Call for papers
Autor: Culturas de Migração | Publicado: 2012-04-16T16:55:00-07:00


CALL FOR PAPERSThe 14th Conference of the International Association for 
Studies in Forced Migration (IASFM) will be hosted by the Mahanirban Calcutta 
Research Group, Kolkata, India January 6 - 9, 2013. This is the first time that 
the conference is being hosted in South Asia.Deadline for Submission of 
Abstracts is **April 30, 2012**Title: Contested Spaces and Cartographic 
ChallengesThe institutional methods by which governments and the 
international agencies governed population flows were known as humanitarian 
methods, and these were unilaterally decided by those who govern, in short they 
were non-dialogic. Today the two broad issues that need to be reflected upon are 
- on the one hand mixed and massive flows, provoking desperate governmental 
methods, on the other hand innovations at a furious pace in humanitarian 
methods, functions, development of institutions, and principles. The governments 
have discovered why people move: identifying not only violence, threat of 
violence, torture, and discrimination, but they move also due to natural 
disasters, man-made famines and floods, climate change, resource crises, 
environmental catastrophes, and the like. The humanitarian response has grown 
accordingly in range. Governments realize the need to gear up not only to 
emergencies but “complex emergencies” - a scenario that alludes to a complicated 
assemblage of factors and elements leading to the emergency situation. At the 
same time it is clearer than ever that the responsibility to protect the victims 
of forced migration must be wrenched away from its “humanitarian roots”, and 
located anew in the context of rights, justice, and the popular politics of 
claim making today.Migrants are refusing to be completely obedient to 
governmental methods and techniques, and that the subjectivity of the migrant 
remained unruly, defying categorization, mixing up all kinds of flows and 
compositions, and remaining possibly the biggest question mark in the plan of 
reorganizing the global politico-economic strategic space. The rights of the 
migrants, in particular the victims of forced migration, becomes noticeable in 
this light. The responsibility on part of the governments to protect the victims 
and devising strategies of protection of those migrant’s rights then becomes a 
necessary corollary. The way in which the government wanted to stabilise the 
population flow as the humanitarian method, simplistically as a non-dialogic 
mechanism becomes important to analyse.Refugee flows are consequent to 
political and social reasons, redrawing of boundaries, Partition of states, 
xenophobic policies, minority persecution, civil wars, and foreign aggression. 
Without a proper understanding of these causes, durable solutions, the “right to 
return,” burden sharing in refugee protection, and the interface of human rights 
origins and humanitarian dimensions of refugee protection cannot be thought 
of.Internally displaced persons (IDPs) have gained prominence as a 
category of rights bearing subjects. Thus, even though forced by circumstances, 
government policies or government inaction/impunity, IDPs were not accorded the 
same kind of protection that refugees were. However it is not uncommon for 
internally displaced persons to call themselves refugees even while they are 
within the physical borders of the state. Thus, the unique features of this ‘new 
reality’ needs to be highlighted by focusing on the relevant experiences of 
strategies of protection of victims of forced migration, particularly in the 
post-colonial world.Countries are encouraged to ratify the UN Convention 
on the Status of Refugees and the Protocol both by the UN and by refugee rights 
organizations. While holding a state responsible to a promise made at the 
international level is a better option for protection than arbitrary state 
action, historically international conventions have not known to be of any more 
assistance than the domestic legislations already in place.Against this 
backdrop the way post colonial societies have grappled with migration in 
comprehending the existing and accepted regime of protection of refugees, 
stateless, migrants and internally displaced needs to be reassessed. Does this 
understanding add to the discourse on forced migration? Should we not only ask 
yet again whether the existing regime of protection of refugees has failed, but 
also debate the ways in which the regime can be made more relevant for refugees, 
the primary objective with which it was created and for which it functions? Are 
there examples that allude to this fact – of redundancy of the international 
protection regime or possibilities of protection without an international 
framework? These are few questions that the IASFM 14 intends to find suitable 
answers to.It is pertinent to consider the fact while dealing with the 
massive and mixed flows that, the borders, are not merely cartographic exercises 
of state formation but also of management of population and this is evident in 
the refugees people take to the high seas to navigate through porous borders to 
enter safer destinations. While “borders” remain crucial to the distinction 
between “refugees”, IDPs, stateless persons and people facing deaths due to 
hunger, disease and pestilence, sometimes it is also interesting to examine how 
internally displaced groups refer to themselves as “refugees” in their own 
countries?  The contexts in which refugees, internally displaced person and 
stateless move are different, distinct and at times overlap. The exercise of 
boundary making works at multiple levels and the main aim of the conference 
would to be look into the ways through which people contest those spaces. 
