Migrant Academics’ Narratives of Precarity and Resilience in Europe

This is an important collection which asks readers to consider the diversity and complexity of individual academic migrants’ experiences as well as consistent themes across their stories which call for scholarly attention. Through their narratives, the authors illustrate the ordinary costs and brutality of borders and visa regimes and how precarity within the academic profession may be heightened for academic migrants positioned at the intersection of categories of difference. While focused on the narratives of precarity and resilience, the book also shares moments of joy, desire, pleasure, and curiosity that academics found in becoming scholars on the move.

The argument made in the book is clearly stated: neoliberal policies coupled with Eurocentrism have led to the production of inequalities and made academic conditions particularly precarious for those who, due to the history of colonialism and geopolitical shifts, have been (self) positioned as migrant academics. The volume draws on migrant academics’ narratives to explore the diasporic and multidimensional nature of their precarity. [...] This collection of essays will be of great interest to scholars and students in fields such as education, international migration studies, and public administration. The book can also assist European university administrations and managers in formulating and implementing diversity programmes. Written in an accessible style, this collection of essays on being a migrant academic will furthermore appeal to a broader audience and has the potential to capture the attention of a diverse range of readers within and beyond academia.