1st Joint QMUL-ULIP Postgraduate Colloquium
Saturday, October 10th, 2015
University of London Institute in Paris
Paris, France
CALL FOR PAPERS
Terre d'Asile / Terre d'Exil
Historical Perspectives on Refuge and Asylum in 20th Century France
As the current migrant crisis has shown, many consider European shores worth the risk of a dangerous journey through international waters, much to the detriment of their personal safety. The arrival of migrants is continuously publicized, politicized and problematized in public discourse, revealing a need to reflect upon the historical implications of Europe's long legacy as a land of refuge and asylum during the twentieth century.
France is certainly no stranger to these issues. Championed as a land of asylum by Chateaubriand, the pays d'hospitalit¨¦ has long viewed itself as a safe haven for political exiles and refugees, expatriates and ¨¦migr¨¦s. Anchored in two key historical moments, the French Revolution and post-Second World War reconstruction, the legal frameworks and political structures that have emerged from population movements to the French metropolis are factors that have shaped the practices and particularities of refuge and asylum in twentieth-century France. The rural exodus and colonial migrations of the early twentieth century paved the way for mass immigration during the Great War, as well as the postwar industrial boom and great social, political and economic migrations of the interwar period. The death and destruction of the Second World War and its aftermath, furthermore, engendered massive waves of civilian displacement, expulsion and resettlement that forever altered the European demographic. The population influxes that followed decolonization, European integration and mondialisation have also further transformed France into a land of refuge and asylum.
Although notions of refuge and asylum are anchored in specific historical contexts, they are frequently omitted from historical study; these terms are often conceptualized through an anthropological or sociological lens, and such approaches fail to consider how historical factors shape scholarly understanding of the processes of refuge and asylum seeking. The arrival and reception of migrants, refugees and exiles on French soil throughout the twentieth century provided a convenient platform for reframing domestic concerns about social inclusion and exclusion, and about rights and acceptance. In many ways, viewing France as a ¡°terre d¡¯asile¡± or a ¡°terre d¡¯exil¡± exposes its dual nature as a land of tolerance and persecution on racial, political, social, ethnic, religious, sexual or gendered grounds. Just as France can be viewed as a land of refuge, it can also be seen as its own antithesis, as debates surrounding these issues often framed the acceptable limits of tolerance while naturalizing its deficits. While twentieth-century France was a place of economic, political and conscientious refuge for many, it was also a land of deportation and persecution, a site of political extremes and extremism, and home to dark legacies of occupation and collaboration. The dual nature of France as a land of tolerance and persecution, and the challenge that this binary imposes on contemporary issues, can be appropriated onto a wider historical framework and provide a fruitful topic for historical enquiry.
The School of History at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and the University of London Institute in Paris (ULIP) are pleased to invite submissions for the 1st Joint Postgraduate Colloquium, set to take place at ULIP in Paris, France on Saturday, October 10th, 2015. We are delighted to welcome Professor G¨¦rard Noiriel, director of the EHESS and authority on the history of immigration in France, as our keynote speaker.
Doctoral candidates and early career researchers are invited to present twenty minute papers, in English or French, on any historical aspect of refuge, exile and asylum in twentieth-century France. Interdisciplinary papers with an historical focus are also encouraged.
Suggested topics include - but are by no means limited to - the following:
¡ñ The social, legal, economic and institutional practices and particularities of refuge seeking in France.
¡ñ Trajectories and migratory patterns of asylum seekers, refugees, exiles, expellees and ¨¦migr¨¦s.
¡ñ Uprooting, displacement and expulsion in conflict and post-conflict contexts.
¡ñ Demography, depopulation and immigration policy.
¡ñ Rightlessness and denaturalization.
¡ñ Discourses and practices of welcome and hostility in French politics and society.
¡ñ Decolonization and postcolonial migration.
¡ñ Integrationist policy and nativism towards expatriate and immigrant communities in France.
¡ñ Intolerance, xenophobia and homophobia.
¡ñ Political, cultural and personal escapism and expression.
Please send an abstract (max. 500 words), title, and brief biographical sketch to [log in to unmask] by July 15th, 2015. Successful candidates will be notified by e-mail by July 31st, 2015.
Katherine Rossy, Ph.D Candidate
Queen Mary University of London
[ [log in to unmask] ]
Dr Anna-Louise Milne
University of London Institute in Paris
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Eoghan Moran, Ph.D Candidate
Queen Mary University of London
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