Paper short abstract:

In this paper we focus on processes related to the establishment of the Centre for Migration Studies in Ghana, notably in understanding this as the explicit outcome of a larger aim to provide a counterweight from the global south, and sub-Saharan Africa in particular, in global debates on migration.

Paper long abstract:

International migration is undoubtedly a domain that epitomizes the political discourse between the so-called global south and global north. This relates to the dominant actors involved, notably states and supra-states, but also others such as commercial actors and of course the migrants themselves. The study of migration from the Global South, and particularly from sub-Saharan Africa was noted as fragmented, hinging on the contributions of single scholars of various disciplines, usually in collaboration with scholars from the Global North.

The Centre for Migration Studies is meant to offset this status quo by providing an integrated and explicitly south based capacity building effort in the field of migration studies, and was supported in its endeavours by NUFFIC, the Netherlands organisation for international cooperation in higher education through its NPT capacity building programme.

In this paper we focus on the significance of the emergence of the CMS in terms of the stated intention of its sponsors to achieve capacity building in order to provide a Global South perspective on international migration, as a counterweight to a dominance of academics, policymakers and others from the Global North in shaping the international migration agenda.