IMER NEWSLETTER NR. 2/2009

Monday, January 26, 2009

Content:

  • CULCOM konferanse: Hellighet
  • The 14th International Metropolis conference
  • The Friday Seminar on Democracy and Rule of Law: “What courts do (and don’t do) about social rights”
  • Norsk antropologisk forenings årskonferanse 2009: Maktens metamorfoser
  • International Seminar on Migration History: Finnish-American Immigrants in Transition 2009
  • Call for applications: Professor in IMER at Malmö University
  • Call for applications: The Bucerius Ph.D. scholarship program in migration studies “Settling Into Motion”
  • Call for papers -the Vienna Yearbook of Population Research: special issue on “Effects of migration on demographic change and population composition in Europe”
  • Call for papers -Journal of Muslim Mental Health: special issue on refugees and forced migrants
  • Publications

CULCOM Konferanse:

Hellighet

Time: 26. og 27. mars
Place: UiO, Georg Sverdrups hus, Auditorium 2 (Universitetsbiblioteket Blindern)

Et av Culcoms forskningsstrategiske grep har vært å ta utgangspunkt i noen sentrale, verdiladete begreper for å belyse ”Kulturell kompleksitet i det nye Norge”. Dette har hittil resultert i konferansene og bøkene Trygghet (2006), Normalitet (2006), Frihet (2007), Verdier (2008) og Rettferdighet (2009). I forlengelse av denne rekken arrangeres konferansen Hellighet hvor bidragsyterne skal gjøre et dypdykk i hellighet i ulike kulturelle og historiske kontekster med tanke på å forstå mer av de endringene vi er vitne til i dagens globaliserte verden.

Konferanseansvarlige
Forsker Henrik Sinding-Larsen og forskningsleder Thomas Hylland Eriksen, begge ved Culcom, Universitetet i Oslo.

Bekreftede innledere
Berit Thorbjørnsrud, religionsvitenskap, Universitetet i Oslo;
Espen Dahl, teologi, Universitetet i Oslo;
Henrik Sinding-Larsen, Culcom, Universitetet i Oslo;
Thomas Hylland Eriksen, Culcom, Universitetet i Oslo;
Tord Larsen, sosialantropologi, NTNU;
Trond Berg Eriksen, idéhistorie, Universitetet i Oslo;
Trygve Wyller, teologi, Universitetet i Oslo;
Jorun Solheim, Institutt for Samfunnsforskning

(det avventes også bekreftelse fra ytterligere en innleder).

Påmelding
Konferansen er gratis. Av hensyn til planlegging av bevertning og produksjon av konferansemateriell ønsker arrangørene at de som vil delta sender en e-post til a.m.hessevik@culcom.uio.no om dette senest 20. mars og oppgir om de planlegger å delta på helle eller deler av konferansen.

Nærmere informasjon og program finner du her.

Metropolis International :

the 14th International Metropolis Conference

The International Metropolis Project is a forum that bridges research, policy and practice on migration and diversity. The project aims to enhance academic research capacity, encourage policy-relevant research on migration and diversity issues, and facilitate the use of that research by governments and non-government organisations.The 14th International Metropolis Conference 2009 is organised by the Academy for Migration Studies in Denmark (AMID).

Time: September 14-18, 2009
Place: Copenhagen, Denmark

The theme of this year’s conference is “Migration and Mobility – National Responses to Cultural Diversity.” The conference is expected to attract between 800 and 1000 delegates for high-level plenary sessions, a comprehensive study tour program and more than 60 concurrent workshops. The conferences are an opportunity for delegates – both expert and novice – to discuss critical issues, identify research and policy gaps, compare international experiences and build the Metropolis network.

Individual Paper Proposals (Due by January 30, 2009)
Individuals (researchers, policy-makers, NGO representatives) who are interested in presenting a conference paper are invited to submit an abstract.  An inventory of submitted abstracts will be provided to prospective workshop organisers who may choose to integrate specific papers into their sessions.  Inclusion will be at the discretion of workshop organisers, and it is likely that not all papers will be included. Once completed (http://www.metropolis2009.org/workshop/index.html), proposals may be sent to Barry.Halliday@cic.gc.ca.

