RGP Cycle Two Grantees and Projects
Lama Kabbanji: Academic international mobility and knowledge production: the case of Lebanon
Team members: Dr. Lama KABBANJI (IRD/CEPED), Dr. Paul TABAR (Lebanese American University), Hala Awada (Lebanese University), Dr. Elsa El Hachem (Lebanese University) and Mariam Al Hasbani (Lebanese University)
The objective of this research project is to explore the link between the international mobility of Lebanese academics and the knowledge they produce in social sciences. Mobility in this context is designed to include ideational as well as human mobility. Knowledge production is defined within the scope of this project as the research and writing practices of academics specialized in the field of social sciences. These practices will be captured by the following indicators: Research topic, theoretical approach, methodology, research output (type of publication, publisher, co-authorship, conferences...); type of funding, partnerships; Insertion in academic networks (locally, regionally, and internationally). We will particularly focus on the following disciplines: sociology, anthropology, economy and political science. In this project, we intend to:
- Describe and analyse recent mobility trends and dynamics (2003-2013), examining particularly how socio-economic and gender inequalities shape these trends
-Understand the mechanisms underlying academic out-migration, return and circulation;
-Examine the various forms in which knowledge circulates
-Explore the effects of human and ideational mobility on knowledge production in social sciences
Mixed methods and multi-sited approaches will be used in this project.
Lama Kabbanji is a researcher at the French Research Institute for Development (IRD – Centre Population Développement) and an associate researcher at the National Institute of Demographic Studies (INED). She is collaborating since 2011 with the Institute for Migration Studies at the Lebanese American University where she is a visiting professor since 2013. Lama completed her PhD in Demography in Canada in 2008. Lama has been working on international migration since 2005, specifically on the politics of migration as well as the migration and development nexus. Her current research interests include academic mobility and forced migration. Lama is member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Migration and Border Studies. Among her key publications: “Producing Scientific Knowledge on Migration: Perspectives on African and Arab Countries.” Contemporary Arab Affairs 7, no. 2 (2014): 263–82.; “Towards a Global Agenda on Migration and Development? Evidence from Senegal.” Population, Space and Place 19, no. 4 (2013): 415–29; Migrations africaines : le co-développement en questions. Essai de démographie politique, (2013) co-editor with Beauchemin Cris, Sakho Papa and Schoumaker Bruno (2013), Éditions Armand Colin, Paris, 344 p.
