Soziologie
RTG 2951 co-hosts dialogue between researchers and practitioners on migration brokerage
The Research Training Group “Cross-Border Labour Markets” (RTG 2951, Bielefeld University and University of Duisburg Essen) and the Arnold Bergstraesser Institute Freiburg invite to the upcoming online event "Migration Brokerage in a Changing World: Bringing Practice and Research into Dialogue". At the event, scholars and practitioners will share their experiences and expertise on migration brokerage. While brokerage is contested in some contexts, this event will discuss why it remains a necessary process in (cross-border) mobility. The event takes place with the active participation of RTG 2951 Postdoctoral Researcher Sandhya A.S.
The event consists of two parts:
Part 1: Practitioners on brokerage in Asia and Europe (9:00-10:00 CET)
The first session will feature invited practitioners, who are activists, representatives of civil society organizations, trade unions, and migrant support organizations. Participants will reflect on the changing dynamics of migration governance in their areas of work, their experiences with regulating, monitoring, or collaborating with brokers, as well as the opportunities, risks, and unintended consequences associated with brokerage.
Speakers: William Gois (Regional Coordinator, Migrant Forum in Asia); Shom Luitel (Human Rights Lawyer, Nepal), Marina Sultana (Director, Programme, RMMRU, Bangladesh) moderated by Stefan Rother (ACT, Freiburg University)
Part 2: Roundtable among scholars across regions (10:10-11:15 CET)
The second session will bring together four scholars working on migration brokerage and related topics from different disciplinary perspectives, such as sociology, anthropology, political science, and international relations. The speakers will engage in a moderated dialogue exploring brokerage as a social, economic, and political institution. Particular attention will be paid to competing interpretations of brokerage: as a mechanism of exploitation, as an infrastructure of mobility, as a response to gaps in migration governance, and as a potentially indispensable component of contemporary migration systems.
Speakers: Dr. Sandhya A.S (RGG 2951, Bielefeld University), Dr. Mira Burmeister-Rudolph (Arnold Bergstraesser Institute Freiburg), Dr. Liberty Chee (Former Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow) and Dr. Aimi Muranaka (Waseda University)
The event follows a dialogue format to encourage active discussion among the speakers and with the audience.
The event will take place online. Please register.
Who? Shom P. Luitel, Mira B. Rudolph, Sandhya A.S.. William Gois, Liberty Chee, Aimi Muranaka, Marina Sultana
Where? Online, via Zoom
When? 12.11.2026 09:00 h