Please see below for our CfP for a Proposed Panel on:
“Theorizing Forced Migration: Ethics, critiques and productive engagements”
How can the use of social theory help us to illuminate aspects of forced migration? What assumptions underpin the use or rejection of theories when conducting research and producing knowledge on forced migration? How can forced migration scholars contribute to broader theoretical and epistemological debates in social science? And should they?
We are looking for scholars in the field of forced migration studies to engage with these important questions through contributing to one of two panels on the topic of ‘Theorizing Forced Migration’ for the 16th Conference of the IASFM to be hosted by the Centre for Migration Studies, the Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, and the Faculty of Law and Public Administration at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland, July 12-15, 2016. These panels seek to ignite a hitherto underdeveloped debate around the use of social theory and of broader questions of knowledge production in forced migration studies. Oliver Bakewell (2007) has previously charged the field of refugee studies with being “notoriously under theorized.” We would therefore wish to create the space to open an active and sustained debate on theorizing forced migration, through asking forced migration scholars to contribute papers that give primacy to theory and make explicit their productive and in-depth engagements with social theory, and through critical theoretical engagement with commonly used concepts in the field. This, it is hoped, will have the alternative “dual imperative” of: (1) using theory to help elucidate aspects of this complex field of study; and (2) fostering a more rigorous engagement with broader theoretical and epistemological debates in social science.
The backdrop to this is the recognition that studies of forced migration are often tasked with maintaining policy relevance, above and before maintaining and expanding academic relevance. The pursuit of these at times conflicting goals, however, raises complex ethical questions that must also be addressed. As such, we are looking for contributions that offer:
i. Fruitful engagements with social theory (in particular through the use of particular theories or theorists) in the context of research and writing on forced migration;
ii. Critical engagements with the ways that theory and epistemology have been included and/or omitted in the development of key concepts and debates in the field; or,
iii. Discussions of the ethics surrounding the development of research on forced migration that is policy irrelevant/theory-focused.
We are looking to create two closely related panels addressing the above points (Panel 1 Chair: TBC, Panel 2 Chair: Dr. Oliver Bakewell). We hope that this will be the first of many discussions on these, and other issues of theory and knowledge production in forced migration studies, and are aiming to create a network of scholars to actively engage and contribute to this debate in the future.
If you are interested in presenting a paper for one of these panels, please submit abstracts of 200-300 words by 25th January 2015 to Julia Pacitto ([log in to unmask]) and Georgia Cole ([log in to unmask]). As the deadline for panel submissions is 1st February, we would welcome abstracts as soon as possible. If you have further questions, don’t hesitate to contact us.
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