Martin van der Velde

Globalisation has given rise to new and intensified transnational and translocal relationships. This is reflected in the rise and intensification of a range of mobilities of individuals and communities. In the 'age of migration', workers in varied skill sectors, investors, tourists, students, (health) care providers and seekers etc. are moving across and within national borders and living in transnational/translocal spaces more than ever before. New and/or intensified flows and circulations of people (bundled with other non-human flows) are contributing to rapid transformations in all parts of the world. Human mobility has indeed become one of the most important stratifying factors in this time of globalisation. While there is a global competition for so-called skilled migrants and talented students creating smooth pathways for some movers, other migrants looking for humanitarian protection face hard borders and long asylum procedures in their migration processes. This 2-day Workshop focuses on the politics of mobility and examines the nature of different types of mobilities and their impact on human development in our urbanising world. The Workshop considers the importance of place, space and temporalities. It encourages in particular a translocal perspective to interrogate the causes, nature and impact of migration and mobilities, paying attention to the contexts of and processes in migrants' places of origin, destinations and on the road.