Calendar

Sep
27
Mon
FIRST GENERATION NATIONALS. STRUCTURAL TRAJECTORIES, MOBILISATION AND SOCIAL IMAGINARIE @ Bergen Resource Centre for International Development, Jekteviksbakken 31. Auditorium (Ground Floor) and Seminar room 3 and 6.
Sep 27 @ 9:00 am – Sep 30 @ 4:00 pm

 

IMER Bergen together with the Dept. of Sociology is organizing the PhD Course.

Nov
9
Wed
MIGRATION, GLOBALIZATION AND NEW SOCIAL FORMATIONS @ Bergen
Nov 9 @ 8:00 am – Nov 11 @ 3:00 pm

IMER Bergen 15 year anniversary conference and phd course

En overraskende forskningsferd
 Yngve Lithman har opplevd både trams, trassel og larmerier av alle slag som leder for IMER gjennom 12 år. Men mest av alt har det vært en intellektuelt overraskende reise. I dag fyller migrasjonssatsingen 15 år. 
(Intervju med Yngve G. Lithaman i anledning IMER Bergens 15 års jubileum)

De nye jødene 
Elisabeth Eide tror ikke på at historien gjentar seg selv, men ser likevel mange likhetstrekk mellom 1940-tallet og i dag. Forskjellen er at muslimene er de nye jødene. 
(Intervju med Elisabeth Eide i anledning IMER Bergens jubileumskonferanse)

Misplaced women 
On Tuesday November 8 from 13:40 I performed my “Misplaced Women?” at arrivals & departures terminal of Bergen international airport. In approximately 30 minutes time I took out the entire contents of my two suitcases, out of my handbag as well as out of my cosmetics and make-up bags.
(Read more and see the photos from the performances in Bergen previous to Tanja Ostojic’s performance lecture at Gallery 3,14)

***********************

International migration and attendant processes of globalization, both as social phenomena and in efforts at theorization, have become especially critical for the development of social theory and analysis, notably by challenging some of the fundamental questions of the social sciences. If one wishes, as Georg Simmel did, to answer the question “How is society possible?”, one cannot take for granted that the relevant object is defined within the parameters of the nationstate, nor by those of ´ethnic groups´ or ´cultures´.

In a recent evaluation report on Norwegian sociology research, it is stated that ´[t]he key question to be explored by sociology today is not, perhaps, how society is possible, but rather how to study social processes and changes at local, national and global levels (Sociological research in Norway: An evaluation, p. 17). Across the social science disciplines, it now seems impossible to imagine place, society and culture without the mobilities of people, goods and information – thus recasting questions exploring e.g. social stratification, scale, space, media and politics.

In its 15 years of existence, IMER Bergen has directed its collaborative efforts towards examining, but also reframing the fundamental questions of the social sciences, as variously defined within particular disciplines. To celebrate this 15th anniversary, we want to put to the forth the contributions that IMER research in Bergen, but also in the wider international scholarly community, has made to the study of society in general, processes of social change and new social formations in particular.

A combination of international and local scholars will in the course of a two day seminar, discuss how IMER researchers deal with issues such as migration, globalization and transnational movements – how they examine ‘culture’, ´politics´, ´space´, ´gender´, ´media´, ´government´ and ´law´ – through the prism of International Migration and Ethnic Relations.

A commitment to provide a strong and creative scholarly environment for students and research recruits has been one of IMER Bergen´s main vocations. In this spirit, the 15th anniversary comprises a PhD course for candidates within the humanities and social sciences. In addition to the main conference, the course component of the conference will be constituted by workshop sessions with essay presentations.

Conference Poster 



Programme

Wednesday 9 November 
Anniversary conference.

OPEN LECTURE:

Venue: ‘Egget’, Parkveien 1:

10.15-10.30: 
Official opening with Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Knut Helland, and Director of the Uni Rokkan Centre, Jan Erik Askildsen. 

10.30-12.00: 
• DAVID LEY (University of British Columbia):
“Masters of Space, or Prisoners of Space? Locating the Neoliberal Migrant”

• YNGVE G. LITHMAN (University of Bergen):
”De-Etatizing Social Science?: “Verstehen” and “Erklärung” in a (somewhat) Flatter Earth”

Chair: Edvard Hviding (Department of Social Anthropology, University of Bergen)

12.15-13.15: Lunch.

Venue: Auditorium, Bergen Resource Centre, Jekteviksbakken 31:

13.15-14.45: HAKAN G. SICAKKAN (University of Bergen):
“The Politics of Diversity, the European Publics, and the European Public Sphere”

METTE ANDERSSON (University of Bergen):
“‘Reflexive Transnationalization’ among Politically Engaged Minority Youth”

[Read interview with Mette Andersson in På Høyden 7 November]

Chair: Susanne Bygnes (Department of Sociology, University of Bergen)

14.45-15.00: Coffee break.