Workshop Proposals (Due by March 2, 2009)
Workshop proposals on topics related to migration and diversity are invited from researchers, policy-makers, non-governmental organisations and other interested delegates. Workshop organisers are reminded that workshops must include representation from the research, policy and non-government sectors, as well as participants from more than one country.To submit a workshop proposal, please download the proposal form from the conference webpages.

For more information about the 14th International Metropolis conference, visit www.metropolis2009.org. Please note that the plenary programme is in draft format and will change.

The Friday Seminar on Democracy and Rule of Law:

“What courts do (and don’t do) about social rights”

Time: 30 January 2009, 10:00 – 14:00
Place: Lauritz Meltzers House (Social Sciences Bulding) 9th floor, University of Bergen

Norwegian politics have gone through a process of juridification. This is one of the main conclusions from a comprehensive study of power and democracy in Norway, Maktutredningen (Power and Democracy). Juridification of politics is not unique to Norway. Countries around the world increasingly experience that issues traditionally perceived to belong to the realm of politics – such as social- and health policy issues – are taken to court.

Colombian courts annually receive tens of thousands of cases from people who see their right to health violated. The Constitutional Court recently ordered extensive reforms of the health system. Indian courts have ordered action to secure the right to food and the right to a healthy environment, while reforms of housing policy have been the subject of several judgments from the South African Constitutional Court.

Do these developments represent a worrying trend in terms of narrowing the space for democratic politics or do they represent an expansion of democracy? Are the courts an arena only for the resourceful, or also an arena where poor and marginalised groups can have their interests heard and respected?

This seminar brings together international experts in the field to discuss these current questions in light of developments in different parts of the world. Programme and more information here.

The Friday Seminar on Democracy and Rule of Law is interdisciplinary and wide ranging. It explores contemporary local and global issues in law and human rights, development and globalization, democracy and citizenship. The aim is to create a meeting place for researchers at UiB, CMI and Unifob, and to stimulate research collaboration between local, national and international researchers.

Norsk antropologisk forenings årskonferanse 2009:

Maktens Metamorfoser

Time: 8.-10. mai 2009
Place: Hotel Terminus, Bergen

Konferansen arrangeres av Institutt for sosialantropologi v/ UiB, i samarbeid med Sveriges Antropologförbund, Bergen Museum og CMI.

Årets konferanse inviterer til et antropologisk fokus på de senere års utvidede maktbegrep. Konferansen ønsker å bidra med kritikk av den samfunnsvitenskapelige utvidede forståelsen av makt, samtidig som den skal gi rom for maktens ”nye teiger” innenfor antropologien, som det historiske, det globale og det hverdagslige. Aktuelle tematikker for konferansen når det gjelder global makt, er f.eks. multinasjonale korporasjoner, transnasjonale media og NGOers rolle når det gjelder å definere og administrere subjektproduksjon.
Se http://naf2009.uib.no for videre utdyping av tematikken.

Arrangørene inviterer deltakere til å arrangere arbeidsgruppe, og vil særlig oppfordre til norsk-svensk samarbeid!

Forslaget må inneholde
–   navn og kontaktinformasjon for den/de ansvarlige
–   tittel og sammendrag (maks. 200) ord) som kan brukes til annonsering

Alle forslag sendes margit.ystanes@sosantr.uib.no, med frist 10. februar  

Nærmere informasjon om konferansen på konferansens nettsider: http://naf2009.uib.no

International Seminar on Migration History:

Finnish-American Immigrants in Transition 2009

Time: 25-26 May 2009
Place: University of Turku, Finland

The Dept. of General History, University of Turku, the FIDIPRO programme “Multiculturalism as a new pathway to incorporation”, and the Institute of Migration will organize an international seminar on the Finnish-American Immigrants in Transition 2009.

The tradition of studying Finns in America as an academic skill dates to the 1920’s. Thereafter, a large number of studies on Finns in America has been carried on in Finland, United States and Canada. The actual flourishing of the studies and writing migrant histories began in the 1960’s and 1970’s. At the same time even the founding of a number special archives and research institutions took place, such as the Institute of Migration in Turku and the Immigration History Research Center in Minneapolis (University of Minnesota). Consequently, migration studies and migration history stabilized their place in the field of teaching and studying.

The seminar invites together the active scholars of the topic in various countries. Also, the aim is to get involved researchers from related fields of study who are interested in migration history, as well as other interested parties. The preliminary list of presenters includes specialists from Finland, United States, Canada and Denmark. The seminar offers a good possibility to strengthen the researcher networks and contacts.

