The Politics and Governance of Migration

This Special Issue Introduction aims to unpack current dynamics of migration politics and governance research and to put forward a holistic and integrative theoretical approach, that accounts for the bi-directionality and reciprocal influence between “the political” and “the governance” in both policymaking and policy practice on migration-related issues. We show how the articles in this Special Issue contribute to bridge two analytical tendencies in migration research - one foregrounding the political underpinnings of governing practices, and the other focusing on the collaborative dynamics of governance networks. While often treated separately, these perspectives intersect in important ways. Building on these contributions, an integrative research agenda is proposed. Theoretically, we suggest building the relevance of geographic context, scale and migration dynamics into our theorization of migration politics and governance. Methodologically, we suggest expanding beyond the common qualitative versus quantitative divide in the field, and deepening our analysis of politics-governance interactions through mixed-methods approaches.