Seminar/Ph.D. course.
Expoloring Diversity Seminar Seriens Workshop
“Transnational(ism)” in IMER-research – Networks, boundaries and mobilisation.
In recent years there has been a general increase in empirical research and theoretical engagement with transnationalism and transnational networks. In regard to the field of international migration and ethnic relations, transnationalism has been hotly debated and a central concern for research. Some approaches have focussed on the more manifest, organizational aspects of relations between sending and receiving countries, such as studies of remittances, migration patterns etc. Others have focussed on phenomenological dimensions; transnational social imaginaries, the stretching of lifeworlds in time and in space. Another division is between research following a more traditional Diaspora-approach, exploring the networks and transactions between “mother”- and recipient countries, and research focussing on migrants’ “double consciousness” as a more persistent dimension in the migrant situation. Both approaches include the meaning and the politics of borders and boundaries, but in different ways. Whereas the first approach tends to centre nation and ethnicity as imperative identity-dimensions in transnational mobilisation, the second approach opens other venues for research on transnational imagination and action. This second approach is perhaps more clearly envisioned in Paul Gilroys work on the Black Atlantic. Gilroy’s transnationalism is one that looks beyond ethnicity and nation as identity-construction dimensions, and focuses on the potential transnational solidarity stemming from being reduced to the other within the nation-state framework. If the first, and traditional, transnationalism approach focuses on the positive aspects of national and ethnic identities, the second approach departs from the negative aspects of the very same identities. These different approaches can again be seen to lead to different research focuses and also to different forms of political mobilisation.
This workshop brings together scholars who work in the intersection between transnationalism research and IMER-research. The purpose is to critically discuss what is meant by the terms “transnational” and “transnationalism”, and to provide some theoretical, methodological and empirical guidelines to research. How do we distinguish between “transnational” and “postnational”, how is the conceptualisation of transnational(-ism) linked to debates in globalisation theory, and how do we incorporate material, political and cultural aspects in research on transnationalism and migration?
IMER-Bergen has at present three research projects in the field of transnationalism research. Two of these focus on transnational mobilisation among young adults of ethnic minority background, the third focuses on different forms of transnational relations and mobilities, their spatial logics and the politics of space/place.
WORKSHOP program
“Transnational(ism)” in IMER-research – Networks, boundaries and mobilisation –
| Tid : | Mandag 17 Desember 2007, 10.00-17.00 |
| Sted : | UiB, Lauritz Meltzers hus, 9 etasje, Seminarrom. |
| 10.00 | Mette Andersson, UiB |
| ” Begrep og forskningsfokus” | |
| 10.30 | Thomas Olesen, University of Aarhus |
| “The Porous Public” | |
| 11.00 | Spørsmål og diskusjon |
| 11.30 | Pause |
| 11.45 | Garbi Schmidt, Danish National Institute of Social Research |
| “Transnational or Universal? Muslim Identity Forming Across National Boundaries” | |
| 12.15 | Spørsmål og diskusjon |
| 12.45 | Lunsj |
| 13.45 | Øivind Fuglerud, UiO |
| “Transnational practises and diasporic identification: Lessons from the Tamil case” | |
| 14.15 | Spørsmål og diskusjon |
| 14.45 | Pause |
| 15.00 | Elisabeth Eide, UiO |
| “Caricatures turning transnational – and landing in national contexts” | |
| 15.30 | Spørsmål og diskusjon |
| 16.00 | Generell diskusjon (slutt 17.00) |
Exploring Diversity SEMINAR SERIES
WORKSHOP
“Transnational(ism)” in IMER-research – Networks, boundaries and mobilisation –
In recent years there has been a general increase in empirical research and theoretical engagement with transnationalism and transnational networks. In regard to the field of international migration and ethnic relations, transnationalism has been hotly debated and a central concern for research. Some approaches have focussed on the more manifest, organizational aspects of relations between sending and receiving countries, such as studies of remittances, migration patterns etc. Others have focussed on phenomenological dimensions; transnational social imaginaries, the stretching of lifeworlds in time and in space. Another division is between research following a more traditional Diaspora-approach, exploring the networks and transactions between “mother”- and recipient countries, and research focussing on migrants’ “double consciousness” as a more persistent dimension in the migrant situation. Both approaches include the meaning and the politics of borders and boundaries, but in different ways. Whereas the first approach tends to centre nation and ethnicity as imperative identity-dimensions in transnational mobilisation, the second approach opens other venues for research on transnational imagination and action. This second approach is perhaps more clearly envisioned in Paul Gilroys work on the Black Atlantic. Gilroy’s transnationalism is one that looks beyond ethnicity and nation as identity-construction dimensions, and focuses on the potential transnational solidarity stemming from being reduced to the other within the nation-state framework. If the first, and traditional, transnationalism approach focuses on the positive aspects of national and ethnic identities, the second approach departs from the negative aspects of the very same identities. These different approaches can again be seen to lead to different research focuses and also to different forms of political mobilisation.
