About us

Learn about our academic network and what it is we are working on.

The Migration and Citizenship Politics Network Aotearoa New Zealand  (MigCitPolANZ)  is an interdisciplinary academic network that brings together researchers and graduate students working on a wide range of issues related to migration and citizenship studies at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington. We have a particular focus on the intersection between politics, migration, and citizenship.

The core function of this network is to facilitate dialogue on migration and citizenship debates, paving the way for new research ideas and collaborations with both domestic and international partners. We are happy to be involved in academic as well as policy and media discussions.

Coordinated by members of the Political Science and International Relations Programme, the network also draws scholars and students from a range of other disciplines, including History, Human Geography, Pacific Studies, Social and Cultural Studies, Criminology, and Law.

Aotearoa New Zealand’s migration experiences and geographical location make it a strategic place to research the politics of migration and citizenship.

Its experiences as a settler colonial society, shaped by British colonialism, prompt academic and policy conversations about indigenous-settler-immigrant relations and the ongoing legacies of British colonialism on immigration and citizenship policies.

Its contemporary experience as a country with high rates of both immigration and emigration, and its large Asian and Pasifika populations, invite research focused on migrant political participation and representation, migrant rights, climate migration, identity and migration, regional and global migration governance, Asia-Pacific labour migration, and diaspora politics.

Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington is also home to the Master of Migration Studies (MMigS), which offers a range of courses on forced migration, comparative migration politics, border politics, human rights, migration and identity, global migration governance, and colonial migration, as well as internships at governmental and non-governmental institutions. We are happy to be involved in academic as well as policy and media discussions.