Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Newsletter Nr. 6 / 2008

Content:

• CULCOM seminar: Krevende Toleranse: islam og Homoseksualitet
• REMESO Graduate School in Migration, Ethnicity and Society: Call for applications
• 5th ECPR General Conference Potsdam: Call for papers
• Conference at Oxford University : Call for papers
• CEDEM, University of Liège: Call for papers
• Bielefeld University: Call for papers
• KULVER: Utlysning av forskningsmidler for 2009
• Registration for the 11th national METROPOLIS Conference in Canada
• The Newton International Fellowship
• NFR/ IMER: Kunnskapsoversikter og temanotater
• Call for applications: 10 postdoctoral Fellowships for Academic Year 2009/10
• Journal: Migration & Identities
• Migration Letters: Call for papers on special issue
• Publications

CULCOM seminar:

Krevende toleranse: Islam og homoseksualitet

Oversikt over Culcom sine arrangementer finner du her.

Christine M. Jacobsen og Randi Gressgård har tidligere i år skrevet en artikkel om temaet, som ligger ute i sin helhet på Kilden sine nettsider.

Remesco Graduate School: Call for applications

REMESCO Graduate School at Linköping University accepts applications

The REMESO Graduate School in Migration, Ethnicity, and Society offers courses for Swedish and international post graduate students (PhD or MA) that address a variety of theoretical, methodological and empirical perspectives on international migration and are taught by REMESO staff and international guest lecturers.

The course program links current research on international migration and ethnic relations with studies on political economy, labour, citizenship, gender, culture, and human rights. Individual courses offer perspectives on movement across borders of asylum seekers, documented and undocumented labour migrants, issues of social integration, urban segregation, racism, and the discrimination of migrants and ethnic minorities. New strategies for social inclusion and sustainable development in countries of emigration and immigration are examined and connected with processes of globalisation, nation-state transformation, and regional integration.

The school starts its activities in the spring term of 2009 by offering the three core curriculum courses:

– Theories and Politics of International Migration
– Migration and the Political Economy of Ethnic and Gender Segmentation: Issues of Globalisation, Work and Welfare
– Citizenship, Ethnic Division and Social Exclusion: National and Post-national Approaches

Deadline for applications: one month before each course start

More information on the REMESCO Graduate School webpages.
Information on how to apply here.

5th ECPR General Conference Potsdam: Call for Papers

5th ECPR General Conference Potsdam, 10 – 12 September, 2009

Call for Papers for the Panel:

Religious Actors and Ideas in Migration Policy and Politics

in the Section: “Religious Actors in the Political Sphere: Means, Objectives, and Effects” (see details here)

Immigration, in particular of Muslim minorities, is a key factor in what has been termed the return of religion to politics. The mounting politicization of immigration and concerns over the integration of immigrants from minority religions are increasing the opportunities for religious actors to be visible and express voice in political processes. Among immigrant communities, religious identity is coupled with socio-economic deprivation and a deficit in political participation, which creates the potential for conflicts that call for political resolution and increase the need for cooperation among religious actors and state authorities. This benefits not only the immigrant religious communities, but also the established Churches, which can demonstrate expertise in interfaith-dialogue. Religion becomes increasingly politicized and political conflicts are increasingly interpreted through the lens of religion. The aim of this panel is twofold. On the one hand, the papers shall explore the role of religious actors and ideas in the formulation and implementation of policies in the area of immigration and immigrant integration. On the other hand, conclusions shall be drawn as to the effects of this increased political relevance of religious actors to the politics of immigration and religious governance. We welcome both theoretical and empirical contributions, particularly those dealing with the following issues:

* the role of religious actors in the resolution of conflicts arising from minority religious claims (headscarves, mosques, etc.)
* religious actors as interest groups in local, national and supranational settings
* religious actors as partners of the state in the formulation of migration policy
* the importance of religious organization for immigrant communities (social/cultural activities, economic support, political representation, etc.)
* transformation of established patterns of cooperation with the state as a result of migration
* the transnational aspect of religious organizations: double loyalties; international influences; the impact of religious actors from sending countries on immigrant communities

More information at the conference website.