This workshop brings together scholars who work in the intersection between transnationalism research and IMER-research. The purpose is to critically discuss what is meant by the terms “transnational” and “transnationalism”, and to provide some theoretical, methodological and empirical guidelines to research. How do we distinguish between “transnational” and “postnational”, how is the conceptualisation of transnational(-ism) linked to debates in globalisation theory, and how do we incorporate material, political and cultural aspects in research on transnationalism and migration?
IMER-Bergen has at present three research projects in the field of transnationalism research. Two of these focus on transnational mobilisation among young adults of ethnic minority background, the third focuses on different forms of transnational relations and mobilities, their spatial logics and the politics of space/place.
Exploring Diversity SEMINAR SERIES
WORKSHOP program
“Transnational(ism)” in IMER-research – Networks, boundaries and mobilisation –
| Tid : | Mandag 17 Desember 2007, 10.00-17.00 |
| Sted : | UiB, Lauritz Meltzers hus, 9 etasje, Seminarrom. |
| 10.00 | Mette Andersson, UiB |
| ” Begrep og forskningsfokus” | |
| 10.30 | Thomas Olesen, University of Aarhus |
| “The Porous Public” | |
| 11.00 | Spørsmål og diskusjon |
| 11.30 | Pause |
| 11.45 | Garbi Schmidt, Danish National Institute of Social Research |
| “Transnational or Universal? Muslim Identity Forming Across National Boundaries” | |
| 12.15 | Spørsmål og diskusjon |
| 12.45 | Lunsj |
| 13.45 | Øivind Fuglerud, UiO |
| “Transnational practises and diasporic identification: Lessons from the Tamil case” | |
| 14.15 | Spørsmål og diskusjon |
| 14.45 | Pause |
| 15.00 | Elisabeth Eide, UiO |
| “Caricatures turning transnational – and landing in national contexts” | |
| 15.30 | Spørsmål og diskusjon |
| 16.00 | Generell diskusjon (slutt 17.00) |
The workshop is organized by Mette Andersson, Associate Professor, Dept. of Sociology , UiB and Knut Hidle, Research Director, Agderforskning
Exploring Diversity SEMINAR SERIES
WORKSHOP
“The Crystallisation of National Identities in Contemporary Europe”
Open IMER/UiB Workshop
This workshop will deal with a trend in many European states which may be referred to with labels such as the ‘crystallisation’ of national identities or neo-nationalism.
The workshop will examine questions like: is there a particular encompassment of globalisation by the European nation-states, generating neo-nationalism or the crystallisation of national identities? Are neo-nationalism and crystallisation inherent results emanating out of emerging European state-forms influenced by globalisation? Is the historical European national diversity generating something specific European which manifests itself in these contemporary phenomena? Or are there, at the level of generation, a restructuration of political universes and modes of citizenship where neo-nationalism and/or crystallisation of national identities are concomitants? If so, which are the key structurating forces? What (new) (world) order would such neo-nationalism and/or crystallisation imply? To whom would it give more power and legitimacy?
Workshop programme :
Wednesday September 17. :
13.15 – 16.30
1. Yngve Lithman: Welcome and Introduction
2. Bruce Kapferer: Globalization and the Nation State.
3. Mette Andersson: The social imaginary of first generation Europeans.
Thursday September 18. :
09.15 – 12.15
1. Andre Gingrich: “National Identity Inc.”: Uncertainties, politics of emotions, and the fading of European visions.
2. Sigalit Ben-Zion: The problem of the crystallization of national identity in Europe in the post-multiculturalism era.
3. Yngve Lithman: Nationalism, Chrystallization: observations from Scandinavia.
13.15 -17.00
1. Christian Joppke: Changes in the conceptual of citizenship in contemporary Europe: Liberalism and the nation.
2. Elisabeth Ivarsflaten: The anti-racism norm in Western European immigration politics: Why we need to consider it and how to measure it.