Victims of environmental displacement, labor trafficking, as well as other such 
long unobserved dislocations can no longer be ignored. It follows then that the 
protection mechanisms previously envisioned are also no longer applicable in an 
increasingly globalized world. It also becomes important to look into the 
economics of forced migration in terms of the dynamics of livelihood vis-à-vis 
crises, where some gain and some lose.In this context, IASFM14 seeks to 
particularly explore the themes below.The conference will be divided 
into three broad themes and each of the broad themes will have three 
subthemes.Broad Themes:1.        Borders and Displacement2.     
   Geography and Economies of Displacement3.        Rights, Ethics, and 
InstitutionsSub themes under three broad themes:1.       
 Borders and Displacementa)        Negotiating borders- Against the backdrop 
of pronounced population flows in the post-colonial regions of the world today, 
what are the consequences of mixed and massive flows in terms of their nature? 
What are the ways in which both internal and external borders are negotiated in 
the socio-political context for the internally displaced/the stateless persons? 
The theme intends to explore the eco-political processes that underlie such 
negotiation, also looking into the consequences of the imposition of ‘a border 
on both sides’ and understanding the erstwhile policies for the protection of 
the victims of forced migration.b)        Gendered experience of borders- 
The double marginalization that takes place for vulnerable groups such as women, 
children and the third gender at the first instance, for their already 
disadvantaged class position further intensifies owing to the process of 
displacement they undergo.  Understanding gendered experiences and the nature of 
exploitation, not merely a saga of victimhood but as strategies of coping and 
mobilization.c)        Lives in Transit- Displacement as an ever continuing 
circular process does not exhaust itself of its first instance of settling; 
exploring displacements as a continuous process of settling and unsettling. 
Owing to the newer state of occupancy and movement from camps to ghettos in 
cities entail incidents of extreme dehumanization and rights forging. The 
discussion on camps and enclaves becomes pertinent with these circles of 
insecurity as a perpetual space of transit.2.        Geography and 
Economies of Displacementa)        Modes &amp; Patterns of Displacement- The 
modes and patterns of displacement are multifarious and imply movements due to a 
number of factors such as conflict, development, environmental disasters and 
climate change.b)        Margin of Space of Development, Places for contest- 
Understanding the space and place as a site for multi-corner contestation, the 
way in which ‘scrambling for resources’ takes place in exaggerating the resource 
politics played therein. The agents who are contesting range from the state, 
capitalist firms to the ones who are displaced. It is by understanding the 
nature of resource dynamics played out by such actors that their eco-political 
motives come to the fore. Also the way in which the displaced strategize ways of 
negotiating with this environment by forming syndicates and cooperatives becomes 
interesting. This subtheme explores camp and non-camp experiences, life in 
transit in contested spaces together with rights in a protracted context.c) 
       Geographies and Costs of Displacement- Who pays the price of 
displacement? What are the costs and impacts of displacement vis-à-vis 
development/ conflict/ resource crises? The segment intends to discuss ways in 
which labour politics is played out in terms of labour migrations and 
trafficking.3.        Rights, Ethics, and Institutionsa)       
 Protection, Ethics and Justice – Exploring the strategies of protection: what 
are the protection strategies that are adopted today? What are the best 
practices in this regard? The segment aims to analyse the national, regional and 
international protection strategies against the backdrop of ethics and 
justice.b)        Governmentality, Laws &amp; Institutions – Conversing on 
the existing legal regimes; national and regional and international frameworks 
for refugee rights protection.c)        Social Movements and Rights of the 
Displaced- Does greater civil society participation ensure protection of the 
victims of displacement? The segment would explore the way in which social 
movements impact the notion of protection of the displaced and their 
