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Below you will find the IMER newsletter for August 2015. If you want to publish something in the next IMER newsletter send and e-mail to imer@uib.no. Remember to follow us at imer.w.uib.no and on our Facebook pages. Apologies for crossposting
IMER NEWS
IMER LUNCH SEMINARS - AUTUMN 2015
Thomas Solomon – The Play of Colors: Staging Multiculturalism in Norway
Tuesday 1 September - 12.00to 13.30 – UNI Rokkan centre (6 etg), Nygårdsgaten 5, BERGEN
Fargespill (lit. “play of colors”) is a series of musical performances in Norway that have been staged from 2004 to the present. Each performance consists of a sequence of musical and dance numbers performed by children from different minority and immigrant groups, many of whom came to Norway as refugees, together with white Norwegian children. The songs and choreographies represent the home countries of the children who perform, and have included for example music and dance from Somalia, Myanmar (Burma), Rwanda, Kurdistan, and Eritrea, combined together with Norwegian folk music in often elaborate production numbers with colorful costumes and complex musical arrangements. While the specific musical numbers used and cast members change from performance to performance, the concept remains the same – a representation of ethnic, racial and cultural diversity in Norway staged through the voices and bodies of the children on stage. From its beginnings as an cultural initiative in the city of Bergen, Fargespill has gained increasing national attention within Norway, leading to performances in other cities such as Oslo and Trondheim.
Using as a starting point recent theorizations of multiculturalism and critical discussions of race and racism in Norway, this paper analyzes the Fargespill performances. The paper also uses Deleuze and Guattari’s twin concepts of majoritarian/minoritarian to interpret Fargespill’s representations. While the public face of Fargespill is that of children of various immigrant and minority groups, behind the scenes the performances are actually conceptualized, scripted, and extensively stage-managed primarily by majority (white) Norwegian adult arts professionals. The paper especially explores the question of whether the representations of Fargespill constitute a positive contribution to creating a climate for embracing difference in Norway, or whether Fargespill is better understood as a reassuring story white Norwegians tell themselves about multicultural Norway that, at best, naively sidesteps on-going problems of racism and intolerance toward minorities and immigrants endemic in contemporary Norwegian society. Fargespill’s use of the performing bodies of refugee children to tell its story about a supposed Norwegian multicultural utopia can be seen as especially problematic in the context of the Norwegian government’s recent practices regarding the forced return of long-dwelling child asylum seekers to their country of origin.
Thomas Solomon is Professor in the Grieg Academy-Department of Music at the University of Bergen. He has previously taught at New York University, University of Minnesota, and Istanbul Technical University. He has done field research in highland Bolivia on musical imaginations of ecology, place and identity, and in Istanbul on place and identity in Turkish hip-hop.
OTHER IMER LUNCH SEMINARS THIS SEMESTER:
Johannes Servan: On social distance – the idea of justice and different levels of social interaction. Tuesday 22 September 2015 -12:00 to 13:30. UNI Rokkan senteret (6 etg), Nygårdsgaten 5, Bergen. Read more: http://imer.w.uib.no/event/imer-seminar-johannes-servan/?instance_id=550
Mathe Knag Fylkesnes: From the parents’ point of view: Child welfare and social justice in Norway. Tuesday 1 December 2015 -12:00 to 13:30. UNI Rokkan senteret (6 etg), Nygårdsgaten 5, Bergen. Read more: http://imer.w.uib.no/event/imer-lunch-marte-knag-fylkesnes/?instance_id=555
IMER EMERGING URBANITIES SEMINAR SERIES - AUTUMN 2015
Hans Sagan: The role of urban space in protest policing
Friday 25 September 2015 - 12:00 to 13:30 @ UNI Rokkan Centre (6 etg), Nygårdsgaten 5, Bergen
Political protest is an increasingly frequent occurrence in urban public space. During protests, urban space transforms according to special regulatory circumstances abrogating normal laws. Territorial control is central to securitization of urban space. Protest is disruptive of urban spatial relations, so law enforcement considers it a threat conflated with crime and terrorism. The means to achieve spatial control vary by mode of protest policing, which are products of dominant socioeconomic models of society, influenced by local policing culture and historical context. Spatial tactics of control are outgrowths of the militarization of policing and the securitization of urban space. Protest policing innovation under neoliberalism has led to new modes of tactical spatial engagement, working to strategically nullify political dissent through manipulation of urban space. This has significant consequences for urban design and emergent urban form, particularly through the professional practice of CPTED, or crime prevention through environmental design.
