Research

My research focuses on the interconnections of urban law and politics and migration governance in cities in global and comparative perspective. 

Previous and current research includes:

1. A comprehensive study of litigation against Refugee Reception Offices (RROs) in South African cities from 2000 – 2018. This research project focused on the intersection of migrant governance, various legal frameworks, and urban politics as applied to asylum regimes in post-apartheid South Africa. The research was supported by a Fulbright-Hays DDRA Fellowship and the Academy for African Urban Diversity (AAUD). See below for related publications:

2. An initial study concerning urban renewal projects, migration policies, and civil society strategies in light of the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Paris. I worked with academic and civil society institutions in France and student research assistants at Yale-NUS for this project.

3. Preliminary research exploring potential interconnections among urban law, migration regimes, and civil society organizations in smaller US cities.

Publications

Johnson, James (Jay) G. (2025). Urban Aesthetics, Nuisance, and Refugees: Local Business Litigation in South African Cities, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2025.2558977

Johnson, James (Jay) G. (2022). Challenging Policies and Contextualizing Rights: Civil Society Litigation and Refugee and Asylum Seeker Governance in South African Cities. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 22(3), 545–558. DOI: 10.1080/15562948.2022.2061097

Johnson, James (Jay) G. (2020). Constructing and contesting state-urban borders: Litigation over Refugee Reception Offices in post-apartheid South African cities.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 48(15), 3810-3827.  DOI: 10.1080/1369183X.2020.1779046