The current special issue examines the development of an emerging global
governance on migration and the spaces, roles, strategies and alliancemaking
of a composite transnational civil society engaged in issues of rights
and the protection of migrants and their families. This question is connected
with how different actors – the United Nations, international organizations,
governments and a wide variety of civil society organizations and regional
and global trade unions – perceive the root causes of migration, global
inequality and options for sustainable development. The contributions
included in the special issue interrogate from different perspectives the
positionality and capacity of civil society to influence the Global Forum for
Migration and Development. They examine the opportunities and challenges
faced by civil society in its endeavor to promote a rights-based approach
within international and intergovernmental fora engaged in setting up a
global compact for the management of migration and in other global policy
spaces.