Hans Sagan holds a Ph.D. in Architecture from the University of California – Berkeley. His recent work investigates the role of urban space in protest policing. He teaches architecture and urbanism at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
OTHER EMERGING URBANITIES SEMINARS THIS SEMESTER
Susanne Wessendorf and Thomas Hylland Eriksen: Pioneer migrants in a super-diverse context. Tuesday 30 September 2015 -12:00 to 13:30. UNI Rokkan senteret (6 etg), Nygårdsgaten 5, Bergen. Read more:http://imer.w.uib.no/event/emerging-urbanities-seminar-susanne-wessendorf-and-thomas-hylland-eriksen/?instance_id=539
Anouk De Koning: Echoes of race in Amsterdam. Tuesday 13 October 2015 -12:00 to 13:30. UNI Rokkan senteret (6 etg), Nygårdsgaten 5, Bergen. Read more: http://imer.w.uib.no/event/emerging-urbanities-lunch-seminar-anouk-de-koning/?instance_id=552
Bjørn Bertelsen: Title to be announced: Tuesday 15 December 2015 -12:00 to 13:30. UNI Rokkan senteret (6 etg), Nygårdsgaten 5, Bergen. More information will soon be available at: http://imer.w.uib.no/event/emerging-urbanities-lunch-seminar-bjorn-bertelsen/?instance_id=531
CALL FOR BOOKREVIEWS
Call for book reviews: Five books to be reviewed to Nordic Journal of Migration Research (NJMR)
Nordic Journal of Migration Research (NJMR) is a scholarly and professional electronic, open access journal, published by Nordic Migration Research (NMR) and the Society for the Study of Ethnic Relations and International Migration (ETMU). NJMR aims to promote and advance the circulation of the multidisciplinary study of ethnic relations and international migration that is conducted in the Nordic countries. The language of the journal is English. We are looking for people to review the books listed below. If you are interested, please send an e-mail to Marry-Anne Karlsen: marry-anne.karlsen[at]uni.no in which you highlight with a few words your research background and suitability to do the review. Please remember to ADD YOUR POSTAL ADDRESS. Unfortunately we are unable to pay our book reviewers, but you will get to keep the book. The books to be reviewed:
1. Rikke Andreassen, Human Exhibitions: Race, Gender and Sexuality in Ethnic Displays. Ashgate.
From the 1870s to the second decade of the twentieth century, more than fifty exhibitions of so-called exotic people took place in Denmark. This book draws on unique archival material newly discovered in Copenhagen, including photographs, documentary evidence and newspaper articles to offer new insights and perspectives on the exhibitions both in Copenhagen and in other European cities. Employing post-colonial and feminist approaches to the material, the author sheds fresh light on the staging of exhibitions, the daily life of the exhibitees, the wider connections between shows across Europe and the thinking of the time on matters of race, science, gender and sexuality. A window onto contemporary racial understandings, Human Exhibitions presents interviews with the descendants of displayed people, connecting the attitudes and science of the past with both our (continued) modern fascination with ‘the exotic’, and contemporary language and popular culture. (http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9781472422453.)
2. Sindre Bangstad, The Politics of Mediated Presence. Exploring The Voices of Muslims in Norway´s Mediated Spheres. Spartacus.
The increased public presence and visibility of Muslims in Europe has long been seen by many Europeans as a challenge to hegemonic conceptions concerning the secular nature of modern public spheres. In Norway, the past decade has seen an increase in the number of young, often well-educated and highly articulate «second-generation» Muslim youth engaging in public, controversial and highly mediatised debates on Islam, Muslims, immigration and integration. This monograph is based on five years ethnographic research on the experiences of young individuals of Muslim background active in Norway’s mediated public spheres, and the mainstream liberal media editors who have provided them with access to these spheres. (http://www.spartacus.no/index.php?ID=Bok&ID2=806)
3. Guro Ødegård, Bodil Ravneberg, Jill Loga, Kari Steen-Johnsen, Fellesskap og forskjellighet. Integrasjon og nettverksbygging i flerkulturelle lokalsamfunn. Abstrakt forlag
Målet med denne boken er å forstå hva de frivillige organisasjonene og sivilsamfunnet kan bidra med i lokale integrasjonsprosesser – og hva de ikke kan bidra med. Basert på intervjuer og feltarbeid i fire forskjellige lokalsamfunn, peker forfatterne på mekanismer som bidrar til å hemme og fremme integrasjon gjennom sivilsamfunnet, men også mekanismer som bidrar til å bygge nye fellesskap. Boken bygger på teorien om sosial kapital og diskuterer forholdet mellom sammenbindende, brobyggende og lenkende kapital. (http://www.abstrakt.no/component/virtuemart/?view=productdetails&virtuemart_product_id=317&virtuemart_category_id=35)
4. Pauli Kettunen, Sonya Michel and Klaus Petersen, Race, Ethnicity And Welfare States. An American Dilemma?Edward Elgar publishing
