Migration and the African Diaspora : Materialities of Governance and Development

African migration and the diaspora have become central to contemporary debates on governance, development, and global inequality. Migration and the African Diaspora: Materialities of Governance and Development offers a critical and empirically grounded exploration of how migration shapes, and is shaped by, institutional frameworks, lived experience, and transnational relations.

Bringing together original research from across Africa and African diasporic contexts, this edited volume examines international migration through interconnected themes of governance, development, remittances, gender, climate change, labour exploitation, and diaspora engagement. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative studies, contributors analyse migration processes and outcomes across diverse empirical settings, including Sub Saharan Africa, Canada, the Middle East, and African transnational family networks. Chapters interrogate issues such as remittance economies and leakage, the climate change–migration nexus, development impacts of mobility, gendered health and labour experiences, modern slavery, and the social obligations facing migrants and their left behind families. The volume also offers a critical assessment of African states’ diaspora engagement policies and continental migration frameworks, questioning assumptions of reciprocity and inclusion in governance narratives.

This collection advances an African centred perspective that foregrounds material realities, power relations, and institutional dynamics. It is insightful reading for scholars and students in migration studies, African studies, development studies, sociology, political science, human geography, and diaspora and transnational studies.