Call4Papers eSharp: “Migration in times of economic crises”

“Migration in times of economic crises” is a one day interdisciplinary postgraduate colloquium which aims to reflect on the challenges during times of economic crisis facing those who take part in any form of transnational migration.

Increasingly, in the present economic climate, local and national austerity measures are affecting migration on a transnational scale. As FRONTEX operations expand beyond European Union territory and severe cuts are imposed in countries on the EU’s external borders, such as Greece and Italy, the everyday reality of “Fortress Europe” is changing and migration within the continent has resurfaced as a key issue.

Reports of a “brain drain” of highly skilled migrants from countries most affected by financial crisis to Member States with stronger or rising economies points to internal European migration underpinned by welfare cuts and enduring unemployment. At the same time, the promotion of “multiculturalism” and high-skilled migration by some governments does not prevent the adoption of an anti-migrant stance in public, political and media discourses in migrant-receiving countries.

These changing socio-economic and political contexts – the increasingly problematic representation of migrants in political, media and academic discourses – call for critical reflection on the role of researchers in resisting instead of reinforcing such processes.

We therefore welcome, and encourage, papers as well as posters from all disciplines that contribute to and engage with these debates at a local, national, European and international level. Although the theme of the conference relates to the contemporary economic situation, historical perspectives are also welcome.

Subjects may include, but are not limited to:

• Impact of Cuts and Austerity Measures
• Access to Justice
• Economisation of Migration
• ‘Fortress Europe’ and Securitisation of Migration
• Racism and Islamophobia
• Discourses of Migration
• Immigration Policy and Regulation
• Migration, Neoliberalism and Welfare
• Internal European Migration
• Detention, Dispersal and Deportation
• ‘Multiculturalism’, Nationalism and Citizenship
• Forced Migration, Refugees and Asylum

Please send abstracts (max. 350 words including title and references) prepared for blind review to gramnet.abstracts@gmail.com by 23rd March 2012. It is intended that a selection of papers from the colloquium proceedings will be published in the University’s Postgraduate online journal eSharp.

Links: zum Kolloquium; zur PDF