Gunnar Myrdal’s An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy persuaded many scholars that the United States failed to develop a robust welfare state because of its ethnic and racial heterogeneity, and, conversely, that homogeneity was a precondition for the creation of strong welfare states in European, especially Nordic, countries. With increasing diversity now challenging these welfare states, the kind of ‘dilemma’ that Myrdal identified no longer appears to be solely an American one. In this interdisciplinary volume, leading and emerging scholars examine the relationship between homogeneity and welfare state development. They trace Myrdal’s influence on thinking about race in the US and explore current European states’ approaches to the strangers in their midst, and what social citizenship looks like from a global perspective. (http://www.e-elgar.com/shop/race-ethnicity-and-welfare-states)
5. Karim Murji and John Solomos, Theories of Race and Ethnicity Contemporary Debates and Perspectives. Cambridge University Press
How have research agendas on race and ethnic relations changed over the past two decades and what new developments have emerged? Theories of Race and Ethnicity provides a comprehensive and cutting-edge collection of theoretically grounded and empirically informed essays. It covers a range of key issues in race and ethnicity studies, such as genetics and race, post-race debates, racial eliminativism and the legacy of Barack Obama, and mixed race identities. The contributions are by leading writers on a range of perspectives employed in studying ethnicity and race, including critical race feminism, critical rationalism, psychoanalysis, performativity, whiteness studies and sexuality. (http://www.cambridge.org/no/academic/subjects/sociology/sociology-race-and-ethnicity/theories-race-and-ethnicity-contemporary-debates-and-perspectives?format=PB)
Eight books to be reviewed to Nordic Journal of Migration Research (NJMR):
Nordic Journal of Migration Research (NJMR) is a scholarly and professional electronic, open access journal, published by Nordic Migration Research (NMR) and the Society for the Study of Ethnic Relations and International Migration (ETMU).NJMR aims to promote and advance the circulation of the multidisciplinary study of ethnic relations and international migration that is conducted in the Nordic countries. The language of the journal is English.We are looking for people to review the books listed below. If you are interested, please send an e-mail to Anne Häkkinen (anne.m.hakkinen[at]jyu.fi) in which you highlight with a few words your research background and suitability to do the review. Please remember to ADD YOUR POSTAL ADDRESS. Unfortunately we are unable to pay our book reviewers, but you will get to keep the book. The books to be reviewed:
1. Can M. Aybek, Johannes Huinink, Raya Muttarak (eds.) (2015). Spatial Mobility, Migration and Living Arrangements. Springer.
This book brings together ten original empirical works focusing on the influence of various types of spatial mobility – be it international or national– on partnership, family and work life. The contributions cover a range of important topics which focus on understanding how spatial mobility is related to familial relationships and life course transitions. The volume presents new empirical studies on job-related residential mobility and its impact on the relationship quality of couples, family life, and union dissolution. It also highlights the importance of research that looks at the reciprocal relationships between mobility and life course events such as young adults leaving the parental home in international migration context, re-arrangements of family life after divorce and spatial mobility of the elderly following life transitions (http://www.springer.com/us/book/9783319100203)
2. Chiara De Cesari and Ann Rigney (eds.) (2014). Transnational memory: Circulation, Articulation, Scales. Berlin: de Gruyter.
Challenging the methodological nationalism that has until recently dominated the study of memory and heritage, this book charts the rich production of memory across and beyond national borders. Arguing for the fruitfulness of a transnational as distinct from a global approach, it places the issues of circulation, articulation and the scales of remembrance at the centre of its inquiry. In the process, it sheds new light on the ways in which mediation, post-coloniality, migration and regional integration affect both the way we remember and the role of memory in contemporary societies. In this interdisciplinary collection, humanities and social science scholars examine a rich sample of cases from the nineteenth century on, stretching across the globe from Vietnam to Europe and the Middle East, to the USA and the Pacific, and involving a wide range of cultural practices from quilting to films, from photography to heritage sites and monuments. (http://www.degruyter.com/view/product/428514)
3. Mia Halonen, Pasi Ihalainen & Taina Saarinen (eds.) (2014). Language Policies in Finland and Sweden: Interdisciplinary and Multi-sited Comparisons. Multilingual Matters.