rights.Specific ObjectivesWhile inquiring these issues IASFM 14 will 
take advantage of the location of the conference - South Asia. It will aim to 
bring out the uniqueness of the experiences of forced migration and migrants in 
the region. South Asia, we have to recall in this context, has witnessed massive 
population exodus, transfer of population groups, partitions, creation of 
statelessness, various kinds of forced migration, conditions of protracted 
displacement, massive cyclone and Tsunami disasters, but at the same time 
unprecedented measures of relief, rehabilitation, refugee protection, and 
informal help to victims of various forms of displacement. And yet all these 
have happened without a strong legal framework either to refuse or to offer 
protection. The South Asian experiences, in short, are worth of close 
observation so that appropriate lessons are drawn.Structure of the 
ConferenceThe Conference will create a space for both academic rigour  as 
well as the challenges on policy-oriented and practical work in the field. As 
such, while presentations of academic research will continue to provide the 
intellectual backbone of the conference, these will go hand in hand with 
round-tables engaging policy makers and governmental stakeholders, as well as 
presentations and discussions around practical approaches to dealing with forced 
migration from a range of practitioners.  Furthermore, the conference will draw 
on non-academic analyses, interpretations and representations of forced 
migration(e.g., portrayals of displacement using movies, pictures, art &amp; 
crafts, music and dance, fictional literature) in order to diversify the entry 
points into discussion of the major themes identified.Alongside 
traditional panel presentations, the conference will also consist of plenaries, 
round-table discussions, public dialogues, film shows and cultural events. While 
the core of IASFM membership is academic, and academic contributions will be at 
the heart of the conference, there will also be a strong presence of 
policy-makers and activists, as the conference seeks to influence the relevant 
policy discussions and civil society interventions.All participants, 
whether academic, policy-makers, donors, activists or forced migrants 
themselves, will present from their particular perspectives, but with an 
emphasis on stimulating live debate and pushing the boundaries of debate and 
discussion in the field of forced migration, particularly in the South Asian 
region.  Most importantly, the conference will include direct participation from 
refugees and forced migrants themselves. It is essential that refugees and 
asylum seekers—across a wide range of sex, class, national, and educational 
backgrounds—can participate directly in these debates which concern their very 
livelihoods and well-being. In this regard, the Conference methodologies will be 
adjusted to accommodate the presence of affected persons and therefore the 
Conference shall also consider ethical issues and psychological needs of people 
as it progresses.Submission of AbstractsWe invite submissions of 
abstracts of 250 words from academics, graduate students, practitioners, policy 
makers, individuals working with forced migrants and forced migrants 
themselves.Submissions may be either individual or of a panel comprising of 
4-5 individuals and from all disciplines broadly conforming to the outline and 
themes enunciated above. Practice-based presentations and other non-traditional 
means of exploring forced migration and its study, that include film screenings, 
poster or photo installations/exhibitions are most welcome.The 
submission deadline for abstracts is **April 30, 2012.** Submissions will be 
reviewed by the Programme Committee.Conference participants are 
responsible for their own expenses for attendance at the conference. Some 
financial assistance may be available to assist those who might be otherwise 
unable to attend the conference. Priority will be given to graduate students and 
individuals from the Global South. Financial assistance will generally only be 
available to individuals presenting at the conference. Details of this 
assistance will be posted on the IASFM website in the second half of 
2012.Further details about the conference and the online submission form 
can be found on the IASFM conference website: http://www.iasfmconference.org.Requests for further 
information can be made to the following email address: iasfm14@iasfm.org[forced migration list]