15.00-16.30:

RANDI GRESSGÅRD (University of Bergen):
“Equality Equals Hierarchy – the Holistic Foundation of Liberal Ideology and Integration Policy”
BRUCE KAPFERER (University of Bergen):
”The Tamil Crisis: State, War and Peace in Sri Lanka and Shifts in Global Power”

Chair: Kathinka Frøystad (Department of Social Anthropology, University of Bergen)

Thursday 10 November 
Anniversary Conference.

Venue: Auditorium, Bergen Resource Centre, Jekteviksbakken 31:

10.15-11.45:

CHRISTINE M. JACOBSEN (Uni Research and University of Bergen):
“The (not so) New Islamic Presence in Western Europe: Secular Governance and Religious Freedom in a Globalized Era”

• ANDRÉ ITEANU (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (C.N.R.S.), Paris):
“The Free Noble and the Poor Beggar. What does the Veil Controversy Reveal about French Ideology”

Chair: Synnøve Bendixsen (IMER Bergen and Uni Rokkan Centre)

12.00-13.00: Lunch.

13.00-14.30:
• SUSI MERET (University of Aalborg):
“Exploring the Social, Political and Cultural Challenges of Right Wing Populism in the Nordic Countries: Comparative Approaches, Developments and Perspectives”

ELISABETH EIDE (Oslo University College and University of Bergen):
“Media Discourses, Migration and Post-22.7-Debates; a Critical Inquiry”

Chair: Elisabeth Ivarsflaten (Department of Comparative Politics, University of Bergen)

14.30-14.45: Coffee break.

14.45-16.30: 
PANEL DISCUSSION: “The Future of IMER Research”

David Ley (University of British Columbia) 
Susi Meret (University of Aalborg) 
Hilde Lidén (Nordic Migration Research and Institute for Social Research, Oslo) 
Yngve G. Lithman (IMER Bergen and University of Bergen) 
Mette Andersson (IMER Bergen and University of Bergen) 
Hakan G. Sicakkan (IMER Bergen and University of Bergen)

Chair: Yngve G. Lithman (IMER Bergen and Department of Sociology, University of Bergen)

* * *

19:00: Performance lecture by artist TANJA OSTOJIC: “Crossing Borders“.
Venue: Galleri 3,14. Vågsallmenningen 12. 
Free entrance. Refreshments will be served. 

In addition, her project “Misplaced Women? Marking the City” is a series of performances, interventions and delegated performances which will take place in the public space of Bergen previous to the lecture. 

In collaboration with the International Contemporary Art Foundation 3,14. 


Friday 11 November 
PhD course.

PhD candidates, please see the Course Site for more information.

Venue: Seminar room, Uni Rokkan Centre, Nygårdsgt. 5, 6th floor.

10:15-16:30: Essay presentations. 


Conference fee: 
Nok 500,- for two days (includes lunch) 
Students: Nok 300,- 

REGISTRATION to Hanna Skartveit. Still possible to register!

The Conference is organised in collaboration with Uni Rokkan Centre, Dept. of Social Anthropology, Dept. of Sociology, Dept. of Geography, Dept. of Comparative Politics and SKOK, University of Bergen.

Nov
29
Fri
NEW RESEARCH TOPICS WITHIN IMER BERGEN @ UNI Rokkansenteret, Nygårdsgaten 5, 6. etg (5th Floor)
Nov 29 @ 1:15 pm – 3:00 pm


Halvar A. Kjærre
: “Politics and Mobilities”

Tarje I. Wanvik: “Migration and Social Inequalities”

Halvar A. Kjærre (Department of Social Anthropology, UiB) and Tarje I. Wanvik (Department of Geography, UiB) have recently been recruited to the IMER Bergen research unit as PhD candidates.
In this seminar they will present their PhD projects. After the presentation there will also be a presentation of IMERS new webpages.

Skjermbilde 2013-11-13 kl. 23.02.09

May
22
Thu
IMER Abroad: PROVIR Seminar – Precarious migrants and access to welfare: Between policy, law and practice @ COMPAS Oxford
May 22 – May 23 all-day

IMER Abroad: PROVIR Seminar – Precarious migrants and access to welfare: Between policy, law and practice

This workshop will discuss the legal and experienced dilemmas found in the encounter between migrants living in a legally precarious situation and the welfare state in which they reside. Participants will present ongoing empirically based research on migrants’ access to welfare in policy, law and practice in various European countries. They will also discuss the particular position of youth and children in vulnerable situations. The program is available here.

Jun
22
Sun
Bergen research summer school @ University of Bergen
Jun 22 – Jul 4 all-day

BSRS 2014 Governance to meet Global Development Challenges

Welcome to BSRS2014!

