Migration Governance: Local States, Civil Society, and Everyday Mobility In Turbulent Times

In turbulent times marked by resurgent nationalism, racialized exclusion, border securitization, labor precarity, and uneven global development, migration governance can no longer be understood only through national immigration policies. While nation-states remain central in regulating borders, citizenship, and legal status, the everyday governance of mobility is increasingly enacted through local states, educational institutions, employers, civil society organizations, family networks, digital platforms, and migrant intermediaries. This panel examines how these actors mediate mobility, incorporation, exclusion, care, surveillance, and belonging across diverse geopolitical contexts. Bringing together studies of temporary professional migrants, international students, high-skilled immigration politics, and Chinese migrants on the move, the panel asks how formal migration regimes are translated, negotiated, and reworked in everyday life. It contributes to the broader Congress theme, “Global Sociology in Turbulent Times,” by showing how migrants and local actors navigate global crises through situated practices of adaptation, negotiation, and institutional creativity.