3.Hakan Sicakkan: Tracing the de-crystallization of European national identities: humanitarian sovereignty sharing, alternative public spaces and invented belongings.
In June 2012 the University of Bergen will organise a PhD conference on BSRS-related themes. The title of the conference is Transnational migration and global development.
IMER Bergen 15 year anniversary conference and PhD course.
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. The candidates are expected to send an essay abstract of maximum 1 page, including a few words about the PhD project, previous to the course. Participating PhD students that after submitting a post-conference paper get their work accepted, will be awarded 10 ETCS credits.
The obligatory curriculum of 5-700 pages is a collection of central texts which deal with core questions of the Social Sciences related to the field of migration and globalization, and will emphasize the work of the invited lecturers. The essays are expected to reflect knowledge and comprehension of the course curriculum. READING LIST
The conference and course participants will also be invited to attend the anniversary performance lecture ´Crossing Borders´ with the performance artist Tanja Ostojic, organized in co-operation with the Art Gallery Stiftelsen 3,14.
The conference and PhD course is organized by IMER Bergen and the Department of Social Anthropology, UiB and in collaboration with Uni Rokkansenteret, the Department of Comparative Politics, the Department of Geography, the Department of Sociology, and SKOK (Center for Women´s and Gender Studies) at the University of Bergen.
Lecturers
Yngve G Lithman (University of Bergen) Bruce Kapferer (University of Bergen) David Ley (University of British Columbia): Masters of Space, or Prisoners of Space? Locating the Neoliberal Migrant Laura Agustín (Independent scholar) André Iteanu (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (C.N.R.S.), Paris): The Free Noble and the Poor Beggar Nina Glick Schiller (University of Manchester) Susi Meret (University of Aalborg) Mette Andersson (University of Bergen): ”Reflexive Transnationalization” among Socially Engaged Minority Youth Hakan Sicakkan (University of Bergen): The Politics of Diversity, the European Publics, and the European Public Sphere Randi Gressgård (University of Bergen): Equality Equals Hierarchy – the Holistic Foundation of Liberal Ideology and Integration Policy Elisabeth Eide (Oslo University College and University of Bergen): Media discourses, migration and post-22.7-debates; a critical inquiry 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
REGISTRATION to Hanna Skartveit by 20 October 2011. Abstract deadline: 1 November 2011. Essay deadline: 10 January 2012.
IMER Bergen together with the Dept. of Sociology is organizing the PhD Course.
WORKSHOP
Migration in Nordic societies: Recent perspectives
The workshop is organised as a collaboration between IMER Bergen and the Department of Sociology, UiB. It is open for all interested researchers and students.
Program:
09.00: Welcome by Lise Widding Isaksen (Dept. of Sociology, UiB).
09.15: Helle Stenum (Danish Institute for International Studies, Copenhagen): “Bane and Boon, Gains and pains; Dos and Don’ts. Moral economy and flexible citizens in au pair migration”.
09.45: Coffee break.
10.00: Lise Widding Isaksen (Dept. of Sociology, UiB): “Domestic Workers and Political Agency”.
10.30: Mariya Bikova (Dept. of Sociology, UiB): “Au pair Migration Norway – Philippines”.
11.00: Discussion. Discussant: Christine M. Jacobsen (IMER Bergen and Dept. of Social Anthropology, UiB).
12.00 – 13.00: Lunch break.
13.00: Anna Gavanas (Institute for Future Studies, Stockholm): “Migration, in/formalization and the expanding domestic service sector in Sweden”.
13.30: Vera Galindabaeva (European University, St. Petersburg): “The Effects of Rural-Urban Migration on Transformation of Child Care Arrangemenst in Buryat Rural Families in Post-Soviet Russia”.
14.00: Coffee break.
14.15: Synnøve Bendixsen (IMER Bergen and Uni Rokkan Centre): Ethiopian Irregular Migrants’ demonstration in Oslo Cathedral.
14.45 -15.30: Discussion. Discussant: Lise Widding Isaksen (Dept. of Sociology, UiB).
Friday 7 October, 09.00-15.30.
Faculty of Law, Seminar room 1, Magnus Lagabøtesplass 1.