In this volume, authors from four disciplines join forces to develop an analysis of political discourse on a comparative and multidisciplinary basis. Language policy is often based on the political use of history, where the remembrance of past experiences by communities, individuals and historical bodies play a fundamental role. These authors see politics and policies as multi-sited by nature, taking place, being constructed, contested and reproduced simultaneously and in different times and places. Theoretically the book draws on the concept of language policy, operationalising it through the rhizomatic nature of politics and policies. Although confined empirically to considerations of situations in Finland and Sweden, the volume extends far beyond these locations in its theoretical contributions. The polities of Finland and Sweden are the lens through which a new and much needed understanding of language policy research, and policy research in general, is posited. (http://www.multilingual-matters.com/display.asp?isb=9781783092703)
4. Torsten Heinemann, Ilpo Helén, Thomas Lemke, Ursula Naue and Martin G. Weiss (eds.) (2015). Suspect Families: DNA Analysis, Family Reunification and Immigration Policies. Ashgate.
Suspect Families is the first book to investigate the social, political, and ethical implications of parental testing for family reunification in immigration cases. Drawing on policy documents, legal frameworks, case study material and interviews with representatives of governmental and non-governmental organisation and immigration authorities, immigration lawyers, geneticists and applicants for family reunification, the book analyses the different political regimes and social arrangements in which DNA analysis is adopted for decision-making on family reunification in three distinct European countries: Austria, Finland and Germany. Interdisciplinary in scope, the book reconstructs the processes, institutional logic and the political and administrative practices of DNA testing from a comparative perspective, combining theoretical conceptualisation with detailed empirical work to explore the central societal, political and ethical issues raised by the use of DNA profiling in the context of immigration policy. (http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9781472424242)
5. Daniel Thymm & Margarite Zoeteweij-Turhan (eds.) (2015). Rights of Third-Country Nationals under EU Association Agreements. Degrees of Free Movement and Citizenship. Brill.
Rights of Third-Country Nationals under EU Association Agreements highlights the significance of the rules on the free movement of persons in the association agreements between the European Union and neighbouring states, in particular Turkey. It identifies overarching themes and demonstrates the pertinence of the law and the roles of judges in enforcing and developing further the rights of individuals in association agreements across borders. The various chapters in this volume extrapolate horizontal questions of legal interpretation, constitutional formation and substantive approximation, which underlie the diverse rules in different association agreements with neighbouring countries; they support the overall conclusion that there are degrees of free movement and citizens’ rights defining the status of associated countries between membership and partnership. (http://www.brill.com/products/book/rights-third-country-nationals-under-eu-association-agreements)
6. Martin van der Velde & Ton van Naerssen (eds.) (2015.) Mobility and Migration Choices. Thresholds to Crossing Borders. Ashgate.
The crossing of national state borders is one of the most-discussed issues of contemporary times. Choosing to move - or not - across international borders is a complex decision, involving both cognitive and emotional processes. This book tests the approach that three crucial thresholds need to be crossed before mobility occurs; the individual’s mindset about migrating, the choice of destination and perception of crossing borders to that location and the specific routes and spatial trajectories available to get there. The threshold approach, with its focus on processes affecting whether, when and where to move, aims to understand the decision-making process in all its dimensions, in the hope that this will lead to a better understanding of the ways migrants conceive, perceive and undertake their transnational journeys. This book examines the three constitutive parts discerned in the cross-border mobility decision-making process: people, borders and trajectories and their interrelationships. Illustrated by a global range of case studies, it demonstrates that the relation between the three is not fixed but flexible and that decision-making contains aspects of belonging, instability, security and volatility affecting their mobility or immobility. (https://www.ashgate.com/default.aspx?page=637&title_id=19131&edition_id=24072&calcTitle=1)
7. Antoine Pécoud (2014). Depoliticising Migration. Global Governance and International Migration Narratives. Palgrave Macmillan.
International organisations and the international community have taken a number of initiatives to better 'manage' migration and make it the object of 'global governance' mechanisms. This implies a specific intellectual and political construction of migration as a genuinely global issue that deserves international attention. By critically analyzing the reports produced by international organisations on migration, this book sheds light on the way these actors frame migration and develop their recommendations on how it should be governed. In contrast to the dominant representations in many receiving countries, international migration narratives develop a positive appreciation of migration, viewed as a normal feature of a globalizing world and as a central element in development strategies. But this optimism comes along a depolitization of migration that obscures the contribution of international actors to contemporary political debates. (http://www.palgrave.com/page/detail/depoliticising-migration-antoine-pécoud/?K=9781137445926)