Deadline for paper proposals: 1 February 2009

Prospective paper givers are requested to use the downloadable form from the ECPR website, and send their proposal directly to: julia.mourao.permoser@univie.ac.at and sieglinde.rosenberger@univie.ac.at

Conference at Oxford University : Call for papers

Women, Leadership and Mosques:Changes in Contemporary Islamic Authority

Conference and Edited Volume

Time:	May 8-9, 2009
Place:	University of Oxford, St Antony’s College

The conference organizers are seeking proposals for fresh papers to be presented at this small, publication-driven conference on female religious authority in the modern Islamic world at Oxford University in May 2009.

The ability of women to exercise various types of Islamic religious authority has increased significantly since the early twentieth century, especially during the last two or three decades.  Existing scholarship, however, has focused overwhelmingly on certain facets of this increase, in particular female leadership through Sufi groups and attempts to reinterpret Islam to accommodate gender equality, whether through an explicitly ‘feminist’ framework or not.

Missing from the literature is serious analysis of the growing acceptance of women within mosques and madrasas, spaces which have long been centres of Islamic authority but from which women have traditionally been excluded or marginalised.  The acceptance of female leadership and activities in these spaces is a significant change from historic practices, signalling the mainstream acceptance of (some forms of) female Islamic leadership.  The nature, dynamics and scope of female leadership activities within mosques vary widely, with differences between (and within) North Africa, the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia, and diaspora communities in North America and Europe.

Very few scholars have attempted to apply the exciting work on changing structures of Islamic authority to the activities of women, despite the fact that these changes are what have enabled women to take a much more active role within the religious sphere.  Crucially, a fully-contextualised account of the activities of these groups often requires time-intensive fieldwork, making it difficult for a single author to consider multiple contexts in a monograph.

This conference will energize scholarship on Muslim women by bringing together scholars with geographically-diverse expertise to focus specifically on female leadership in mosques and madrasas and the structure of religious authority that enable or limit these activities.

The papers presented at this conference will investigate

— how women active in mosques and madrasas construct their authority as leaders,
— the impact they have on their students and the wider community, and
— how they use public space in mosques and madrasas,

and present the rich social, political, economic and historical contexts of these activities.

Women draw on a wide variety of sources – scholarly credentials, charisma, family ties, teaching experience – to construct their authority as leaders and teachers.  This authority is not limitless, however, and both the constraints placed upon their activities and their ability to influence society are important parts of the overall picture.

Scholars already attending include

— Maria Jaschok (Oxford University), a specialist on China,
— Nelly Van Doorn (Valparaiso University), a specialist on Indonesia, and
— Catharina Raudvere (University of Copenhagen), whose current work focuses on Bosnia.

The conference is being organized by Hilary Kalmbach, Masooda Bano and Walter Armbrust.

Please submit 500-750 word abstracts by 31 December 2008 to hilary.kalmbach@sant.ox.ac.uk.

CEDEM: Call for papers

IMISCOE Research cluster B3: Migration and citizenship: legal status,

mobilisation and political participation

Call for papers: The Transnational Political Practices of Latin American Migrants in Europe

In recent years, in a context of extension of the European Union and of socio-economic transformation of several less-developed countries, new forms of migration to and within Europe have developed and the immigrants’ countries of origin have diversified. Among the new migrants, the number of citizens originating from the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries has increased dramatically. Indeed, despite the difficulties with counting this partly undocumented population, some estimates point out that the LAC population in Europe has moved from around 1 million individuals in 2000 to 2.5 million in 2006.

Considering that the United States have been the LAC immigrants’ principal destination, this situation may appear surprising. Recent research on these new migrants has touched upon the reasons for this increase by looking at the degradation of the country of origin’s socio-economic context, at the tightening of US border regulation after the September 2001 attacks and at the migration and nationality law of different receiving countries, especially in Southern Europe . Italy , Portugal and, most importantly, Spain have in fact been the largest receivers of these new migrants for historical and cultural reasons (post-colonial ties and common language) and more traditional push/pull factors. For this reason, most of the research on LAC immigrants in
Europe has focused on these receiving countries when, in fact, other countries have also experienced dramatic increases in their LAC population (although they are far more limited in absolute terms).

