In recent years, there has been a growing call for migration scholars to reflect deeply on how the knowledge production of migration studies takes place and how it is still conditioned by the boundaries and eurocentric approaches traditionally built by academia as well as for constraints imposed by the neoliberal models of academic production. In a world of increasing polarisation, where migration is one of the most problematized issues, the role of migration scholars is not only to contribute to advancing knowledge about how migration works and how States as well as other actors develop new legal strategies and technologies to increase the bordering, repression, dehumanization, deaths and criminalisation of migrants and refugees. It is also important to reflect on how our inquiries can produce narratives, interventions and policies that can contribute to strengthening solidarities, inclusive pathways, life, human dignity and hope for a more equitable society.
In this sense, for the 23rd IMISCOE Annual Conference in Girona, debates on how migration scholars can engage with communities and be focused to solve social problems are welcome. Following the legacy of past IMISCOE conferences, discussions are also relevant to reflect on how migration studies are developed in different parts of the world where organic community engaged partnerships are intrinsic in the production of knowledge and where relationships between academic and activism differ from the Global North. Participatory and antiracist approaches can bring some light on how knowledge production is more oriented towards building new structures and alternatives for a fairer society. In this endeavor, partnerships with different actors (such as social movements, artists, policy makers, NGOs, schools or trade unions) may bring benefits but also challenges and ethical dilemmas for all participants involved in the research process.
In addition to methodological concerns, it is also important to consider how the research community can promote epistemic justice by acknowledging absences within the field and its connection to society at large (e.g. how research institutions can value and recognize voices and ways of thinking that have been marginalized). In this sense, it is also important to consider how race, class, gender, nationalism or coloniality have shaped migration and 'integration' studies in the past, and whether these inequalities still play a role in how we as scholars are affected by them (e.g. racialised early career women) or reproduce them. Discussions on how we and our institutions can build reparative relationships within and beyond the academy as well as about our positionality as researchers are also welcome.
For the 23rd IMISCOE Annual Conference in Girona, we invite submissions of Individual Paper Proposals, Workshop Proposals, and Panel Proposals that contribute to Strengthening Migration Studies through Community Engagement. Panels should be either fully in-person (with all participants at the venue) or fully online (with participants joining remotely). A very limited number of hybrid panels (up to a maximum of 5 sessions per time slot) could potentially be accommodated in exceptional circumstances (health issues, visa restrictions, special care needs), when duly justified and notified to the IMISCOE Network Office prior to the finalisation of the registration process. Submissions for contributions are open from 1st of July 2025.
Organisers
Migratory Movements Group (University of Girona)