Kiran Banerjee

Short biography:
Kiran Banerjee joined the Department of Political Science at Dalhousie University in 2019. His research addresses global migration governance with a focus on the normative role of international institutions and domestic political actors in responding to forced displacement. Banerjee’s broader research interests include political theory, international ethics, the history of political thought, international relations theory, and migration studies, as well as legal theory. Before joining the Department of Political Science, Banerjee was a faculty member in the Department of Political Studies at the University of Saskatchewan and a SSHRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Global Policy Initiative and School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University. He  holds a Ph.D from the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto.

Research Overview:
Forced migration has become an increasingly widespread feature of the contemporary world. The population of individuals globally displaced now exceeds the highest figures ever on record in the post-war period. Exacerbating this, international protection and resettlement options for refugees have significantly deteriorated in recent decades, despite a greater capacity for global governance and the intensified institutionalization of humanitarian assistance. This reality underscores the pressing need to develop new responses to forced displacement. 

As Canada Research Chair in Forced Migration Governance and Refugee Protection, Dr. Kiran Banerjee’s research provides insights into how successful and sustainable refugee policies emerge. To do so, Banerjee focuses on non-state actors and agents that are often under-studied in accounts of forced migration. In bridging normative, theoretical, and policy-oriented perspectives, his research brings a holistic and multilevel analysis to the study of refugee assistance, highlighting the interdependent dimensions of effective domestic refugee resettlement, multilateral asylum policy, and global cooperation on the provision of international protection. 

At a national level, Canada's ongoing commitment to the Global Compact for Refugees and supporting knowledge regarding refugee resettlement indicates a need for future work in this area. At the global level, the increased politicization of migration, alongside stalled efforts to reform the refugee regime makes such research urgently necessary. This work speaks directly to these concerns by providing valuable data and resources for the formation and crafting of a more effective refugee policy. In this way, Banerjee will advance improved solutions to forced migration across domestic, regional, and international contexts that respond to the needs of refugees.

Education History
Ph.D., University of Toronto
B.A., University of Chicago
M.A., University of Chicago

Professional affiliations:
Canadian Political Science Association (since 2010)
International Studies Association (since 2014)
Association for Political Theory (since 2015)
American Political Science Association (since 2009) 

Online Media:
Twitter: @KM_Banerjee
Academia.edu: https://usask.academia.edu/KiranBanerjee
Website: http://kiranbanerjee.com
CBC Radio: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/ideas-from-the-trenches-refuge-1.3336921

Research interests:
Global Justice and International Ethics
Forced Migration and Refugee Studies
Normative Political Theory and the History of Political Thought
Law and Legal Theory
International Relations Theory
Theories of Citizenship, Immigration, and Membership

Peer reviewed publications:
"Rethinking the Global Governance of International Protection," Columbia Journal of Transnational Law. 56(1): (2018).

"Race and the Meso-Level Sources of Domination," (With A. Singer) Political Research Quarterly. 71(1): (2018).

“Mitgliedschaft neu denken – Staatenlosigkeit, Fremdherrschaft und die Grenzen von Staatsbürgerschaft,” in Grenze und Demokratie – Praktiken der Schließung und Überschreitung. Campus Verlag (2017).

“Citizens, Subjects or Tyrants?  Relocating the People in Pocock’s The Machiavellian Moment,” (with Mauricio Suchowlansky) History of European Ideas (2016).

“Foreword,” Journal Symposium: “‘The Machiavellian Moment’ Turns Forty: Rethinking JGA Pocock’s Intellectual Legacy,” (with Mauricio Suchowlansky) History of European Ideas (2016).

“Envy, Shame and Self-Respect: Situating the Emotions in the Work of John Rawls,” (with Jeff Bercuson) in Emotions, Community, and Citizenship, eds., Rebecca Kingston, Kiran Banerjee, James McKee, Yi-Chun Chien. University of Toronto Press (2016).

“Introduction,” (with Editors) in Emotions, Community, and Citizenship, eds., Rebecca Kingston, Kiran Banerjee, James McKee, Yi-Chun Chien. University of Toronto Press (2016).

 “Toward Postnational Membership? Tensions and Transformation in German and EU Citizenship,” Journal of International Law and International Relations, Vol 10 (2014).

 “Rawls on the Embedded Self: Liberalism as an Affective Regime,” (with Jeff Bercuson) European Journal of Political Theory, 14.2 (2014).

“Re-theorizing Human Rights through the Refugee: On the Interrelation Between Democracy and Global Justice,” Refuge: Canada’s Periodical on Refugees, Vol 27, No. 1 (2010).

Recent conference papers:
Settlement and Integration Support Services for Newcomer Family Members in Western Canada: Capacities, Challenges, and Changes. Metropolis International, Ottawa, ON, 2019.

Non-State Actors and Normative Change in the International Refugee Regime. Metropolis International, Ottawa, ON, 2019.

Algorithmic Politics: Rereading Arendt in the Digital Age. The Canadian Political Science Association, Vancouver, BC, 2019.

Algorithmic Politics: Rereading Arendt in the Digital Age. The Canadian Political Science Association, Prague, Czech Republic, 2019.

“Coherence, Consonance, and Coordination of Migration Policy Webs in North America“ (with Joseph Garcea) presented at the Metropolis North America Policy Forum, Mexico City, Mexico, 2018.

Patriotism’s Virtue? The problem of Conflicting Allegiances. The Prairie Political Science Association Conference, Banff, AB, 2018.

Borders, Statelessness, & Domination: On the Boundaries of Contemporary Membership. The American Political Science Association Conference, Boston, US, 2018.

Civic responses to the ‘refugee crisis’. The Nordic Migration Research Conference, Norrköping, Sweden, 2018.

Borders, Statelessness, & Domination: On the Boundaries of Contemporary Membership. The Nordic Migration Research Conference, Norrköping, Sweden 2018.

Hannah Arendt and the Algorithm: Rereading The Human Condition in the Digital Age. The Canadian Political Science Association, Regina, SK, 2018.

Rethinking Refugee Protection Beyond the State: Non-state Actors and Normative Change. International Studies Association, San Francisco, USA, 2018.

The Re-emergence of Reactionary Politics in International Relations. International Studies Association, San Francisco, USA, 2018.

A Framework for Reforming International Protection. Second Experts meeting on the Global Compact on Refugees, Zolberg Institute, New School, NY, USA, 2018.

Rethinking the Global Governance of International Protection. Model International Mobility Convention: Principles and Regulations for Migrants and Refugees Conference, Toronto, ON, 2017.

Extending the Scope of International Protection: Categories for Protected Forced Migrants. Experts meeting on the Global Compact  on Refugees, Zolberg Institute, New School, NY, October 2017.