Drawing on a lifetime shaped by activism, art, and encounters with migration, leading migration scholar Nicholas De Genova reflects on the ideas and political commitments behind his influential work on the production of migrant “illegality” and the cyclical nature of asylum.

He is joined by Soledad Álvarez Velasco, whose research follows migrants across Latin America and draws on her own experiences migrating from Ecuador. Together, they explore how asylum systems reproduce illegality, how race and colonial legacies shape migration control, and where hope and solidarity emerge amid exclusion and enforcement.

Guests: Nicholas De Genova, Professor, Department of Comparative Cultural Studies, University of Houston; Soledad Álvarez Velasco, Assistant Professor, Anthropology, University of Illinois Chicago.

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Migration scholar Ayşe Çağlar and researcher Ana Ćuković discussing how displacement and migration serve as lenses to understand broader urban transformation, power structures, and global capitalism rather than treating migrants as isolated problems to solve. Our guests emphasize the importance of situating displacement within political economy and historical contexts, showing how migrants' value to cities shifts over time based on economic restructuring and geopolitical changes.

Guests: Ayşe Çağlar, Professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Vienna; Ana Ćuković, Philanthropy Fellow, Council of Michigan Foundations, Hudson Webber Foundation.

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From his notable research on migration aspirations and the factors that shape whether people move or stay, Jørgen Carling reflects on how his early experiences in Oslo and fieldwork in West Africa shaped his approach to understanding mobility. He is joined by Kerilyn Schewel, whose work examines why people remain in place and how life goals, family ties and social constraints influence those decisions.

Guests: Jørgen Carling, Professor in Migration and Transnationalism studies, Peace Research Institute of Oslo (PRIO); Kerilyn Schewel, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of North Carolina.

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From growing up in suburban Chicago to studying cultural encounters in Trinidad, influential migration studies scholar Steven Vertovec reflects on how those experiences shaped the concept of superdiversity and its enduring relevance nearly two decades later. He is joined by Maria Schiller, who draws on her own research inside European city governments to show how public officials interpret and manage diversity in practice, and why policy trends often struggle to keep pace with social realities.

Guests: Steven Vertovec, Founding Director, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity; Maria Schiller, Professor of Public Governance, Erasmus University Rotterdam

To find books, publications, and media mentioned in this episode please see the show notes.

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To kick off season 4 of Borders & Belonging, host Maggie Perzyna explores the concept of "demigranticization" in migration research with Janine Dahinden and Maissam Nimer. They discuss how the label "migrant" is not objective but rather a political construct rooted in nation-state logic that can reinforce harmful power structures and exclusion.

Both scholars argue that migration research should step back from treating migration as an isolated phenomenon and instead examine how societies create "others" to define themselves, connecting migrants' struggles with those of other marginalized groups. Despite the dark political climate and rise of populism, they find hope in growing critical voices within academia and emerging solidarities between migrantized and non-migrantized communities.

Guests: Janine Dahinden, Professor of Transnational Studies, University of Neuchâtel; and Maissam Nimer, Associate Professor of Sociology, Akdeniz University.

To find books, publications, and media mentioned in this episode please see the show notes.

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What happens when established voices in migration studies sit down with the rising scholars shaping the field's future? This season of Borders & Belonging explores reflexivity: the practice of turning research back on itself to examine how we know what we know.

Season 4 draws on the lived experiences of pioneering scholars whose work has transformed how we understand human movement across borders. We then ask each scholar to nominate an up-and-coming scholar they admire, whose research builds on, challenges, or complements their own.

What follows is a dialogue where mentor and mentee explore the evolution of ideas, the personal journeys behind the research, and the questions that keep them both up at night.

Join us as we trace the threads connecting scholarship across time, experience, and perspective.

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How are the Trump administration's cuts to foreign aid impacting global health and development, and what challenges or opportunities is it creating?

The third episode of In Conversation discusses how reduced aid is forcing countries to look inward, rethink policy frameworks, and reflects on the impacts on youth and migration, the role of corruption, and how the global focus on growth is overshadowing sustainable development.

Guests: Linda Oucho (Executive Director, African Migration and Development Policy Center), Andre Renzaho (Professor of Humanitarian and Development Studies, Western Sydney University), Sagar R. Sharma (Professor of Development Economics, Kathmandu University)

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In June 2025, the Canadian Government introduced Bill C-2 as a way to strengthen border security and modernize Canada’s asylum and immigration system. However, the bill is being criticized by legal experts and human rights advocates for introducing sweeping discretionary powers for officials and arbitrary measures, including a one-year deadline to apply for refugee status.

In the second episode of In Conversation, experts explain what the bill proposes, why these provisions raise serious concerns, and what’s at stake for refugees. They also explore the implications of expanded data sharing, the removal of access to independent hearings and how these changes could disproportionately impact the most vulnerable.

In Conversation is a series of the Borders & Belonging podcast where leading voices dive into urgent migration issues shaping Canada and the world.

Guests: Sharry Aiken (Professor, Faculty of Law, Queen's University and former President of the Canadian Council for Refugees), Claire Ellis (PhD candidate, Toronto Metropolitan University), and Anna Triandafyllidou (Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration and Integration, Toronto Metropolitan University)

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