The focus on those three countries has also influenced the research questions on the LAC population in Europe . At least four broad themes can be identified in the European research on LAC immigrants today: the involvement of LAC immigrants in domestic work, the gender and family dimensions of LAC migration to Europe , the sending of remittances and its impact on the home society, and the irregular dimension of LAC migration and its connection with the integration of migrants in the country of destination. All these research topics share the characteristic that they can be envisaged from a transnational viewpoint looking at the implications of migrant’s lives both here and there. Yet, one could also wonder whether the transnational dimension of the LAC immigrants in Europe could be rendered more difficult by the longer distance (and associated costs) separating LAC countries from Europe, in comparison with the United States. A deeper analysis of the transnational dimension of LAC immigrants in Europe could therefore bring new light to the theoretical debate on transnationalism.

The purpose of this special issue/book is therefore to go further than what has been published so far on Latin American migrants in Europe in two respects. First, by including a balanced number of contributions about migrant communities in the three main destination countries (Spain, Portugal and Italy) and in other European countries (e.g. Switzerland, France, Germany, UK, Belgium, Netherlands…), this publication will provide a clearer picture of LAC population in Europe by underlining the differences and similarities in the migrants’ profile and practices between the different countries of destination. This broader comparison will also contribute to the debate on the similarities and differences between immigrant transnational practices in Europe and the United States (a question upon which cluster B3 focused earlier and which led to the Ethnic and Racial Studies ’ special issue edited by members of the cluster).

Second, this publication seeks to focus on the transnational political practices of LAC immigrants in Europe .Indeed, some of the existing literature has already approached the transnational dimension of LAC migrants’ economic, social, religious or family practices. However, there has not yet been any systematic effort to analyze the transnational political practices of LAC migrants in Europe . This book/special issue will thus actively seek to address questions of political citizenship (in its consultation, participation and representation dimensions) across borders of LAC migrants. Research questions that should be addressed include: What sort of political involvement do LAC migrants in Europe keep with their home country and with what motivations? How do their transnational ties relate to their political involvement in the country of residence? What reactions do they create in their countries of origin?

Contributions touching upon these specific themes and topics are particularly sought but all proposals related to the call will be examined by the editors:

* Papers on the transnational political practices of LAC immigrants outside of the three main countries of destination in Southern Europe (Spain , Portugal , Italy ).

* Papers on LAC migrants’ associations active both in the country of origin and the country of destination and their political relevance.

* Papers on LAC governments’ policies to maintain ties with their population residing in Europe (remittances investment programs, nationality laws, external citizenship rights, agreements with host countries…).

* Papers on European governments (but also local and supranational authorities) policies to support the transnational activities of LAC migrants (e.g. co-development policies).

* Papers on the impact of migrants’ transnational political practices in the home country.

Submission of paper proposals:
Paper proposals should contain a preliminary title, an abstract of 100 to 200 words and a more extensive outline of about 1000 words. The outline should contain a clearly stated research question, indications of methodology and approach, references to the literature and a tentative structure of the sections of the paper.

The deadline for submitting papers to Jean-Michel Lafleur, at JM.Lafleur@ulg.ac.be, is 30th January 2009.

A committee of reviewers will select the paper proposals that will be invited to write full papers. The authors of selected papers will be invited to present them in a cluster B3 workshop to be held in Liège (Belgium ) on 11&12 June 2009. Full papers should be posted on the IMISCOE extranet one month before the conference. Contact information:

Jean-Michel LAFLEUR, PhD F.R.S – FNRS Postdoctoral Researcher
Université de Liège
Institut des Sciences humaines et sociales
CEDEM (Centre for Ethnic and Migration Studies)
Bvd du Rectorat 7, Bât. B31/45
B-4000 Liège (Belgique)
Tel. (+32) (0)4 366 46 80
Fax  (+32) (0)4 366 47 51
jm.lafleur@ulg.ac.be
http://www.cedem.ulg.ac.be   http://www.imiscoe.org