8. Walhbeck, Östen (2015). Inflyttad från Sverige: En studie av rikssvenska erfarenheter i Helsingfors. Gidlunds förlag.
Antalet svenska medborgare som flyttar till Finland har stadigt ökat. Inflyttad från Sverige ger en bild av dynamiken i den nya svenska migrationen till Finland. Inflyttares erfarenheter analyseras med hjälp av teoretiska perspektiv inom migrations- och etnicitetsforskningen. I boken presenteras en intervjustudie med svenska medborgare bosatta i Helsingfors. I fokus för studien står erfarenheter av sociala integrationsprocesser och etniska gränsdragningar i en lokal kontext. I Helsingfors utgör svenskspråkiga en språkminoritet. Analysen ger en förståelse för hur svenskar positionerar och orienterar sig i denna nya sociala och språkliga kontext. Boken utgör ett unikt bidrag till både den finländska invandringsforskningen och den svenska forskningen om utvandring.
CONFERNECES, SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS
Call for Papers: Politics of International Migration
We now know that large-scale mobility of people across international borders is not only a one-time movement from country A to country B. It is a phenomenon that creates different levels of transnational spaces, where not only the people, but also the sending and receiving societies and governments are largely involved and affected. Thus, the panel is looking for those papers that are integrating different perspectives of the wide variety of fields that are interested in the study of migration, such as political science, sociology, economics, and anthropology. We welcome studies on human migration with different indications, and mainly research that focus on comparative findings with significance beyond a single case study; novel methodological techniques; and innovative theoretical contributions on the various dimensions and effects of international migration. We argue that migration molds not only societies, but also has important policy consequences, all of which largely fit the special focus of the 2016 conference Politics in a World of Inequality. Chairs: Dr. Deniz Sert & Mrs. Derya Ozkul. Discussant: Dr. Dogus Simsek. Deadline for paper submission: 7 October 2015. You will find all the details about the congress and guidelines for submissions on the conference website https://istanbul2016.ipsa.org/events/congress/istanbul2016/home
Conference: “Resilient Europe?” – 23rd International Conference of Europeanists
Resilience is the capacity to survive, to bounce back and to innovate in the wake of extraordinary stress or unexpected crises. Psychologists view resilience as a character trait. Today, researchers and scholars of all stripes are beginning to understand resilience as constitutive of societies as well as of individuals. The Program Committee for the 23rd International Conference of Europeanists invites participants to consider contemporary Europe’s capacity for resilience. Since the financial crisis began in 2008, stresses and shocks of various sorts have posed dilemmas that challenge Europe’s resilience in economic, political, and cultural domains. How will European economies confront slow growth and austerity, as well as the atrophy of “social Europe” and the growth of inequality? How will demographic decline combined with immigration and assimilation affect the ethnic composition of Europe? Will the protracted Eurozone crisis and waning public support for European institutions and policies alter the viability of the European project? How will secular Europe confront the challenges of religious mobilization? How will European democracies confront the rise of nationalist parties and the valorization of “illiberalism” as viable political practice? Can Europe remain a “Normative Power,” a force for liberalism, democracy and the rule of law in the world, in the face of rising powers and resurgent authoritarianism? For more information, please visit: http://councilforeuropeanstudies.org/conferences/2016-ces-conference/call-for-proposals<http://councilforeuropeanstudies.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=28066&qid=811938>
CONFERENCE: THE GOVERNANCE OF RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY - MORE OR LESS SECULARISM?
