Doing migration studies with an accent

Abstract

I use accent as a metaphor and a conceptual tool to epistemologically reflect over the field of migration studies. Accented thinking is a response and a reaction to the condition of coloniality that structures the processes of knowledge production. In this article I aim to explore the potentiality of accented thinking in the formation of knowledge within the field of migration studies. I approach accent both as a way of knowing and a form of struggle. The combination leads to an epistemic refusal. I use accent as refusal not only as a tool to scrutinize how epistemic injustices arise and what forces maintain them, but also as a tool to find out what forces are available to create alternative ways of knowing. I argue that accented thinking can stimulate the emergence of new perspectives and approaches. It takes us beyond notions which have restricted the possibility of any alternative order.