Macmillan Unveils Prof. Adeniyi’s New Book on African Migration Narratives

Leading academic publisher Palgrave Macmillan has unveiled a new book by Professor Abiodun Adeniyi titled New Narratives of African Migration: Exploring Media and the Contestation of Space.

Prof. Adeniyi, a scholar known for his research at the intersection of media, identity and Africa’s geopolitical dynamics, is a faculty member in the Department of Mass Communication at Baze University, Abuja.

The newly released book moves beyond dominant headlines about the global migration crisis to present a rigorous scholarly interrogation of how media, collective memory and digital technologies are reshaping African mobility and identity.

In the work, Adeniyi addresses what he describes as the persistent “epistemic silence” surrounding African migration experiences. Conceptually structured as a journey, the book opens by mapping the emotional landscapes of displacement and the “fractured bonds” that emerge when the idea of home becomes distant, symbolic or contested.

Through his examination of the “stranger within,” the author offers fresh insights into evolving diasporic identities and the gendered transformations migration often triggers within families and communities.

A key strength of the book lies in its focus on what Adeniyi terms “unspoken journeys” — the largely overlooked patterns of intra-African migration that receive limited attention in Western media narratives. The study draws from migrants’ personal archives, exploring the cultural meanings of the items they carry and the digital platforms where belonging is constantly negotiated.

The book argues that in an era marked by surveillance and rapid technological change, social media has emerged as a critical “space of hybridity,” enabling migrants to challenge dominant representations and transform silence into visible presence.

It further interrogates the politics of migration governance, critiquing enduring colonial legacies while highlighting the vulnerability of the nation-state amid intensified global mobility.

By centring the voices of returnees and migrants in transit, the publication redefines notions of “home” and advances a layered analysis of cultural fluidity and mediated identity formation.

New Narratives of African Migration is now available globally and is recommended for scholars, policymakers and media professionals seeking deeper insight into the complex dynamics shaping African migration in the 21st century.