Sala Europa, Villa Schifanoia – Via Boccaccio, 121 – Florence
Wednesday 10, Thursday 11 and Friday 12 June,2015. For further information on the even please visit the following link: http://globalgovernanceprogramme.eui.eu/the-governance-of-religious-diversity-more-or-less-secularism/
Call for Papers: Workshop on Liberal Rights for Illiberal Purposes? Comparing Discursive Strategies of Conservative Religious and Right-wing Actors in the Public Spheres
A battle between institutions expanding liberal rights and conservative or right-wing forces has flared in most western societies since the mid-nineties. Whereas the promotion of gender mainstreaming, the recognition of cultural and sexual diversity or of „reproductive rights“ is naturally seen as part of a liberal agenda and as reliable tool for combating discrimination, also conservative coalitions base their claims on liberal argumentation. This is a novum in this debate.Instead of opposing gay-marriage on religious grounds, coalitions against the political implementation of gay rights increasingly formulate their demands on the basis of respect for freedom of expression or religious liberty. In a similar vein, political groups and parties opposing Muslim immigrants, also claim to defend the „western heritage“ of liberalism.In the light of these observations, we invite scholars from different disciplines such as social science, philosophy or communication studies to an international workshop. October 15-17 2015European University Viadrina Frankfurt/Oder (Germany) and Słubice (Poland) Read more:http://www.isa-rc22.org/cfp-liberal-rights-for-illiberal-purposes-workshop-15-17-oct-2015/
The Impact of Diasporas
The Oxford Diasporas Programme at the University of Oxford and The Impact of Diasporas on the Making of Britain programme at the University of Leicester are to host a joint event on 17 September at the Royal Geographical Society in London to celebrate the conclusion of these two five-year research programmes. With a keynote presentation from leading social anthropologist Thomas Hylland Eriksen and parallel sessions exploring themes of ‘Home and Away’; ‘Lost and Found’; ‘Coming and Going’ and ‘Remembering and Forgetting’, the event will also feature presentations from principal investigators Robin Cohen (University of Oxford) and Joanna Story (University of Leicester). The (very minimal) registration fee includes copies of publications resulting from the research, and attendees will have the opportunity to engage with visual and archive displays throughout the event. Registration essential: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-impact-of-diasporas-tickets-16282745129. Event page: http://www.migration.ox.ac.uk/odp/impact-of-diasporas-event.shtml
The African Diaspora(s): Sociological Significances of Global Phenomena
Call for Abstracts - Submissions due: September 30, 2015. The African Diaspora is generally understood as the involuntary and voluntary dispersals of Africans throughout the world. Historians George Shepperson and Joseph E. Harris are largely credited with defining the diaspora as a global formation shaped by historical processes and maintained by systematic inequality. In addition to other social scientists, sociologists Robin Cohen and Ruth Simms Hamilton have provided strong paradigms for understanding common features of the African Diaspora at the macro-level; while Stuart Hall and Paul Gilroy advanced important ideas about micro-level cultural production, specifically in the West. Since Hall and Gilroy’s influential propositions, many have eschewed a central African ‘diaspora’ in favor of smaller, more recent migrations of ethnic and/or nationality groups. This session embraces a general conceptualization of the diaspora and invites papers on global African Diaspora communities. Its call is deliberately broad and extends to empirical studies of cultural and structural issues relating to peoples of African descent in and beyond the West. Additionally of interest are conceptual papers that engage with the ideas, directions, and trajectories of general diasporas; Africa-centered theorizing; and the zones surrounding the Atlantic and Indian Oceans and Mediterranean Sea as analytical units. The session aims to provide a space for the presentation of new and recent work that develops and engages non-essentialist, non-homogenizing complexity of cultural identities and expressions from artistic and literary realms. The approach to African Diaspora ‘significances’ also encompasses political and collective actions, links between historical and current racial formations, and the ways in which these and interrelated systems of domination are mediated and contested. Session Organizers: 3rd ISA Forum of Sociology The Futures We Want: Global Sociology and the Struggles for a Better World July 10-14, 2016Vienna, Austria Joint Session: Research Committees on Sociology of Migration with Racism, Nationalism and Ethnic Relations http://www.isa-sociology.org/forum-2016/
Religion and the Global City: A one-day symposium,
sponsored by the Leverhulme Trust, the Department of Religious Studies, and SSPSSR, University of Kent. This symposium adopts a non-reductive stance in exploring city dynamics of religious presence in global contexts. How do religious groups make space and ‘take place’ in the global city? What kind of spatial models, morphologies and ‘religeopolitics’ do they produce and adopt? To what extent does religion contribute to the ‘hyper-diversity’ of multicultural cityscapes? What kind of religious centralities and peripheries are produced or reproduced in global cities? 10 am – 6 pm, Friday 11 September, The Common Room, Cathedral Lodge, Canterbury. For the full programme, please visit the page here: http://www.kent.ac.uk/secl/thrs/events/?eid=13555&view_by=month&date=20150904&category=&tag=religious
Call for Papers “Inclusion and Exclusion in the Dialectic of Citizenship.
