Decentering Migration Studies: Toward a Southern Attitude

Abstract

Fundamentally changing how we do research and teach, whether it be about migration or about the social sciences in general, will not happen without changing how knowledge is produced and circulates. The inequality pipeline places barriers to entry for researchers, thinkers, and experiences lived outside traditional centers of power at every step of the way. So does the competition, selfishness, and one‐upsmanship that characterizes so much of academic life. In this short reflection, I propose ways to rethink what we do in our classrooms, at our writing desks, and in the other spaces where we pursue social justice including embracing a Southern Attitude and decentering not just ideas but ourselves and the institutions where we work.