Proposals for presenting papers in the workshops mentioned in the program A: Images of the Finns in North America (chair Hannu Heinilä, HAMK), B: Finnish-Americans Today (chairs Jouni Korkiasaari, Institute of Migration and Mika Roinila), and other possible themes, shall be sent to Mr. Tuomas Räsänen (turasa@utu.fi) by March 2, 2009. They should not exceed 250 words. Approval of the proposals will be announced on March 15, 2009.

More information and the preliminary program can be seen on the seminar web pages
The language of the seminar will primarily be English.

Call for applications:

Professor in IMER at Malmö University

Reference number: KS
Placing: Culture and Society, the institution of IMER
Last date of application: 2009-03-01

Malmo University
Malmo University offers 90 programmes and 500 courses. Most of the university’s programmes are vocational and interdisciplinary, especially the multidisciplinary research programmes. The university is committed to diversity in employment and take a critical approach to knowledge and the impact of globalisation. Malmo University has 21,000 students and is the eighth largest tertiary institution in Sweden.
Culture and society is a multidisciplinary field of education and research that encompasses the following four departments: Global Political Studies, International Migration and Ethnic Relations (IMER), Art, Culture & Communication (K3) and Urban Studies. The Faculty also includes a Centre for Widening Participation.

Department of International Migration and Ethnic Relations (IMER) is a multidisciplinary subject area that considers the fundamental global processes within society and the concrete and ever-changing consequences they have on society and individuals from a migration perspective. Within the IMER field of research, the department focuses on the causes and effects of migration at international level and on the consequences of migration in the form of integration and segregation related issues at national level. They lecture and research questions such as migration, ethnicity and integration. For general information concerning the department IMER, its field of research and education offered, see Malmö University’s IMER pages.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities
A professor in IMER at Malmö University is required to:
be competent in a number of the department’s research areas;
be able to work with research and education issues within international migration and ethnic relations at the IMER Department, the university on the whole, and the surrounding community;
be able to work with and develop further international collaborative projects within the sphere of international migration and ethnic relations;
supervise postgraduate students;
teach at undergraduate level, preferably at master’s level, to the extent of at least 20% of the position.

Qualifications
The successful applicant will be able to show both scientific and pedagogic skills. Both areas are adjudged equally important  (HF 4 chap. 5 §).

A position of professor at Malmö University also requires:
good ability to work in the community and inform about research and development work;
good ability to develop, implement and lead education and research;
good ability to lead personnel;
good ability to work cooperatively.

In addition, this position requires:
documented experience of working in a multidisciplinary research environment;
international experience;
experience of teaching in English;
the ability to procure research funding;
the ability to work cooperatively with the surrounding community;
the ability to initiate commitment and participation amongst personnel and students.

Selection Criteria
The basis for assessing the applicant’s eligibility for this position is his/her level of skill and ability in terms of the requirements outlined above. Scientific and pedagogic skills are regarded as equally important, and the successful applicant must show competence in both these areas. The applicant’s level of administrative ability and that of other skills the university considers relevant for the subject content and the duties attached to this post will also be taken into consideration (HF 4 chap. 15§).

Experience of working with or knowledge of Malmö University’s perspectives is deemed a merit.

Other Information
Duties will commence as per agreement. This is a full-time, permanent position at the Department of IMER. Malmö University adopts individual salary structures and may offer a trial period of employment. Malmö University is committed to gender equality and diversity in the workplace.
For further Information contact: Per-Markku Ristilammi, Vice Dean, Culture and Society (tel: +46(0)40 6657356)

Applications
Please mark your application with the relevant reference number and send it to Malmö University, Culture and Society, Registrar, 205 06 Malmö.The last date of application is March 1, 2009.

The application should include the following:
1. A signed CV
2. Certified copies of academic certificates
3. A brief presentation of any scientific teaching and/or any experience that is relevant to the position.
4. A list of your scientific and educational work.
5. Examples of your most prominent scientific and educational work (a maximum of ten in each field).
6. References.

Please submit three (3) complete sets of all documents. Malmö University’s “qualifications portfolio” for teachers/researchers at the university contains guidelines for documenting your qualifications. See also Malmö University’s “employment guidelines.”

