 |
 |
2nd Call for Papers - PARTICIPATORY APPROACHES TO COMMUNITY COHESION AND INTEGRATION RESEARCH. A paper session Sponsored by the Participatory Geographies Working Group of the RGS-IBG. RGS-IBG Annual International Conference 2006, 30th August - 1st September 2006. Multicultural Britain is facing a shift in discourse and policy from race equality to immigrant integration and community cohesion. The race riots of 2001, tensions in asylum dispersal areas, the emergence of 'home-grown' terrorism, competition over public services and sustained levels of immigration have catapulted the terms cohesion and integration into the public discourse and prompted academics and policy makers into a deeper exploration of the exact meanings of these terms, including their relation to structural determinants as well as practical initiatives in local contexts. Community cohesion and integration are complex and contested terms that variously invoke ideas of social connections, attachment, belonging, inclusion, acculturation and equality. Much has been written and researched around these areas, yet there is an absence of knowledge about how participatory community-based approaches to research can contribute to understanding cohesion and integration as well as strengthen these aspects of communities as part of the research process itself. This session will bring together those working both within and outside of universities to explore and discuss participatory approaches to community cohesion and integration research. We are particularly interested in research with communities that are characterised by change and flux within their population compositions and consequent reactions to such changes. This will include those working with refugee and asylum seeking communities, but also communities that are changing due to the arrival of other individuals and groups, such as new economic migrants and mobile groups such as gypsy-travellers. Questions which participants should address include, but are not limited to, are: * How can communities participate fully in research on cohesion and integration, and how could developmental benefits be maximised? * What are suitable methods for participatory approaches within different communities and across different contexts? How are these approaches affected by different markers of identity within communities? * How can community engagement be sustained beyond research activities? * How does community involvement shape our understandings and analysis of cohesion and integration and the link to equality? Please send abstracts of no more than 200 words to both convenors by no later than 24th January 06. Louise Waite, University of Leeds, [log in to unmask] Anja Rudiger, Refugee Council, [log in to unmask] -------------------------------------- Dr Louise Waite Lecturer in Human Geography School of Geography University of Leeds Woodhouse Lane Leeds LS2 9JT Tel +44 (0)113 343 3367 Email [log in to unmask] Web http://www.geog.leeds.ac.uk/people/l.waite