Malmö IMISCOE Annual Conference 26th-28th June 2019

Workshop Proposal IMISCOE Research Initiative: Qualitative and Conceptual Research

How disputes on concepts shape migration studies

Organizers: Ricard Zapata-Barrero (GRITIM-UPF) and Evren Yalaz (GRITIM-UPF)

This workshop aims to discuss the prospective book project Key Normative and Descriptive Concepts in Migration Studies edited by Ricard Zapata-Barrero (GRITIM-UPF), Dirk Jacobs (GERM, ULB) and Riva Kastoryano (CNRS, Paris). Even if we always have had debates on contested concepts in social sciences and migration studies, it seems we are today living a time of heightened semantic confusion. Increasingly political controversies challenge the interpretation of core concepts and have an impact on scholarly debates too. Debates on migration and diversity have become so polarised and polarising that being unable to speak a common language on migration and diversity even has a bearing on the stability and cohesion of our liberal economic traditions. This book project wishes to reflect on how normative and descriptive concepts shape migration studies today. What impact do concepts have on how we deal with discourses, ideologies and policies in our field? We aim to explore whether old concepts need a review and whether new concepts are emerging. What does this tell us about current scholarly migration debates, what new interpretations and policy orientations have popped out or need to be addressed? In short, this prospective book aims to enhance conceptual thinking on migration studies and clarify political significance of the fading of old and the advent of new concepts. In this WS, we will collectively discuss the main ideas of this book project. The structure of each chapter-concept will be discussed as well as some guidelines to ensure coherence. We will welcome proposals!

Participants:

Ricard Zapata Barrero (GRITIM-UPF) – Cohesion

Guri Rosen (Arena) – on behalf of John Eric Fossum – Cosmopolitanism

Karolina Barglowski – Groupism

Zeynep Kasli (Erasmus University Rotterdam) and Zeynep Yanasmayan (Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology) - Territorialism

Evren Yalaz (GRITIM-UPF) – Political Opportunity Structure