Global People Flows and the Refiguring of Nation, State and Community in the Asia-Pacific Region

Intensified movements of people across the borders of sovereign states constitute one of the defining phenomena of globalisation. The ‘free’ migrations fostered by state sponsored business and skill programs and the transnational employment and investment opportunities of a dynamic global capitalism, combine with the forced migrations of asylum seekers, trafficked or economically displaced people to challenge existing conceptual and policy models of governance, development, social cohesion, sovereignty and security. The Asia Pacific region, with its diverse mix of regimes, economies and social formations, is at the heart of this reworking of mobility, structure and stability into new transnational patterns which are re-engineering political, economic and social spaces and populations.

This research team draws together researchers with a diverse range of interests related to global people flows in the region to undertake collaborative, cross-disciplinary conversations and research activities.