Globalization and increasing migration flows are rendering citizenship an ever more topical matter in academia. Over the last few years, differing concepts of citizenship have been discussed, both to illustrate the range of exclusion processes and to stimulate inclusion at various levels. Although citizenship in a nation state ought to entail, by definition, inclusion and equal rights, daily practice sees citizens time and again faced with inequalities – the end result being exclusion rather than anticipated inclusion. Accordingly, some population groups have been, and continue to be, discriminated against based on age, sex, ethnicity, religious affiliation, socioeconomic status, etc., i.e., members of these groups cannot fully exercise the rights their citizenship affords them. Formal citizenship hence does not preclude factual discrimination, legal equality notwithstanding. Exclusion can occur both with regard to access to citizenship (i.e., exclusion of non-citizens) and with regard to the extent to which citizens can partake in society. In either case, exclusion means less societal participation, albeit to varying degrees and in varying forms, as well as limited access to rights and social benefits. The conference's objective is to identify “gaps” and discrepancies that exist with regard to formal citizenship on the one hand and the exercise thereof on the other. The target audience for this Call for Papers includes junior scholars as well as practitioners who work in the sectors of politics, social work, culture, education, administration, etc. We look forward to the submission of any presentations in relation to the aforementioned topics, either on a theoretical or empirical level; contributions that are concerned with the daily practice in local state-run or charitable agencies are equally welcome. A comparative approach is an asset but not a prerequisite. Imaginable presentation formats are both lectures and posters. Abstracts of no more than 500 words (stating the contribution's format: lecture/poster) are to be sent to Sarah J. Grünendahl (email: sarah.gruenendahl@student.uni-siegen.de) by August 30, 2015. The selection will occur promptly after the submission deadline. While the conference language will be German, submissions can also be made in English. Child care will be provided during the conference. Further information concerning the conference program, directions, accommodation etc. will be successively added to the conference website at http://www.uni-siegen.de/phil/staatsbuergerschaft/.
Call for papers: Mobile Roots – Rethinking Indigenous and Transnational ties. 12th Annual ETMU Days
Mobility across borders is an everyday feature of life for many people across the globe. For some mobility is caused by changes in political power structures or armed conflicts, increasingly also by environmental changes due to climate change. For others mobility is a privilege that enables movement across and towards other cultures and places. For indigenous peoples mobility has often signified movement following one’s herd and the yearly lifecycle. A mobile lifestyle has enabled nature-based ways of subsistence and produced different cultural practices and influenced the very essence of culture itself. In many cases the traditional ways of movement have changed and even largely ceased to exist due to colonisation and modernisation, thus forcing and enabling cultural change and new kinds of ties. Our current way of life makes it possible on the one hand to maintain cultural ties across virtual and physical borders or to permanently sever all ties to one’s place of origin on the other. The aim of the 12th Annual ETMU Days is to revisit the meaning of ties that are related to mobility, rootedness and crossing borders. How are ties that are typical for the age of migration forged? And what kinds of meanings do these ties embody in different cultures and contexts of belonging? Is it possible to maintain one’s roots or put down roots in new places despite being mobile? How are roots used as means of justification and exclusion in different situations? Do migrants put down roots in their countries of residence, maintain roots transnationally or try to balance both? Belonging to a certain place has often been important for indigenous peoples despite the old traditions of leading a nomadic life. How can roots and local histories be rethought outside the frames of external domination and colonialism? Can indigeneity exist without ties of belonging to a place? And what kinds of ties are forged and severed when movement across borders is not voluntary? The 2015 ETMU Days brings together researchers from the fields of indigenous studies and ethnicity and migration and creates an arena for a fruitful interdisciplinary dialogue. The main language of the conference is English, but working groups may also be arranged in Finnish. Extended call for papers is open until AUGUST 31stst 2015! Submit a paper proposal at http://etmudays.etmu.fi See the website also for information on how to register to the conference.
Call for papers: Conference on “Transnational Religious Movements, Dialogue and Economic Development: The Hizmet Movement in Comparative Perspective”
Transnational religious actors, and civil society faith-based movements are a well-established reality of the contemporary world, which is however still understudied especially at the comparative level. Only recently, with the rise of transnational radical Islam, have religious actors started to be regarded as influencing the international and global systems, sparking a significant scholarly production. As a consequence, much of the recent literature in this sub-field has focused on pro-conflict radical and terrorist networks. However, in today’s Europe there are notable cases of transnational faith-based movements which are engaged in education and dialogue, as well as in the economic field, with proposals for interesting new entrepreneurial models merging free-trade principles and social/moral concerns. This conference aims at contributing to a better comprehension of this phenomenon. The conference welcomes contributions about the relationship between religious movements and economy, both through single-case studies and broader comparative and theoretical works. It will take place on 10-11 December 2015 and will be hosted by the Department of Cultures, Politics and Society of the University of Turin (Italy) at the Luigi Einaudi Campus (CLE). Prospective paper givers can send a proposal of up to 250 words, as well as any enquiry, to the scientific coordinator of the conference, Dr. Luca Ozzano, at the address: luca.ozzano@unito.it. Read more: http://researchturkey.org/call-for-papers-transnational-religious-movements-dialogue-and-economic-development-conference-the-hizmet-movement-in-comparative-perspective-university-of-turin/
