‘Crisis and hope: Understanding the processes, relations and inequalities in migration’

A one day conference for PhD students and ECRs. 

Migration is a key global challenge in the contemporary world. With the numbers of people moving and living outside their country of origin at a historic high - whether by choice or through forced displacements tied to climate change, war, persecution, or poverty - movement is becoming increasingly politicised and weaponised by governments around the globe. The task of understanding migration and its implications for individuals and societies is thus a central concern for sociological research.

This conference will centre migration as a process subject to constant changes, and interwoven with other processes shaping gender, class, and intergenerational inequalities in what Walby et al. (2020) calls ‘intersectional inequalities. Migration processes are multi-directional; happen across structural, social, cultural, and civic spheres, and have varied spatial, transnational, and temporal dimensions (Spencer and Charsley, 2018).

This conference will invite speakers to reflect on the fluid and dynamic processes of migration and how power, relations and inequalities are intertwined and reproduced within migration processes for a range of individual and institutional actors.

We invite submissions for presentations (15 minutes per speaker) and posters (during the networking and lunch break) from PhD students and Early Career Researchers which relate to the broad topic of migration and inequalities. We seek to include global perspectives, diverse case studies and decolonial thinking.

Presentations can include, but are not limited to the following themes:

• Ethical dilemmas in migration research due to unequal power relations, vulnerabilities, traumas, and language barriers
• Broad topics within forced migration
• Colonial continuities and eurocentrism
• The intersections of race and gender with the international refugee regime
• Social policy and international migration
• The everyday encounters of migrants
• Migrants’ families and family support
• The health and wellbeing of migrants
• Borders and bordering

Submission Guidelines

Abstracts should be submitted electronically via Google Form: https://forms.gle/KRZt6apv3ei4fuH47  

• Presentation: Submissions should include an abstract (max 250 words) and short biographical note (max 100 words) about the author including their current position and relevant experience related to migration.

• Poster: Submissions should include an abstract (max 250 words) and short biographical note (max 100 words) about the author including their current position and relevant experience related to migration.
• Panel: We are seeking two separate themes for a morning and afternoon panel. Panels will consist of 4 speakers each including a facilitator. If you are interested in sitting on a panel, or have an idea for one please submit a short abstract and a biographical note (max 100 words) about you including your current position and relevant experience related to migration.

Abstracts submission will be closed at 11.59am, 21st April. Acceptance decisions will be communicated 8th May 2023.

Presentation Format: The selected papers will be grouped by themes in parallel sessions. Each presentation will last 15 minutes with Q&A at the end of each panel. This conference will only take place in-person.

Travel and accommodation expenses should be covered by the participants.

Please contact Migration Research Conference team if you have any questions: migration.research.conference@gmail.com.

The conference is sponsored by British Sociological Association (BSA).