Bielefeld University: call for papers

Interdisciplinary and International Symposium

Selling EthniCity: Urban Cultural Politics in the Americas

Time:	May 5-7, 2009
Place:	Bielefeld University, Germany

As part of the year-long research group “E Pluribus Unum?: Ethnic Identities in Transnational Integration Processes in the Americas,” this symposium will explore the importance of ethnicity in the performance and visualization of the city in the Americas. In our post-fordist age the cultural economy is of special importance: Cultural, political, and economic elites make use of cultural and ethnic elements in city planning and architecture in order to construct a unique image for a particular city, they create urban festivals and spectacles to attract (trans-)national tourists, they promote international urban heritage programs, and they involve cultural producers in performances and visualization of this city. These developments are recoded in daily life and contested by cultural politics of urban movements.

Over two days about 15-20 international scholars will present their ideas on the cultural, social and political consequences of this “Selling of EthniCity” and its functions within ongoing processes of transnational integration in the Americas.

The symposium will examine:

– aspects of ethnic spectacularization and festivalization of the city
– changes in urban landscapes and new scopic regimes
– programs of urban construction and architecture that employ ethnic styles for inner city renewal, urban entertainment centers, or shopping centers
– disneyfication, theme parks, and the use and misuse of ethnicity
– the importance of ethnic entrepreneurs, ethnic markets, and networks in the city
– the impact of post-fordist city marketing on social and ethnic exclusion and strategies of control
– consumerism, tourism, and the commodification of places
– urban heritage tourism, places of memory, and the narration of identity
– explorations of different sites of ethnic economy and translocal consumption like urban ethnic music, fashion trends, or ethnic food
– the representation and reconstitution of local ethnicities in translocal constellations of interaction
– contributions of globalization, particularly inter-American border crossings, to cultural hybridity in the Americas
– ways in which cultural producers (literature, film, art, music, and the media) engage in and reflect the ethnic city-marketing and imageneering
– the medialization of the ethnic-cultural city
– the role of cosmopolitan consumer identities in the geographical imagination of the city
– ways in which the city is read, decoded and perceived in the daily lives of inhabitants
– the role of urban social movements and ethnic communities in the contestation of the use of ethnicity in urban restructuring

Please send your proposal until December 31, 2008

Organizer:
Olaf Kaltmeier, Bielefeld University, Germany

Contact:
olaf.kaltmeier@uni-bielefeld.de

KULVER: Utlysning av forskningsmidler for 2009

Programmet Kulturell verdsetting (KULVER) lyser ut midler for 2009.

Totalt 27 mill. kroner vil være tilgjengelig. Innenfor denne budsjettrammen vil det sannsynligvis bare være rom for 6-7 prosjekter. Dette antas å være den siste utlysningen under programmet. I første søknadsrunde ble det gitt støtte til ti prosjekter. Av programmets seks forskningsområder ble særlig kulturarv, minnepolitikk og identitetsdannelser relativt godt dekket. Programstyret ønsker nå å komplettere prosjektporteføljen slik at programmets mål og tematiske prioriteringer i størst mulig grad blir dekket.

Programstyret vil derfor særlig etterspørre følgende forskningsområder og -temaer:
* Forskning som undersøker verdsettingsprosesser som forhandling, utveksling og strid. Eksempel på dette kan være religion, kultur og modernitet; breddekultur og smalere kultur; teknologiers funksjon i forhold til verdsetting og estetisering.
* Refleksjoner rundt den verdsetting som foregår i forskningen selv gjennom valg av forskningstema, problemstillinger, perspektiver, teori- og metodegrunnlag mm.
* Forskning innenfor programplanens område “Interaksjonen mellom kunstfeltene og andre praksisfelt”. Eksempel på dette kan være forholdet mellom homogenisering og mangfold; kunst og dagligliv; estetikk og vitenskap.

Programstyret vil se positivt på prosjekter som viser hvordan grunnleggende forskning også kan ha samfunnsmessig aktualitet.

