CfP: Trans-local conflict dynamics among refugees and diaspora populations

Trans-local conflict dynamics among refugees and diaspora populations

Call for Papers for an academic workshop

Monday, June 18th
Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC)

This workshop aims to contextualise the concept of “imported conflicts” among refugees and diaspora communities. It will do so by discussing conceptual issues and empirical findings on how conflicts in places of origin and the experience of migration influence interactions among refugees and with local host societies.

Since 2014, approximately 800.000 people from conflict-affected regions have been granted some form of protection status in Germany. In their respective places of settlement they encounter a very diverse society which includes descendants of labour migrants and conflict-generated diasporas, sometimes from the same places of origin. For many refugees, these communities serve as an entry point into the labour and housing market, but also the wider German society. However, these interactions also lead to conflicts, which seem at least partly influenced by developments in places of origin and which have so far not been extensively studied. While early research into this field seemed to confirm the conflict importation hypothesis, but didn’t take into consideration that conflicts transform under the influence of the host society, later research focussed on socio-economic inequalities in the host society and the transnational dimension of migrants’ lives and experiences. However, different local contexts and individual experiences were often overlooked, as were the experience of “newcomers” who had fled to Germany recently.

This workshop thus wants to conceptualise the concept of conflict transportation and transformation among refugees and diaspora communities. It will do so by assuming that conflicts among refugees and diaspora groups in places of settlement differ locally and individually, according to different local contexts and different individual experiences. In order to understand these conflicts and to account for the contexts in which they are happening, a trans-local research perspective taking into account social relations and conflict dynamics in different places of settlement within the host country and transnational exchanges across different localities is needed.

Researchers interested in the above mentioned points are cordially invited to this workshop to discuss a) conceptual issues relating to a trans-local research framework on refugees, diasporas and conflict and b) present their own research projects and results. PhD students and junior researchers are highly encouraged to apply, as this workshop wants to give participants a chance to obtain a qualified feedback on their research.

The workshop will take place at BICC in Bonn, Germany. Travel and accommodation costs can be reimbursed.

Applications can be send to tim.roeing@bicc.de