The theme for BSRS2014 is Governance to meet Global Development Challenges. The event will take place from June 23rd to July 4th  2014 at the University of Bergen. Please find information about the courses, application form and other activities at the menu to your right side.

One of the courses is and IMER/SKOK PhD course.

Read more at:

http://www.uib.no/rs/bsrs/programme/bsrs-2014-governance-to-meet-global-development-challenges

Aug
20
Wed
SKOK seminar/PhD course: Race, Migration and kinship 20.-22. August 2014 @ Ida Bloms hus
Aug 20 – Aug 22 all-day

2713780-561172-human-tracks-return-journey_3How might we think about race as a paradoxically fungible yet persistent feature of human history? This mini seminar examines race as a global phenomenon with long and diverse histories. In its migrations, conceptions of race have repeatedly been marshaled, decried, dismissed, and repurposed, reformulating conceptions of kinship and social organization along the way. From ancient empires, medieval religious conflicts, and early modern accounts of “barbarians” and “strangers” to the longue durée of colonial settlement and slavery, and from the revolutions and uprisings of the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries to more recent accounts of physiognomy, eugenics, and DNA, the phenomenon of race has interacted dynamically across time and space with conceptions of caste, color, class, language, identity, law, region, and religion. Our class will begin with a conventional genealogy of race as arising from the age of Atlantic Revolutions, the slave trade, and scientific thinking in Europe and the United States before complicating our understandings of the phenomenon as one shaped over centuries of contact and interchange. Our second session will examine a longer history of race and caste in relation to Iberian colonization of the East and West Indies and our third session will investigate race and the littoral in Indian Ocean studies. Registration deadline is August 8th, 2014.

More info:

http://www.uib.no/skok/77000/phd-kurs-rase-migrasjon-og-slektskap

http://www.uib.no/en/skok/77008/graduate-course-race-migration-and-kinship

Nov
19
Wed
PROVIR CLOSING CONFERENCE – EXCEPTIONAL WELFARE
Nov 19 – Nov 21 all-day

PROVIR closing conference: “Exceptional welfare: Dilemmas in/of irregular migration”

Wednesday 19th of November

Venue: Det Akademiske Kvarter

18.00-19.30:    Letter to the king

Film by Hisham Zaman

Letter to the King portrays five people on a day trip from a refugee camp to Oslo, a welcome change in an otherwise monotonous life. But we soon realize that each and every one of them has an agenda for their trip. All five will make decisive choices on this day, as they discover happiness, humiliation, love or fulfill a long-awaited revenge. The five stories are tied together by a letter, written by eighty-three year old Mirza. Mirza wants to hand over the letter to the King personally.

19.30-21.00:    Mediating irregular migration

Researchers, artists, authors, journalists and others contribute to the proliferation of images of the lives, and deaths, of those who migrate without proper authorization from the state. While stereotypical accounts of victims/criminals proliferate in mainstream media – (counter) representations that challenge such stereotyping also exist. The speakers in this panel discussion have all participated in producing and/or analysing images of irregular migration. Taking as their point of departure the film “Letter to the King”, they will discuss the poetics and politics of mediating irregular migration. What (im)possibilities does such mediation offer for current border struggles?

Plenary panel discussion with:

Mehmet Aktas, co-producer and scriptwriter, Letter to the king

Shahram Khosravi, Associate Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Stockholm

Synnøve N. Bendixsen, Post-doctoral fellow PROVIR and Department of Social Anthropology, University of Bergen

Film and panel discussion organized in cooperation with Studentersamfunnet i Bergen (http://samfunnet.sib.no/)

 

Thursday 20th of November

Venue: Faculty of Law, Magnus Lagabøtes plass 1, University of Bergen

09.30-10.00:    Tea, coffee and registrations

10.00-10.15:    Welcome address

10.15-11.45:   Precarious inclusion: Provision of welfare to irregular migrants in Norway

Presentation of PROVIR research findings by

Christine M. Jacobsen, Karl Harald Søvig, Synnøve Bendixsen, Andrea Sussman and Marry-Anne Karlsen

11.45-12.00:   Coffee break

12.00-13.00:    Care Beyond Welfare?

