About Migration and Borders
Currently, migration and borders are defining issues of contemporary political life, shaping public debate, electoral politics, and policy-making in the UK and across the world. For example, 47% of Britons consider migration and border-related topics to be at the heart of politics and social discussions in the UK (IPSOS, 2025)
Internationally, issues on migration and border governance sit at the centre of debates on security, human rights, development, climate change, global inequalities, peacebuilding, and international cooperation. As a result, migration and borders continue to be among the most relevant and expanding areas of political and International Relations research. Scholars working in this field are producing research that addresses directly some of the most urgent challenges facing contemporary politics and societies, while at the same time they cross disciplinary boundaries and influence the transformation of international studies as an academic field.
The Migration and Borders Working Group has four main aims:
- To provide an academic space for the established and growing community of scholars in these fields of research
- To foster collaboration across disciplinary and methodological approaches, facilitate knowledge exchange, amplify international networks, attract more BISA members and participants, and support early-career researchers
- To contribute to public and policy debates in the UK and abroad by showcasing relevant research on migration, borders, mobility, asylum-seeking, refugees and diasporas
- To ensure that scholarship on migration and borders receives the visibility, recognition and institutional support commensurate with its importance.
Conveners
