Reflexivity Lab
The ReflexLab is the central space for joint interdisciplinary research in the Collaborative Research Centre. This includes discussions of overarching methodological and conceptual questions as well as the processing of thematic overlaps between the sub-projects and an analysis of what reflexivity means in each individual sub-project and from different disciplinary perspectives. At the same time, the Reflexivity Lab takes care of the development of an innovative methodology of reflexive migration research and a reflexive theory of the production of migration.
The working formats of the laboratory include WorkLabs on the theorisation of the media of the production of migration and a WorkLab ›Reflexive Methodology‹, in which – in continuous cooperation with the SFB Mercator Fellow and the SFB’s guests – the concept of reflexivity is analysed both theoretically and in terms of research practice from various disciplinary perspectives. The lab also provides a space for creative, experimental work in which new possibilities for knowledge and critique are generated. These are tested, implemented and further developed in dialogue with the SFB’s specific empirical projects. This also includes close co-operation with the transfer project.
The ReflexLab continuously supports the sub-projects in their data collection and analysis processes. Its planned publications include a theoretical volume on the production of migration, a handbook on reflexive migration research and an international anthology on ›Epistemic Trust‹ (together with Princeton University and the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, among others).
Publications
›Towards Spatial Reflexivity in Migration Research‹
Lang, Christine, and Andreas Pott. 2025. Towards Spatial Reflexivity in Migration Research. Geographische Zeitschrift 113 (4): 212–235.
›Reflecting on the Geographies of Migration Research‹
Pott, Andreas, and Christine Lang. 2025. Reflecting on the Geographies of Migration Research (Editorial/Special Issue). Geographische Zeitschrift 113 (4): 208–211.
›What Comes After ‘Post-Migration’?‹
Schneider, Jens. 2025. What Comes After ‘Post-Migration’? On the Biographies of Terms. In Reflexivities and Knowledge Production in Migration Studies, eds. Janine Dahinden and Andreas Pott, 189–207. Cham: Springer.
›Practicing Double Reflexivity‹
Bartels, Inken, Philipp Schäfer, and Laura Stielike. 2025. Practicing Double Reflexivity. Producing Knowledge on the Production of Knowledge on Migration. In Reflexivities and Knowledge Production in Migration Studies, eds J. [...]
›Why We (Still) Need to Think and Write About Reflexivities in Migration Studies‹
Dahinden, Janine, and Andreas Pott. 2025. Why We (Still) Need to Think and Write About Reflexivities in Migration Studies. In Reflexivities and Knowledge Production in Migration Studies, eds. Janine Dahinden and Andreas Pott, 1–33. Cham: Springer.
›Reflexivities and Knowledge Production in Migration Studies‹
Dahinden, Janine, and Andreas Pott, eds. 2025. Reflexivities and Knowledge Production in Migration Studies: Pitfalls and Alternatives. Cham: Springer.
›Reflexivity as Critique?‹
Stierl, Maurice, Laura Stielike, Philipp Schäfer,Inken Bartels, Anna Amelina, et al. 2025. Reflexivity as Critique? A Conversation on the Politics of Knowledge Production in Migration Studies. Journal of Migration [...]
›Migrationsforschung als reflexive Gesellschaftsforschung‹
Pott, Andreas. 2025. Migrationsforschung als reflexive Gesellschaftsforschung: Möglichkeiten und Grenzen des Sonderforschungsbereichs „Produktion von Migration“. Berichte Geographie und Landeskunde 98 (2–3): 282–289.
›Beyond the present, the nation, and Europe‹
Reinecke, Christiane, and Isabella Löhr. 2024. Beyond the present, the nation, and Europe: Three different uses of history in reflexive migration studies. Migration Studies 12 (3): mnae023
›The Moral Economies of Reflexive Migration Studies‹
Stielike, Laura, Philipp Schäfer, Maurice Stierl, and Inken Bartels. 2024. The Moral Economies of Reflexive Migration Studies. Migration Studies 12 (3): mnae021.
Selected Events
Mapping (the Production of) Migration
Workshop with Philippe Rekacewicz
Social Science Dispositif Analysis
ReflexLab Workshop with Andrea Bührmann
Decolonising the figure of the ‘migrant’: non-binary categorisations and intra-Asian mobilities
Workshop with Laavanya Kathiravelu (Department of Sociology and Human Geography, University of Oslo)
South-South migration, including Chinese migration to South Africa
Workshop with Prof. Dr. Ana Deumert & Nkululeko Mabandla (both University of Cape Town)
Visual experimentation in migration research: participatory methods and documentary practices
ReflexLab Workshop with Dr. Keina Espiñeira (Sociology and Communication Sciences, Universidade da Coruña)
Kulturproduktion in der Migrationsgesellschaft - Aktuelle und zukünftige Herausforderungen
Vortrag & Diskussion zu den Ergebnissen des Forschungsprojekts KultMIX im Dialog mit der kulturellen & kulturpolitischen Praxis: 6.5.2025 im Theater Osnabrück
Epistemic Trust in Migration Studies II
Workshop in cooperation with the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity (Göttingen)
Reflexive Ethnography
Workshop with Prof. Dr. John Bornemann (Anthropology, Princeton University) on central elements of ethnographic research, focusing on the changing meanings of “participant observation”
Hummustopia: Food-based research on everyday practices of dialogue and democracy
Talk & Discussion with Avraham Rosenblum (Hamburg)
Ethics and politics of researching and teaching migration
Workshop with Dr. Teresa Piacentini (Sociology, University of Glasgow) on the ethics and politics of conducting migration research and carving out possibilities for doing it better