Abstract
This review discusses Dina Kiwan’s Academic Freedom and the Transnational Production of Knowledge (Cambridge University Press, 2024) and its relevance for migration studies. The book examines how geopolitical contexts, transnational academic networks, and institutional constraints shape knowledge production across borders. Drawing on 37 interviews with scholars conducting research in Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States, Kiwan develops a transnational theory of academic freedom that challenges the methodological nationalism of the field. The reviewer highlights several contributions of particular value to migration scholars: the book’s analysis of inequalities in global knowledge production dominated by institutions of the Global North; its examination of how restrictions on academic freedom shape which migration topics are studied and how they are interpreted; and its empirical treatment of “forbidden knowledge” — research framed as taboo or politically uncomfortable. The comparative analysis is found especially convincing in showing that threats to academic freedom manifest in both democratic and authoritarian settings, through mechanisms including self-censorship, managerial governance, and funding incentives. Critical observations concern the limited discussion of digital technologies and algorithmic surveillance in international academic exchange, and the relatively modest attention given to the specific vulnerabilities of migrant scholars whose precarious legal status may constrain their capacity for critical research and public engagement. The review concludes that Kiwan’s theoretical framework offers migration scholars a productive lens for examining how knowledge about migration is produced, contested, and circulated across borders, and that the book is a significant contribution to the international study of academic freedom.
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