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Call for Papers – January 2014 Migration to the Centre International Conference

***Beyond Borders: Migration and (In)Equality in Central Europe in Comparison*** Faculty of Humanities, Charles University Prague (FHS UK Praha) – Jinonice, January 23-24, 2014

On January 23 – 24, Multicultural Center in collaboration with Faculty of Humanities at Charles University will host an international conference in Prague exploring the pressing issues of contemporary immigration in the Central European region. These include migrant rights to work, reunification of migrant families , education and training, politics of belonging, migrant health care, the conflict between security and human rights considerations.

We are now looking for engaged paper proposals (200-300 words max.), which are to be sent to daniela.penickova@mkc.cz by December 1. Accommodation and travel costs of participants will be partly covered. A detailed conference description is attached. If you have any questions, please contact us via the e-mail or at the address below.

Daniela Pěničková
Migration to the Centre
Multicultural Centre Prague
Vodičkova 36 – Lucerna, 116 02 Prague 1
tel.: 222-364-650 cell: 777-439-274

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Migration, Citizenship and the Politics of Belonging

This interdisciplinary panel invites papers that investigate the interplay between forms and modes of contemporary citizenship, migration governance, and the politics of belonging. We would like to explore the different experiences of citizenship by various groups of citizens based on gender, age, migrant status, class, and ethnicity. In particular, we are interested in work that engages with, but is not limited to, the following questions:

  • the re-conceptualization of citizenship theories
  • the relationship between legal status, rights, and belonging
  • the tension in policy and practice between coexisting traditions, and regimes of rights
  • the intersection of legal status and race, class, and other social cleavages
  • the position of citizen children of undocumented migrant parents, unaccompanied asylum seeking children, people with dual citizenship, ‘failed’ asylum seekers, and stateless people
  • migrant citizenship experiences and its interaction with specific life phases, careers, or status passages.

Human Rights in the Context of State Security and Migration Control

Due to the secretive character of the functioning of state security agencies, there is limited information about the way they influence the rights of migrants and asylum seekers. This issue has become salient in a number of CEE countries in relation to recent legislative changes that empower institutions, such as the state information services, in the decision making process on who gets to stay in the country of destination and who may be labeled as “questionable” or “dangerous” and refused for residency. The functioning of state security agencies also tends to constrain the role of courts in overseeing such decisions. This panel thus invites papers that explore these issues, in addition to:

 

  • recent debates on legislative changes pertaining to the role of state security agencies and information services in migration control
  • the role of municipal, regional, national, and international courts (such as the European Court of Human Rights and Court of Justice of the EU) in ensuring just practice of state institutions
  • cases of violation of human rights by state security agencies and the public’s reaction
  • other impacts and implications of the process of securitization in the EU countries

Migrant Workers Inside and Outside of the Labor Code: A Case of the Electronics Industry

This panel is centered around the observation that in spite of the economic crisis, manufacturing, such as the electronics industry, has remained an important economic sector of employment for migrants in the EU industrial peripheries. We are seeking papers that discuss how specific companies in the CEE countries have managed their migrant labor force in the context of their business strategies and global productions. Specifically the papers may discuss the following questions:

  • What impact do the different legal arrangements used to organize flexible production have on migrant workers?

These arrangements include, but are not limited to:

  • Temporary contracts
  • Self-employed work
  • Agency work and other kind of “non-employment” contracts
  • What are the interrelations between employment in venues such as the electronics industry and migrants’ legal status?
  • How has the meaning of “employment” changed in the recent decade from the perspective of migrants, temp agencies, lead contractors, or state control agencies?
  • To what extent have the precarious working conditions been generalized? What ways of resistance have there been among migrant workers?

Migration and Health in the European Union

While migrants are considered comparatively healthy, they often face particular health challenges and are vulnerable to a number of threats to their physical and mental health. These stem from the fact that communication between healthcare providers and migrant clients often remains poor and health systems are not prepared to adequately respond to the need for culturally-sensitive and responsive care. This panel invites healthcare practitioners and analysts who can contribute to closing the gap presented by eminent lack of data on understanding the migrant health and healthcare conditions in the EU. The topics include, but are not limited to:

  • the phenomenon known as the “healthy migrant effect” and its impact
  • increasing efficacy in monitoring migrant health and occupational health
  • employment of interpretative and phenomenological approaches in migrant health research
  • understanding migrant communicable and non-communicable disease
  • development and changes in the migrant health policies in Europe

The conference is sponsored by the EU’s program Europe for Citizens, by the Visegrad Fund, and by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.

 

More information : http://migrationtothecentre.migraceonline.cz/en/beyond-borders-migration-and-in-equality-in-central-europe-in-comparison