'north-South' Collaborative Research
Migration affects countries of origin, transition and destination. But migration discourses and international policies are dominated by countries of the Global North because they finance research to protect and promote their interests. Findings from their studies inform decisions that have international consequences. Those whose lives are shaped by these decisions have no voice in the matter. However, scholars and policy makers are beginning to see the limits of this knowledge (Adamson & Tsourapas, 2020; Takahashi, 2022). They realize that to understand phenomena that cross national boundaries, such as migration, researchers must collaborate across geopolitical borders. They must consider various socio-political histories; ideological and theoretical orientations; institutional resources and practices; conceptual and linguistic variation; and knowledge, skills, and habits of minds. While there is ample agreement on the value of collaborative international research on migration there are few granular descriptions of how such projects are managed, how roles and relationship are negotiated, how institutional and national regulations and practices facilitate or impede such collaborations.
In this presentation we will describe and discuss how a group of migration scholars, working in university-based research centres in Australia, Canada, China and India – two predominantly countries of origin and two migrant destinations – navigated structural and cultural differences to undertake joint research projects. We will examine how colonial histories and academic resources shaped our knowledge production and dissemination. We will assess how we crossed some barriers, where we failed to make progress, and why. Finally, we offer some suggestions on how future collaborative migration research may work better.