Key note lecture by Miriam Ticktin, Associate Professor of Anthropology, The New School for Social Research and Eugene Lang College (US)

13.00-14.00:    Lunch

14.00-16.00:    Workshops

16.00-16.15:    Coffee break

16.15-17.15:    Wrongs, Rights and Regularization

Key note lecture by Linda Bosniak, Distinguished Professor of Law, Rutgers School of Law–Camden (US)

19.00:             Conference dinner

Nøsteboden

 

Friday 21st of November

Venue: Faculty of Law, Magnus Lagabøtes plass 1, University of Bergen

09.15-10.15:   Limiting Health Care as a Tool of Immigration Policy: Ethnographic Insights into Deservingness and Responses by Civil Society

Key note lecture by Heide Castañeda, Associate Professor and Graduate Director, Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida (US)

10.15-10.30:    Coffee break

10.30-12.30:    Workshops

12.30-13.30:    Lunch

13.30-15.30:   Excepted, excluded or precariously included? Dilemmas in/of irregular migration

Roundtable discussion by PROVIR research team and international partners:

Bridget Anderson, Professor of Migration and Citizenship and Deputy Director of Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS), University of Oxford (UK)

Milena Chimienti, Professor, University of Applied Science Western Switzerland – Social Work, Haute Ecole Fribourgeoise de Travail Social (HETS) (Switzerland)

Henriette Abbing, (Emiratus) Professor of Health Law, University of Utrecht (the Netherlands)

Christine M. Jacobsen, Professor, PROVIR project leader and Director of Center for Women’s and Gender Research (SKOK), University of Bergen (Norway)

Karl Harald Søvig, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Bergen (Norway)

 

Workshop Porgram:

 Download workshop program here

Skjermbilde 2014-11-12 kl. 23.19.50

Skjermbilde 2014-11-12 kl. 23.19.57

 

 

Open PROVIR event: Film and panel discussion @ Teglverket, Det akademiske kvarter Bergen
Nov 19 @ 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Film and panel discussion on the dilemmas of mediating irregular migration

Wednesday 19th of November

Venue: Tegleverket, Det Akademiske Kvarter, Bergen

18.00-19.30:   Letter to the king

Film by Hisham Zaman

Letter to the King portrays five people on a day trip from a refugee camp to Oslo, a welcome change in an otherwise monotonous life. But we soon realize that each and every one of them has an agenda for their trip. All five will make decisive choices on this day, as they discover happiness, humiliation, love or fulfill a long-awaited revenge. The five stories are tied together by a letter, written by eighty-three year old Mirza. Mirza wants to hand over the letter to the King personally.

19.30-21.00:   Mediating irregular migration

Researchers, artists, authors, journalists and others contribute to the proliferation of images of the lives, and deaths, of those who migrate without proper authorization from the state. While stereotypical accounts of victims/criminals proliferate in mainstream media – (counter) representations that challenge such stereotyping also exist. The speakers in this panel discussion have all participated in producing and/or analysing images of irregular migration. Taking as their point of departure the film “Letter to the King”, they will discuss the poetics and politics of mediating irregular migration. What (im)possibilities does such mediation offer for current border struggles?

Plenary panel discussion with:

Mehmet Aktas, co-producer and scriptwriter, Letter to the king

Shahram Khosravi, Associate Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Stockholm

Synnøve N. Bendixsen, Post-doctoral fellow PROVIR and Department of Social Anthropology, University of Bergen

Film and panel discussion is organized by IMER Bergen in cooperation with Studentersamfunnet i Bergen (http://samfunnet.sib.no/) and is part of the PROVIR-project’s closing conference.

Nov
20
Thu
Open PROVIR event: Presentation of research findings @ Facultyr of Law, Auditorium 4
Nov 20 @ 10:00 am – 11:45 am

Precarious inclusion: Provision of welfare to irregular migrants in Norway

The IMER Bergen-project Provision of welfare to irregular migrants (PROVIR) will present its research findings at this open event.

PROVIR combined legal and anthropological approaches to investigate the complex relationship between law, institutional practice, and irregular migrants’ lived experience. The research project aimed to cast light on living conditions and access to welfare of irregularized migrants.

You can find more information about the project at PROVIRs website: http://rokkan.uni.no/sites/provir/

Date: November 20th

Time: 10.00 to 11.45

Venue: Auditorium 4, Faculty of Law, University of Bergen

Apr
11
Thu
IMER Lunch Seminar 11.04: NGOs in Refugee Camps: Accountability for Human Rights Violations @ Bergen Global/CMI
Apr 11 @ 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) work closely with refugees by providing services and assistance. However, refugees might also be subjected to misconduct by NGOs. In such a scenario, how can NGOs be held accountable for wrongful acts?

For this IMER lunch seminar, Marianne Nerland from the Faculty of Law at UiB will present preliminary findings from her PhD project which explores recourses available to refugees seeking justice against NGOs. By drawing on interviews conducted with refugees as well as aid workers in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, Marianne will argue that there are serious legal obstacles that refugees face when wanting to file complaints against NGOs. This case highlights the need for an enhanced structure for NGO accountability in refugee camps.

A light lunch will be served! All welcome!

 Marianne Nerland is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Law, UiB