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*Call for papers:*
(P25) Can anthropology work for migrants? Anthropology (-ists) at work in
charities and NGOs
The Royal Anthropological Institute conference 'Anthropology in the World'
British Museum, London, UK; 8th - 10th June 2012
*** call for papers closes on 16th January 2012* **
*Panel convenor*
Beata Switek (University College London)
*Short Abstract*
This panel looks into the production, dissemination and use of
anthropological knowledge in voluntary migrant organisations. It probes the
practicalities and morality of ideologically informed anthropological
practice in addressing the immediate needs of the organisations and
migrants alike.
*Long Abstract*
Migration, diversity and integration are high on the agenda of
policy-makers and voluntary organisations alike. As national sympathies,
economic and political rights and privileges mix in the debates surrounding
migration, it remains a highly contested and politicised area.
Organisations working with and on behalf of migrants through such
engagement place themselves on a specific side of the ideological barricade.
Anthropology on the other hand, has been determined to remain as
politically or ideologically neutral as possible. Yet anthropologists
assume professional positions in politically non-neutral organisations
working on behalf of migrants where the anthropology they 'do' is
explicitly harnessed towards achieving politicised goals. How do,
therefore, anthropologists reconcile their inculcated commitment to
value-free thinking with the need to position their work in support of
migrants' interests and in opposition to the world-views represented by
other agents such as state institutions or the host society's values? What
tactics help anthropologists negotiate the rigour of 'academic
anthropology' based on prolonged ethnographic research and the need for
tuning it to the requirements of a temporal immediacy of the migrants'
lives? Is such 'humanitarian anthropology' possible? Finally, what are the
risks related to the interpretation, dissemination and use of ethnographic
knowledge in the working context of migrant-focused organisations, and what
is the scope of the anthropological responsibility for the end results of
the actions taken on the basis of the knowledge produced?
This panel welcomes contributions from anthropologists working 'on
migration' within and without academia. Paper-based talks, visual
presentations, demonstrations, and other formats are welcome.
*Abstracts submission guidelines:*
- submission is possible only through the RAI 'Anthropology in the World'
website:
http://www.nomadit.co.uk/rai/events/rai2012/panels.php5?PanelID=1426
- proposals should consist of a paper title, a short abstract of less than
300 characters, and an abstract of 250 words
**- for more information please visit:
http://www.therai.org.uk/conferences/anthropology-in-the-world/call-for-papers/
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