Whilst research on migration states is beginning to consider the postcolonial context of (African) migration states, the theoretical debates on migrant agency have thus far lacked a (visible) African perspective, i.e. a theorisation or conceptualisation of migration on the basis of African empirical material and epistemologies. In turn, migration studies in Africa are often side-lined in the field as ‘African studies’. This lack of African perspectives in theory-building raises questions related to knowledge production and on centring ‘Africa’ in theory-building.

PolMig will explicitly consider the political agency of migrants in, from, to Africa, not as spaces of exceptionalism outside Westphalian norms, but to re-centre them as crucial spaces where a majority of migrants are moving to and live in. In other words, to counteract centuries of Eurocentrism, the project will have a specific aim to offer an alternative – but relational - Afrocentric view on migration studies. This will be linked to reflections on knowledge production. 

The research agenda of an Afrocentric understanding of political agency will be developed through the theatre workshops and migrant agency diaries, alongside a range of further methods. PolMig will also be conducting two academic symposiums to further facilitate these theoretical insights. In addition, PolMig centres a decolonial take on research practice with a commitment to tackling inequalities in knowledge production. This means that PolMig will engage with co-researchers in each country and interact with an Advisory Board of eight primarily Africa-based academics and activists with a wide range of perspectives and experiences. The project commits itself to a reflexive process of co-production and co-dissemination, seeking to be aware of and address power imbalances, throughout its work.