More information here

Registration for the 11th National METROPOLIS Conference

Registration for the 11th National Metropolis Conference in Canada

Registration for the 11th National Metropolis Conference in Calgary (March 19-22, 2009) is now open.
The deadline for early-bird registration is January 30, 2009.

To register, please visit http://www.metropolis2009.net

The Newton International Fellowship

The Newton International Fellowship

Are you at the beginning of your research career – with the potential to be world-class?
Is your research in the natural or social sciences, engineering or humanities?
Do you want to build and maintain links with leading researchers in the UK?

The Newton International Fellowship scheme will select the very best early stage post-doctoral researchers from all over the world, and offer support for two years at UK research institutions. The long-term aim of the scheme is to build a global pool of research leaders and encourage long-term international collaboration with the UK. The Fellowships cover the broad range of natural and social sciences, engineering and the humanities.

They provide grants of £24,000 per annum to cover subsistence and £8,000 to cover research expenses, plus a one-off relocation allowance of £2,000. As part of the scheme, all Newton Fellows who remain in research will be granted a 10 year follow-up funding package worth £6,000 per annum.

For more detailed information on the Newton International Fellowships please visit the fellowship website:
http://www.newtonfellowships.org/index.html

The closing date for the next round of applications is 12 January 2009.

NFR/ IMER: Kunnskapsnotater og temaoversikter

Kunskapsoversikter og Temanotater

Som et ledd i arbeidet med formidling og kunnskapsspredning har IMER-programmet bedt forskere om å lage kunnskapsoversikter og temanotater om ulike emner innenfor migrasjon og integrering. Første notat vart klart i slutten av oktober; “Den nye arbeidsinnvandringen”.

Det er Fafo-forskerne Jon Erik Dølvik og Jon Horgen Friberg som har skrevet den første kunnskapsoversikten om de siste års arbeidsinnvandring. Både denne og kommende utgivelser gir en oversikt over eksisterende forskning og kunnskap på de ulike feltene, sett fra de ulike forfatternes ståsteder. Framover kommer det bl.a. notater om diskriminering fra henholdsvis et rettsvitenskapelig og et samfunnsvitenskapelig perspektiv, og et om flyktningers sosiale integrasjon. Notatene er gratis og kan leses/lastes ned  fra IMER-programmets nettside, sentrale dokumenter. De kan også bestilles i trykt versjon fra Forskningsrådet via www.forskningsradet.no/publikasjoner (begrenset opplag).

Call For Applications: 10 postdoctoral Fellowships 2009/10

The Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences, the Fritz Thyssen Foundation and the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin invite scholars to apply for ten post-doctoral fellowships for the research program

*Europe in the Middle East – the Middle East in Europe*

This research program seeks to rethink key concepts and premises that link and divide Europe and the Middle East. The project draws on the international expertise of scholars in and outside of Germany and is embedded in university and extra-university research institutions in Berlin. ‘Europe in the Middle East – The Middle East in Europe’ supports historical-critical philology, rigorous engagement with the literatures of the Middle East and their histories, the social history of cities and the study of Middle Eastern political and philosophical thought (Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and secular) as central fields of research not only for area or cultural studies, but also for European intellectual history and other academic disciplines. The program explores modernity as a historical space and conceptual frame.

For further information on the program ‘Europe in the Middle East – The Middle East in Europe’ and for detailed information on the research fields, please see: www.eume-berlin.de

*PREREQUISITES AND APPLICATION PROCEDURE*
The fellowships are intended above all for scholars of history, literature, philology, political philosophy, religion and sociology who want to carry out their research projects in connection with the Berlin program. Fellows gain the opportunity to pursue research projects of their choice within the framework of one of the above-mentioned research fields and in relation to the program ‘Europe in the Middle East – the Middle East in Europe’. In Berlin, they will be integrated into a university or non-university research institute. The working language of the research program is English. Fellows will receive a monthly stipend of 1.800 € (supplement for accompanying spouses: 250 €), and are obliged to work in Berlin and to help shape the seminars and working discussions related to their research field. As a rule, the fellowships begin on 1 October 2009 and end on 31 July 2010. The applicant’s doctorate should have been completed no earlier than 2001. An application should be made in explicit relation to one of the research fields and consist of
1.) a curriculum vitae,
2.) a 2 to 4 page project sketch,
3.) a sample of scholarly work (maximum 20 pages from an article, conference paper, or dissertation chapter)
4.) a letter of recommendation by one university instructor.

