Refugees: Questions of inclusion and exclusion

4th Annual Forced Migration Post-graduate Student Conference

University of East London: 18-19 March 2006

 

Call for papers

 

The global importance of the refugee phenomenon has been reflected in recent years in the growing number of academics conducting research into forced migration. Many postgraduate students are at the cutting edge of such research, undertaking important studies from within a wide variety of academic fields - such as refugee studies, development studies, law, geography, anthropology, sociology and international relations.

 

The 4th annual Forced Migration Student Conference will bring together students working in a range of disciplines to discuss issues related to their own research and the current political climate as it affects refugees. Following the success of previous conferences (Oxford 2003, Warwick 2004 and Oxford Brookes 2005) this event, hosted by the Refugee Research Centre at the University of East London, is organised by postgraduates for postgraduates and aims to provide a relaxed and supportive environment in which students can meet, present and share their research experiences.

 

The theme of this year’s conference is Refugees: Questions of inclusion and exclusion, reflecting the often paradoxical nature of refugee policy and its implications for refugees themselves.

 

This conference hopes to explore how best to develop inclusive forced migration policy, while also looking at current research into ongoing exclusionary practices. Debates in refugee studies have long recognised the inadequacy of legal definitions of the refugee, which exclude, for example, environmental refugees, IDPs and those displaced by war. Similarly national policies which aim to promote the settlement of refugees often exclude the most vulnerable, and there has been a marked increase in the use of detention and deportation in host nations in the West. Meanwhile, refugee camps, which were only ever designed for temporary sanctuary, are effectively being implemented for the long-term but continue to separate refugees from their host societies.

 

We particularly welcome abstracts on the following themes:

The inclusions and exclusions of refugee law

Trends in immigration and asylum policy

Racism and refugees

The 1951 Geneva Convention

Internally displaced people

Environmental refugees

Gender and sexuality

War and mass displacement

Deportation and detention

Representation - refugees and the media

Refugee-centred research

Community based-research

Psycho-social aspects of refugee settlement

The policy and practice of refugee integration

Refugee camps

Diaspora and transnational social movements

Refugees and smuggling/trafficking

Refugees as Others

Refugee children and inclusion/exclusion in schools

Defending refugees (campaigns and similar inclusionary measures)

The politics and ethics of researching refugees

 

We are also especially keen to welcome papers by post-graduate researchers who have a refugee background themselves.

 

All post-graduate students (Masters/MPhil/PhD) studying any aspect of forced migration are invited to submit:

1. Abstracts for papers (no more than 250 words).

2. We also welcome proposals for panels which require individual abstracts for each paper, plus a panel abstract explaining the rationale of the proposed grouping (no more than 250 words for each individual abstract, plus 250 words for the panel description).

3. For the first time, FMSC2006 is also inviting abstracts (of no more than 250 words) for work-in-progress presentations, which will take place in less formal workshops.

 

Please use the relevant form attached to state clearly whether you are submitting an abstract for a paper, a panel or a work-in-progress presentation. All submissions should also include a personal profile of no more than 100 words. Send all abstracts and proposals with your contact details to fmsc2006@ntlworld.com by Friday 17th December 2005.

 

For any further enquiries, email us at fmsc2006@ntlworld.com

 

Please pass this call on to all potentially interested students!