Paper short abstract:

I synthesise ethnographic and archival data to explore the production of migration knowledge in British universities. I identify a network of Home Office-commissioned knowledge producers, describe the knowledge it generates and interpret what the production process means to those who engage with it.

Paper long abstract:

This paper synthesizes ethnographic and archival data to explore the role that academic knowledge production by students and staff in British universities plays in the migration policy-making process in the U.K. In Great Britain, one of the ways in which the state and universities are articulated in the area of migration policy is through the commissioning of research by state agencies. In this paper, I focus on the migration research that is commissioned by the Home Office. I identify the individuals and universities that are contracted to produce migration knowledge for the Home Office, describe the nature (i.e. content) of the knowledge produced and interpret what the production means to the producers. I conclude by discussing the power relations that exist between academic knowledge producers and their governmental managers and the implications that these relations have for the role that the academic production of migration knowledge plays in the broader migration policy-making and implementation process in the U.K.