Mulitculturalism, Conflict and Belonging
Oxford, United Kingdom | Mansfield College
This multi-disciplinary project seeks to explore the new and prominent place that the idea of culture has for the construction of identity and the implications of this for social membership in contemporary societies. In particular, the project will assess the context of major world transformations, for example, new forms of migration and the massive movements of people across the globe, as well as the impact of globalisation on tensions, conflicts and on the sense of rootedness and belonging. Looking to encourage innovative trans-disciplinary dialogues, we warmly welcome papers from all disciplines, professions and vocations which struggle to understand what it means for people, the world over, to forge identities in rapidly changing national, social and cultural contexts.
Proposals, workshops and presentations are invited on any of the following themes:
1. State borders and mobility
- State’s obligation in admitting migrants
- State security and border control
- Immigration policy and political ideology of nation-state
- Permeability of state boundaries under globalization
- Redefining borders under globalized world
2. Irregular migration
- Illegal migration or irregular migration?
- Irregular migration: whose account?
- Irregular migration and transnational mobility
- Irregular migration, exploitation and human rights violation
- Rights and protection of irregular migrants
3. Religion and gender
- Gender differences in migration
- Religious practices and gender equality under migration
- Migrants and freedom of religion
- Religious and ethnic minorities under multiculturalism
- Religious extremism and the challenge on pluralism
4. Human rights and citizenship
- Universality of human rights
- Citizenship and rights entitlement
- Caste system in the contemporary world
- Human rights protection for non-citizens
- Conflicting rights
5. Identity formation and belongingness
- Identity formation and transnational migration
- Integration and preservation of minority cultures
- Intergenerational differences on identity formation of migrants
- Value conflict and belongingness
- Recognition or redistribution under contemporary economic development
6. Redefining multiculturalism
- Changing concepts in the study of ethnicity and multiculturalism
- Researching multiculturalism
- Multiculturalism: the East-West discourse
- States commitment towards multicultural practices
- Multiculturalism versus nationalism
- Historical construction of multiculturalism and its application in the contemporary world
Proposals will be considered on any related theme.
In order to submit a proposal, 300 word abstracts should be submitted by Friday 4th April 2014. If an abstract is accepted for the conference, a full draft paper should be submitted by Friday 11th July 2014. Abstracts should be submitted simultaneously to both Organising Chairs (raees.baig@gmail.com, mcb8@inter-disciplinary.net). They may be in Word or RTF formats with the following information and in this order: a) author(s), b) affiliation as you would like it to appear in programme, c) email address, d) title of proposal, e) body of proposal, f) up to 10 keywords. E-mails should be entitled: Multiculturalism 8 Abstract Submission
The conference is part of the Diversity and Recognition research projects, which in turn belong to the At the Interface programmes of Inter-Disciplinary.Net. It aims to bring together people from different areas and interests to share ideas and explore discussions which are innovative and challenging. All proposals accepted for and presented at the conference must be in English and will be eligible for publication in an ISBN eBook. Selected proposals may be developed for publication in a themed hard copy volume(s). All publications from the conference will require editors, to be chosen from interested delegates from the conference.