Dear all,
With apologies for cross-posting, we are inviting submissions to the following panel (proposal) for the IMISCOE Annual Conference 2019. In case you would like to contribute a paper, please email Rachel Humphris [ [log in to unmask] ] and myself [ [log in to unmask] ].
Best wishes,
Reinhard
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Dr. Reinhard Schweitzer
Research Fellow
Department of Political Science
University of Vienna
e: [log in to unmask]
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Call for Papers for a panel (proposal) for the 16TH ANNUAL IMISCOE CONFERENCE, June 26-28, 2019 at Malmö University, Sweden:
The role of ‘voluntariness’ in the management of migration to and within Europe
Organizers: Rachel Humphris (University of Birmingham) & Reinhard Schweitzer (University of Vienna)
In the face of mounting evidence for the relatively limited effectiveness of state and EU efforts to prevent unwanted immigration, academic attention increasingly focusses on more diffused and less hierarchical modes and mechanisms of migration governance. Within this wide-ranging policy domain, the notion of ‘voluntariness’ seems to play a central role: the perpetuation of a sharp distinction between ‘voluntary’ and ‘forced’ mobility, the growing involvement of the voluntary sector in policies ranging from integration to expulsion, and the increased framing of the latter as ‘voluntary return’, are good examples.
In this panel we specifically ask what ‘work’ the notion of voluntariness is doing within the various relationships between individual and/or institutional actors who are involved in the management of migration at different levels. We are also attentive to the fact that policy goals are often ambiguous and that the interests and motivations that drive different actors involved in implementing the same policy may not completely overlap.
We seek to interrogate the notion of ‘voluntariness’ both conceptually and in practice, as it emerges in governance relations across and between different scales and actors. This includes street-level bureaucrats and NGO workers tasked with persuading some foreigners to return to their country of citizenship, while concurrently other newcomers are being expected to perform voluntary work as proof of their ‘deservingness’ or willingness to integrate. It is also relevant to relationships between the (local) state and civil society organisations, which increasingly fill the gaps that austerity measures and welfare chauvinism leave in public welfare provision; as well as the remarkable outburst of volunteerism as part of the public response to the so-called ‘refugee crisis’.
Rather than relying on binary distinctions, we trace how the boundaries of ‘voluntariness’ are constructed, (re-)negotiated, and mobilised in specific contexts, and with the (double) aim of maintaining social hierarchies and reconciling the underlying contradictions and/or resulting conflicts. Through exploring these questions the panel will shed new light on how new forms of governance are shaping the management of migration.
Possible topics might include but are not limited to:
How voluntariness is conceived within or across these different relationships, and whether/how it is linked to legitimacy?
What are the oppositions being drawn upon when voluntariness is evoked?
What are the differing or overlapping goals and motivations between the relevant actors and how do they shape policy outcomes?
How are migrants drawn into doing voluntary work and how is this linked to notions of ‘deservingness’?
What role has volunteerism played in the context of the so-called ‘refugee crisis’, and what is the impact of the increasing criminalisation of voluntary acts of assistance to refugees?
What new methodologies and approaches are needed to adequately research voluntariness? (including institutional ethnographies of policies or reflection on the positionality of researchers who themselves might be engaged in ‘voluntary work’)
If you are interested in contributing to this panel please send an abstract of no more than 250 words and your name and affiliation before November 28, 2019 to Reinhard Schweitzer [ [log in to unmask] ] and Rachel Humphris [ [log in to unmask] ]. We will give a pre-decision on the papers until November 30, 2019. The final decision upon acceptance of the panel is taken by the IMISCOE office in the course of February 2019.
For general information about the IMISCOE Annual Conference, see here.
IMISCOE is the largest European network of scholars in the area of migration and integration. The focus is on comparative research and joint research projects. The annual IMISCOE conference is a key-moment in the agendas of most migration scholars in Europe. In addition, IMISCOE contributes to the training of young researchers and their exchange throughout Europe. Also IMISCOE plays an important role in the mutual dialogue between researchers and society (policy, politics, civil society). Read more: http://www.imiscoe.org/
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