The UCLan RKE Institute for Area & Migration Studies (AMIS) is happy to annouce his 2025 Seminar Series.
5 Feb 14.00-15.00 ABLT 4 and Online
“Book chat: Refugees and Asylum Seekers in East Asia: Perspectives from Japan and Taiwan (Palgrave Macmillan 2024),” a conversation between the editors, Lara Momesso (MIDEX, UCLan) and Polina Ivanova (MIDEX, University of Bremen), and some of the authors (Lisa Unangst, Bonny Ling and Mariko Hayashi, Christine Lin, Sohrab Ahmadian).
With major ongoing refugee crises in various parts of the world, much research has been published on the presence, protection, management and experiences of refugees in Europe. The same, though, cannot be said with regard to other areas of the world. By focusing on two East Asian countries, Japan and Taiwan, this edited volume offers material for comparison and reflection on an area of the world in which this theme is still relatively underdeveloped.
The various chapters of this book approach the theme through the different perspectives of legal rights, social construction through media representation and public opinion, and refugees’ and asylum seekers’ lived experiences and, together, offer a multifaceted and sophisticated analysis of the phenomenon.
For the book launch event at UCLan, we will bring together some of the authors who contributed to this edited volume and we will discuss how, in a culturally and politically diverse region like Asia, rooted in the principles of exclusive sovereignty and sovereignty-reinforcing regionalism, refugee and asylum seeker issues are not only shaped by state interests. The specificity of Japan’s and Taiwan’s geopolitical circumstances, legal and judicial systems, cultural and social developments will constitute the background against which to discuss different ways of conceiving, promoting, and negotiating refugee and asylum seeker protection in line with international standards. Through this analysis highlighting a complex picture of interests, this panel aims to shed light on the constructivist nature of refugee and asylum seeker protection and experiences when state interests shape and are shaped by social actors’ concerns and actions.
This is an open-access publication and it can be accessed here.
Join the seminar at Adelphi Lecture 4 or on Microsoft TEAMS
5 Mar 16.00-17.00 Online only
“Book Launch: Writing Borders and Other Barriers in the Era of Climate Crisis (Bloomsbury, 2024) by editors Jenny Webster and Alan Rice (UCLan)
23 April 16.00-17.00 ABLT 2 and Online
“Revoe Public Square: Prototyping Public Space,” by Ecaterina Stefanescu (MIDEX, UCLan)
7 May 16.00-17.00 Brook Building BB008 and Online
“A Welcoming Space for All: Community Integration through Higher Education Pathways,” by Elena Gandini and Laura Walker (UCLan)
Attendance is free. Hosted by the RKE Institute for Area & Migration Studies (AMIS) For further information, please contact