po CERI) : welcoming localities in France and beyond 
   
• Laavanya Katiravelu, (University of Oslo) : Asian perspectives
   
• Nomkhosi Amanda Mbatha, (University of Western Cape & Human Sciences Research Council) : Temporalities of Arrival: Burundian Barbershops as an Arrival Infrastructure in a South African Township
  
   

Organizer: Thomas Lacroix, Sciences Po CERI