Jul 30, 2007

Oxford RSC Conference on Forced Migration/Refugee Studies

Scholarship / Financial aid: unknown
Date: 7-8 December 2007
Deadline: 14th September 2007
Open to: all interested

Announcement follows:

International Conference

7-8 December 2007, University of Oxford

CALL FOR PAPERS

This year the Refugee Studies Centre (RSC) at the University of Oxford celebrates 25 years of pioneering research in the field of refugee and forced migration studies. The past quarter of a century, like many before it, has seen human displacement on an enormous scale, touching all continents and the lives of millions of people.
States, international organisations, and NGOs have often struggled to deal with the social, political and economic consequences of forced movement. Alongside these developments, the study of refugee movements and forced migration more generally has grown. Increasing numbers of academics from different disciplines have turned their attention to understanding displacement in its many forms and varieties, often with impressive results.

In December 2007, as the culmination of its 25th Anniversary, the RSC will hold a two-day international conference dedicated to bringing scholars together to take stock of the state of research on refugee and forced migration movements.

The conference will consider, in particular, how refugee and forced migration studies have progressed in the years since the RSC's inception and what contemporary challenges and future directions should inform the ongoing development of these areas of study.

Format

The first day of the conference will be dedicated to Conceptualising the Fields of forced migration and refugee studies.

Invited speakers will debate the recent turn towards conceptualising refugees as forced migrants and the relationships between forced migration and refugee
studies and the broader field of migration studies.

Papers are being sought for sub-plenary sessions related to questions of conceptualisation, particularly those that address the following questions:

- How should forced migrants and refugees be conceptualised in the current international context?
- What is the political, intellectual and sociological significance of the growing move to conceptualise the displaced as forced migrants rather than refugees?
- What are the costs and benefits of bringing forced migration studies and migration studies into closer alignment? To what extent, if at all, are their intellectual agendas complementary?

The second day of the conference will consider Key Future Research Areas in refugee and forced migration studies for the coming years. Papers and panel proposals are being sought on new areas of research that are likely to shed light on the causes and consequences of human displacement and the international legal and normative framework that governs national and international responses to refugees and forced migrants.

Paper and panel proposals on any theme related to forced migration will be considered. However, papers in the following panel areas would be of particular interest:

- new forms of forced migration and the evolution of violence and warfare
- refugees and the environment
- internal displacement and the challenges to normative and legal frameworks
- the future of international organisations responsible for refugees and forced migrants
- the changing international refugee regime and relations between the global North and South
- changing social and political constructions of the refugee and of those in need of asylum
- approaches to post-conflict reconstruction and refugee return
- extraterritoriality and the development of new practices of border control.

Proposal Submissions

Individuals interested in proposing additional panels should submit a title, the names of three or four participants and their paper titles, and an abstract of around 300 words describing the topic of their panel.

Individuals proposing to deliver a paper either in the sub-plenaries on Day 1, or within the panels indicated above on Day 2, should submit a paper title and abstract of 300 words. A short cv or biography (one page maximum) should accompany proposed papers and panels.

The selection committee will review proposals for both panels and papers using the following criteria:

- Relevance to the conference themes and panels
- Quality of scholarship
- Overall balance of papers in relation to the panels and sub-plenaries.

A selection of papers will be edited for a special issue of the Journal of Refugee Studies.

All submissions should be sent to Paul Ryder, Research Information Officer:
paul.ryder@qeh.ox.ac.uk, by 14th September 2007.

Proposed participants will be notified by October 14 whether or not their proposed paper/panel has been accepted.

The conference organisers are Professor Roger Zetter and Dr Matthew J. Gibney.

Department of International Development (QEH),
University of Oxford,3 Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3TB, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)1865 270722 Fax: +44 (0)1865 270721
Website: www.rsc.ox.ac.uk
Offices and Library:
3 Worcester Street, Oxford, OX1 2PZ, UK

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