The document summarizes the project "Alumni-Denkfabrik 2012" initiated by the Goethe Institut to examine the topic of migration, culture, and development in Africa and worldwide. It describes the multi-step process which included: assembling an interdisciplinary expert pool; holding seminars to present findings on subtopics like intra-African migration, the experiences of migrants, and cultural impacts; and publishing results online and proposing further areas of study like models of cultural interaction and creativity in the context of globalization and migration.

2. The project Alumni-Denkfabrik 2012 initiated
by the Goethe Institut started in June 2012.
The first step : choice of a subject.

3. The reason of the choice of the subject
Migration, Culture and Development.
The impact of Migration in Africa and in the world, Impact on:
Politics
Economy
Culture
International relation

4. Second step:
Constitution of an expert pool comprising:
o Alumnis
o Other colleagues
Interdisciplinarity
- Humanities
- Economy
- Political Science
- Sociology
- Philosophy
- Law
- Communication

5. Third step:
First seminar on the 16th of July with 15participants.
Presentation of an argumentary
Elaboration of different sub themes
Repartition of the work among the experts
Following sub themes were chosen

6. 1. Intra african Migration and its consequences on
peace and development
2. The Migrants, their families and their expectations.
A discursive analysis
3. Categorisation of Migrants and the politics of the
guest countries
4. Nomadism and Mobility as a cultural pattern in
Africa
5. Migration and Financial flows in Africa
6. The Diaspora and their projects of developping
their African countries

7. 7. Travelling without moving: encounters through
media
8. Migration and Human rights
9. Migration and Imagination. How Migration
transforms the Migrants
10. The attitude of the cameroonian State towards
Migration
11. Migration from the centre to the periphery
12. Cultural impact of African migration on the world
since slavery

8. Fourth step:
Second seminar (2 days) 24th – 25th of September
with 32 participants:
The experts of the first seminar
Other experts
Doctorate students from different universities
in Cameroon

9. Agenda
o 10 Presentations of the reflection by the experts
o Discussions
o Recommandations
Here are the abstracts of 5 presentations:

10. I. Migration and Imagination work.( Prof simo)
Using the category imagination work coined by
Arjun Appadurai, some approaches to the
problematic of migration are criticised:
The nationalist approach in Africa
Three approaches in Europe and America
- Criminalization
- Victimization
- Idealization

11. Necessity to priviledge what happens in the mind
of the Migrant
- Learning process
- Personality transformation
- Constitution of new imaginaries
- Acquisition of new competences (professional,
intercultural)

12. II. Intra african Migration and its Impact on Peace
and Development in Sub-Sahara (Prof Tagou)
Three case studies:
a. Poverty, Migration and conflict in West Africa
- Demand for labor in the mining industry and
exploitation of big agricultural plantations
- 1 West African out of 3 migrates
- Countries of destination: Nigeria, Senegal,
Ghana, Gambia. First of all Côte d’Ivoire

13. - Countries of origine: the two Guineas, Mali,
Niger, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Togo
Consequences:
- Poverty aleviation and economic growth,
but
- Micro and meso conflicts: Liberia, Côte
d’Ivoire, Mali

14. b. East Africa
- Circulatory migration until the 80s
- Internally displaced person since the 90s

15. c. Central Africa
- Voluntary migration of manpower
- Non voluntary migration due to civil wars.
Migration as integration factor and economic
growth
Migration as factor of tension and war
Migration on religious basis

16. III. Nomadism as a cultural pattern and as a local
project of globalization(Prof Sow)
- The case of the pular population
- The case of the Mouride brotherhood in
Senegal
• From a local brotherhood (Touba) to a
global connected network

17. IV. European Migration to Africa
From colonial Migration to new Migration
Projects(Prof Misse Misse):
- The case of Portugal
- New challenges for Africa

18. V. African cultural impact on globalized
cultures (Prof Socpa) :
- Slavery and transplantation of African
cultural patterns in America
• Music
• Religion
- Today’s evolution

19. Fifth step:
Short presentation of the results of the seminars on
the Alumniportal Deutschland
Sixth step:
Publication of a short version of all expertises in
the Alumniportal Deutschland

20. Conclusion
Different themes have been addressed that need
further investigations and reflections
In form of follow-up seminars.
- Intra-national and international living together
models. (How to prevent conflictual
relationship in the era of globalization and
migration flows)

21. - New cultural geographies (National,
transnational and subnational spaces of
culture)
- Arts and cultural creativity and productivity
in the era of globalization and migration
flows