The application should be submitted by e-mail to eume@wiko-berlin.de, as Word or PDF File in English

Deadline: January 11 2009

Europe in the Middle East – the Middle East in Europe c/o
Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin
Attn: Georges Khalil
Wallotstrasse 19, 14193 Berlin
Fax +49 30 – 89 00 12 00

Journal: Migrations and Identities

Migrations and Identities. A journal of people and ideas in motion.

The title migrations & identities represents a programme: the editors aim to interrogate notions of ‘identity’ while asking how the fact of mobility and displacement does shape understandings of self and the wider world, among both migrants and ‘host’ societies.  By the same token, they seek to understand how ideas and concepts are transformed as they ‘migrate’ from one place and culture to another.  These issues have been, and continue to be, addressed under a number of rubrics and through a number of approaches in the humanities and social sciences.  In acknowledgement of this,  migrations & identities is multi- and interdisciplinary in its conception and management. It also aims to cover the widest possible range of places, periods and methods, subject only to a shared curiosity and enthusiasm about the possibilities of working at the interface between the investigation of the material conditions of migration processes and the study of ideas and subjectivities. In particular, the editors hope that scholars working in many fields will find in migrations & identities a forum for discussion of the methods appropriate to a project of linking observable experience and mentalities in different times and places, and that among the topics of discussion will be the real challenges involved in conversing across disciplinary boundaries. They invite manuscripts from scholars representing all disciplines and methodologies which can contribute to this discussion.  These might include case studies based on empirical research which are framed by and reflect on the methodological and theoretical issues set out above, essays which focus on questions of theory and methodology, or review articles. The journal will be published twice a year.

For more information: http://migrationsandidentities.lupjournals.org/

Migration letters: Call for papers on special Issue

Migration Letters: Special issue on biographical methods in migration research

Migration Letters is seeking contributions for a special issue guest-edited by
Theodoros Iosifides (Aegean University) and
Deborah Sporton (University of Sheffield).

Migration Letters invites submission of papers for a Special Issue on biographical migration research. Biographical/life history/narrative approaches to research are gaining prominence today as they put emphasis to the micro-level, to lived experience and to individual and collective meaning-making of social events and processes. These approaches highlight subjectivity and its role in social reproduction and enhance our understanding of social world through contextual thinking, depth, detail and nuance.

Suggestive topics of interest include the following:
– Epistemology and methodology of biographical research with special emphasis on migration
studies
– Migration decision making and motivation
– Socio-spatial mobility of migrants
– Identity formation and change
– Social capital, social networks and relations
– Social integration
– Political and social participation and mobilization
– Racism and xenophobia
– Refugee movements.

Paper submission deadline: February 15, 2009

For full details of the special issue: www.migrationletters.com

publications:

*Sigurd Bergmann and Tore Sager (eds.) (2008): The Ethics of Mobilities. Rethinking Place, Exclusion, Freedom and Environment. Ashgate Publishing Ltd.

Excerpts from press release:
With this book the international academic discourse on mobility is taken a step further, through the intertwined perspectives of different social sciences, engineering and the humanities. Ethics of Mobilities departs from the recent interest in social surveillance, raised by the use of technology for the surveillance and control of mobility as well as for transport. It widens this theme to encompass a broad scale of issues, ranging from freedom and escape to social exclusion and control, thus raising important questions of ethics, identity and religion; questions that are dealt with by a diverse, yet structured range of chapters, arranged around the themes of ethics and religion, and freedom and control.

Through their variety and diversity of perspectives, the chapters of this book offer a substantial interdisciplinary contribution to the socially and environmentally relevant discussion about what a technically and economically accelerating mobility does to life and how it might be transformed to sustain a more life-enhancing future. Ethics of Mobilities will excite not only international interest, but will also appeal to scholars across a wide range of disciplines, in fields as diverse as theology and engineering.

For more information, see the publishers website