Union Representatives
SACO/S, Marie Böiers, tel +46(0)40- 665 80 43
OFR/Lärarförbundet, Carl-Erik Blomberg, tel +46(0)40- 665 82 89
OFR/ST, Peter Gustafsson, tel +46(0)40- 665 72 37
SEKO, Arnar Sveinsson, tel. +46(0)733- 610 421

Fil. dr. Magdalena Nordin
IMER, Malmö Högskola
205 06 Malmö
040-665 73 88

The Bucerius Ph.D. scholarship program in migration studies:

Call for applications: Scholarships for Ph.D theses

The ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius requests applications for 6-8 Ph.D. Scholarships in migration studies.

For 2009 proposals studying “Migration, Development and the  Environment” are especially welcome.

Migration is a double-edged sword: It generates remittances and some countries heavily depend on these transfers for their economic stability. At the same time, migration drains the highly qualified workforce in countries of origin thus weakening long-term development. Environmental degradation and climate change increasingly cause migration as exemplified by the plan of the Maldivian government to move its entire population should ocean levels rise further. On the other hand, large scale migration into camps and shanty towns further deteriorates the environment.

Applications for scholarships under this topic would be encouraged to study the following aspects (but are not limited to these)
– Economic, social and cultural remittances
– Return migration
– Migration management including circular migration and other forms of  temporary labour arrangements
– Immigration experiences of developing countries
– Migration-development nexus
– Climate change, environment and migration
– Environmental impact of migration
– Innovative approaches both in terms of subject matter and methodology are highly encouraged.

SCHOLARSHIP
– Monthly stipend of 1.200 Euros, additional funds for special research needs available on an individual basis.
– Scholarships are granted for 1 year. Given satisfactory progress the scholarship will be extended by another 2 years.
– Yearly conference.
– Yearly field trip on contemporary migration topic.
– Students communicate on a web-based platform and organize workshops supported by a program assistant.

Applicants must be Ph.D. students of – in a broad sense – social sciences. Deadline 25 February 2009 for a stipend starting in August 2009. Please apply online at http://www.settling-into-motion.org/h/index.php with Ph.D. proposal and two references.

Contact:
ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius
Anna Hofmann
Feldbrunnenstraße 56
20148 Hamburg
Germany

Phone: +49 40 4133 6785
Fax: +49 40 4133 6777
info@settling-into-motion.de

Call for papers:

Special Issue of the Vienna Yearbook of Population Research:

“Effects of migration on demographic change and population composition in Europe”

In December 2008, the Vienna Institute of Demography held its annual conference focusing on the effects of migration on population structures in Europe. The Editorial Board of the Vienna Yearbook of Population Research decided to produce a special issue of the Yearbook dedicated to the topic of this conference, which, will not be limited to papers presented at the conference.

David Coleman from Oxford University and Dalkhat Ediev from the Vienna Institute of Demography kindly agreed to serve as guest editors for this special issue.

The editorial board invite you to submit a paper to the Special Issue of the Vienna Yearbook of Population Research “Effects of migration on demographic change and population composition in Europe” planned to be published in 2009.

Submissions must meet the requirements of the Vienna Yearbook of Population Research (http://www.oeaw.ac.at/vid/download/Guidelines_for_Authors.pdf). The deadline for submissions is 15 April 2009. Please send your paper and enquiries to populationyearbook@oeaw.ac.at

All submissions will be subject to international peer review. As the publishing schedule is rather tight, early submission will facilitate completing the reviewing process in time.

Journal of Muslim Mental Health:

Special issue on refugees and forced migrants

Issue Co-editors:
Fariyal Ross-Sheriff, Ph.D., Altaf Husain, Ph.D., M. Taqi Tirmazi, Ph.D.

Purpose of the Special Issue
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there are 67 million forcibly displaced persons worldwide, of  whom 16 million are refugees and the remaining 51 million are  internally displaced persons (IDPs) as a result of conflicts and  natural disasters (UNHCR, June 2008). Unlike many immigrants who  voluntarily migrate seeking a better life, refugees and IDPs migrate  involuntarily and often do not control their displacement.  Being  forcibly uprooted from one’s homeland poses tremendous and complex  hardships on multiple levels to these men, women and children.

