News from Members

CALL FOR PAPERS, 19TH IMISCOE ANNUAL CONFERENCE, June 29 - July 1, 2022, Oslo, Norway

Informal urban inclusion dynamics – Welcome groups’ inclusion activities for newcomers of various migratory statuses

Panel conveners: Shannon Damery (CEDEM, University of Liège) & Alice Clarebout (CEDEM – LASC, University of Liège)

Abstract

This panel is co-organised by DIVCULT and UNIC, a Belgian-Swiss research project which analyses how unexpected inclusive activities in cities improve the dynamics of belonging and exchange between the established population and newcomers. The project focuses on three main areas - migrant associations, civil society welcoming initiatives and urban rituals – through which we observe inclusion dynamics that occur outside formal integration policies. In this way, the project also observes how the temporal nature of migratory status impacts the integration process as it is influenced by times of ‘crisis’, policy changes, and the events of the migrants’ daily lives. In this session, we focus on the role of welcome groups and initiatives that support the inclusion of newcomers in the urban context and how they include or exclude migrants of various migratory statuses. These kinds of initiatives often use social, cultural and artistic activities that focus on cultural production, sports and the remaking and sharing of traditions. Welcome groups organise these activities to foster feelings of inclusion at the local level and may differently target newcomers based on their migratory status and differing needs and expectations. Through the investigation of these activities, we can see the connections between local level welcoming and integration activities, migrants’ own integration practices linked to their migratory status and the temporal aspect of the complex process of integration. We also see dynamics concerning who is deemed to have the right to integrate (or not) and who is (or is not) offered support in this process. Papers in this panel will therefore investigate these local level, civil society welcoming initiatives as inclusion tools in the urban context.

Applicants should submit a 250-word abstract, including a preliminary title, to Shannon Damery (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) and Alice Clarebout (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) no later than 3 December 2021. Submissions accepted by the session convenors will be announced on 10 December 2021 (of course, the final confirmation will be sent out by the conference organisers at a later date). Presenters of accepted papers will also need to register for the Annual Conference.

Please contact the conference organisers if you have any questions. For more information about the 2022 Imiscoe Annual Conference, please visit https://www.imiscoe.org/news-andblog/news/network-news/1349-19th-imiscoe-annualconference-june-29-july-1-2022-oslo.

This call is available to download here.