CfP: Diversity in the City: Shifting realities and ways forward

International conference, Centre for Geographical Studies, IGOT, University of Lisbon, 26-27th June, 2014

Keynote speakers:

- Professor Richard Alba, CUNY Graduate Center, New York, USA

- Professor Deborah Phillips, University of Oxford, UK

- Professor Thomas Maloutas, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece

- Dr Richard Gale, University of Cardiff, UK

- Dr Venetia Evergetti, University of Surrey, UK

In the context of elevated levels of global migration, urban populations have become increasingly diverse along the lines of ethnicity, culture, religion, and origin. Processes of globalisation have not only meant that traditional reception centres have become more diverse, but that migrants have also settled in new destinations with no prior experience of diversity. As cities are generally the main recipients of international migrants, they have been the locus of social and spatial change and have often taken the lead on integration on the ground. Different ways of conceptualising urban diversity and migrant insertion in the city have spanned different social, political and theoretical perspectives, but in the context of changing realties they face the need to reflexively question themselves.

In the light of recent shifts, due to the economic crisis, new migration patterns, policy changes or otherwise, we are concerned with the challenges that cities face in the accommodation of diversity across sectors from the housing and labour market to the arts. We wish to see these developments and transformations in the city not only from the viewpoint of demography, policy and urban planning but also focussing on migrant groups’ experiences, histories, agency and internal diversity.

We welcome academics, PhD students and policy practitioners from a wide range of disciplines to submit an abstract on one of the following themes.

M1 - Urban segregation, residential mobility and the housing market

M2 - Socio-spatial Integration (across domains)

M3 - Urban transformations and diversity at the local level

M4 - Geographies of encounter, interaction and spatial practices

M5 – Globalization, transnational practices and everyday life

M6 - Religious and faith communities

M7 - Migrants histories and ontologies (memory and diaspora; affect and exclusion)

M8 - Migrants and Art (e.g. youth programmes as instruments for integration; the marketing of migrant cultures for regeneration; the presence or absence of migrants in the erudite arts; etc.).

M9 - Public Policy, urban planning and migrant populations

M10 - The right to the city (experimental spaces of insertion; gentrification; etc.)

M11 - Welfare and service provision

M12 – New research methods and approaches

Submission of abstracts:

Abstracts of a maximum of 300 words should be sent by the 5th March 2014 to jmcgarrigle@ceg.ul.pt

Acceptance decisions will be communicated by the 15th March 2014.

Presentations at the conference:

Presentations will be grouped by themes in parallel sessions. Presentations should last a maximum of 20 minutes, with an additional 10 minutes set for discussion.

Conference publications:

It will not be required of participants with accepted abstracts to send a written paper. With academic life becoming incessantly demanding, we prefer to lighten the workload and instead stimulate rich and open discussions. For those who wish to send a written paper, we will make it available to conference participants. Following the conference, we will invite selected authors to submit a paper based on their presentation for publication in an edited volume.

Organization

There is no conference registration fee, but travel and accommodation expenses should be covered by the participants.

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For further information: please contact Jennifer McGarrigle jmcgarrigle@ceg.ul.pt