The purpose of this thematic issue is to generate refugee-centered scholarship on theory development, research, education, practice,  program development and policymaking. JMMH seeks empirical and  conceptual articles related to forced migration of refugees and IDPs  in their own countries, countries of first asylum, or in resettlement  countries. Although there are news stories that shed some light on the  lives of the refugees and internally displaced populations, often the media and the public allow them to fade into the background after the initial reports of outbreaks of violence or mass movements of people within or across national borders.  There is a need for research reports as well as documentation on practice based individual or community level interventions with refugees and IDPs.

Due to recent political and economic instability, poverty, and war, the number of Muslim refugees around the world has increased; over 70% of the world’s refugees are Muslim. In recent years, the United States has received and resettled more Muslim refugees than at any other time in its history and 15% of refugees entering the USA from 1988 to 2003 were Muslim (Maloof and Ross-Sheriff, 2003). Several Muslim countries such as Pakistan, Iran, Syria and Lebanon have provided refuge to refugees from their neighboring countries. Muslim refugees struggle with unique adaptation challenges in acquiring shelter, income, education, health, and security.  They share their faith with local residents in countries of first asylum, which tend to be Muslim. However, in many countries of resettlement, such as USA, Canada and European countries, they are a religious and ethnic minority.  There  they face challenges from negative perceptions related to Muslims as a  result of the war on terrorism in the post September 11th, 2001 world. However, their experiences, as well as the mental health of the impact of forced migration, are seldom documented in the research literature.   Moreover, many predominantly Muslim countries such as Syria and Egypt are sheltering an increasing number of refugees of Christian and diverse faiths, and the research literature has not adequately examined such experiences.

This request for papers is for empirical research and papers that discuss or evaluate interventions, programs, and policies for refugees and IDPs worldwide including, but not limited to the following topics:

Broad Topic Areas
* Definitions, designations, and data on refugees and IDPs
* Theoretical frameworks
* Psychosocial wellbeing of refugees and IDPs
* Consequences of lives in limbo, i.e. warehousing
* Integration of refugees in countries of first asylum or resettlement countries
* Refugee and IDP repatriation and the right of return

Additionally, articles related to this theme are requested for the regular Journal sections:
* Case studies: clinical case studies following the DSM-IV Cultural Formulations format, especially relevant for clinicians
* Faith-based practice: articles exploring the role of faith in the lives of refugees, as well as the interface between spirituality and practice with refugees, especially relevant for religious leaders
* Book reviews

About the Journal
The Journal of Muslim Mental Health (JMMH) is an interdisciplinary refereed journal providing an academic forum for the exploration of  social, cultural, historical, theological, medical, and psychological factors affecting the mental health of Muslims globally. Information about the Journal can be found at:
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/15564908.asp

Submission of Manuscripts
Interested authors should submit a 1-2 page abstract by February 1, 2009 to Dr. Ross-Sheriff at fross-sheriff@howard.edu. Please submit electronic versions of the abstracts as an e-mail attachment. The editors will review the abstracts and respond to the authors of the suitability of submitting a full-length paper for the special issue.

The deadline for full-length papers will be March 31, 2009. Manuscripts should be written according the guidelines of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th edition). Papers will be peer-reviewed following the policies of the Journal.

Inquiries may be sent to Dr. Ross-Sheriff (address below). Limited inquires may also be sent to Dr. Husain (ahusain@howard.edu) or Dr. Tirmazi (taqi12@yahoo.com).

Fariyal Ross-Sheriff, Ph.D. School of Social Work,
Howard University,
601 Howard Place,
NW, Washington, D.C. 20059.
Tel: +1 202 806-7300;
Email: fross-sheriff@howard.edu.

publications:

Online journal Re-public has just published the second part of the special issue “Gendering border crossings”

Contributions include:

Eithne Luibhéid and Bridget Anderson – Gendering borders: An exchange
Rutvica Andrijasevic – Gendered migration and differentiated inclusion
Mireille Miller-Young – Can the ho’s speak? Black sex workers and the politics of deviance, defiance and desire
Lenore Lyons and Michele Ford – Beyond sex trafficking: The anti-trafficking discourse and its (gendered) implications for temporary labour migration
Astrid Renland – Sex workers in the front line: The construction of victims and perpetrators in the international war against crime
Susanne Hofmann – Coyote and sex worker: Women seeking opportunities at the US-Mexican border
Emilia Nielsen – Unfulfilled promises: Troubling trafficked women in “Eastern Promises”

For more information, see Re-public homepages.