ANALYSING THE PRACTICES OF (ORGANISED) CULTURAL ENCOUNTERS
The aim of this International Research Seminar and PhD course is to explore practice-oriented analytical frameworks within the field of cultural encounters. How may we conceptualise and analyse the practices that constitute social interactions associated with cultural encounters? And in particular: how may we analyse transformative aspects of these practices? “Cultural encounters” has become an increasingly popular term, which is used in a variety of ways across the humanities and social sciences. In this seminar we are in particular interested in formalised encounters that are self-consciously organised around notions of cultural difference in order to do something to, with or for these differences. Formalised encounters of this kind may for instance be related to institutional practices/interventions; social work and governance; educational settings; religious and spiritual spaces or associations and NGOs working to promote cultural dialogue. The transformative ideas associated with these encounters may analytically be conceptualised through the use of figures/metaphors like the laboratory, the ritual, the classroom, the kitchen or the greenhouse. In the research group, which organises this seminar, we have coined the notion organised cultural encounters (OCEs) to explore the kind of social spaces, described above. OCEs are scripted spaces, where the organisers intend to manage and/or harvest from cultural differences in various ways. OCEs are invested with high hopes of a transformation that may also have an effect outside (or indeed after) the particular encounter. In the research group, we are both interested in the scripts governing the set-up of particular encounters, and in the interactions that occur because of, despite, or in opposition to the scripts. More information and call for papers and applications for the PhD course: https://organisedculturalencounter.wordpress.com/activities/
End of project: Before and after: New perspectives on Resettled Refugees
Our project ”Before and After: New Perspectives on Resettled Refugees’ Integration Process" is coming to an end. Last week we held our end conference and you can find some of the presentations as well as other material on the project’s website: mah.se/beforeandafter. In addition to the presentations you can find our anthology ”Resettled and Connected?” that can also be found at: http://hdl.handle.net/2043/18865
POSITIONS
Donald G. Herzberg Chair in International Migration
Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University invites applications for the Donald G. Herzberg Chair in International Migration. The successful candidate will serve concurrently as the Director of the Institute for the Study of International Migration. Founded in 1998, ISIM provides balanced, interdisciplinary analysis of the complicated issues raised by international migration. It also houses the graduate Certificate in Refugee and Humanitarian Emergencies and mid-career professional Certificate in International Migration Studies.Rank will be at the associate or full professor level. The position is open as to discipline, but the expectation is that the position will be held by a scholar with a distinguished record of publication in the social sciences (such as anthropology, demography, economics, history, political science or sociology). The Herzberg Professor will be a scholar of international reputation, with an exceptional record of research and teaching in the international migration and refugee field and with the requisite managerial and entrepreneurial skills expected of a research program director. Scholars whose work speaks to contemporary policy concerns are also encouraged to apply.Interested applicants should submit a detailed cover letter, a curriculum vitae, and the names and addresses of three references. All applications and supporting materials must be submitted through the following link: https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/5895. Faxed, mailed, or emailed applications will not be accepted.Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. For information on the Institute for the Study of International Migration, please visit the website at http://isim.georgetown.edu/. Questions about the online application system should be directed to Olivia Payne, Manager of Faculty Affairs at ofp@georgetown.edu. Queries about the position should be directed to Dr. Susan Martin, Susan.Martin.ISIM@georgetown.edu.
PUBLICATIONS
Bygnes, S (2015) Are They Leaving Because of the Crisis? The Sociological Significance of Anomie as a Motivation for Migration.
Published online before print June 29, 2015, doi: 10.1177/0038038515589300 in Sociology http://soc.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/06/29/0038038515589300.abstract
Erkan Toğuşlu et al (2015) - Everyday Life Practices of Muslims in Europe
Everyday Life Practices of Muslims in Europe explores how Muslims give meaning to Islam on a day-to-day basis. The contributions look at concrete practices, identities, memories, and normalities in daily Muslim life and provide insights to the complexities of identities. They examine Muslims’ use of and construction of spaces, daily practices, forms of interaction, and modes of thinking in different areas, resulting in a thorough analysis and framework of Muslims’ day-to-day life through topical chapters on food, space, entertainment, marriage, and mosque, covering both extent of hybridity and preservation of religious-ethnic particularities.Read more: http://upers.kuleuven.be/en/book/9789462700321
Casteles et al (2015) Social Transformation and Migration: National and Local Experiences in South Korea, Turkey, Mexico and Australia, edited by Stephen Castles, Derya Ozkul and Magdalena Arias Cubas (Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan). See http://www.palgrave.com/page/detail/?K=9781137474940
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