Call for Papers - Seventh Conference on Migration Research in Austria

Panel Convenors: Kerstin Wonisch and Verena Wisthaler (EURAC Research, IT)

"To walk together without prejudices and fears, putting ourselves next to who is more vulnerable"

These are the words of Pope Francis for the 107th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, by advancing religious values and promoting inclusion.

Religion constitutes an important element to identify asylum seekers/migrants belonging and contributes to the (mis)understanding we have about them, many times contributing to the categorisation which then leads to the us vs. them. At the same time, religion also constitutes a bridge to help migrants with the integration in the receiving communities. This has been promoted mostly in the form of actions from religious organisations which have acted as an integral component of the refugee support sector in many EU countries, sometimes even acting as a counter response to a hostile environment promoted by far-right political discourses as well as institutional (lack of) responses to the arrival of migrants.

This panel aims at exploring the contribution of religious organisations to the support towards asylum seekers/migrants, by focusing on their actions as well as their influence within the existing political and societal framework. We will look at the reasons why it is important to look at religious organisations and support for migrants, define the differences between them (i.e., the faith as well as type of support), who do they target, and which conflicts arise due to their engagement. The current focus lies on Italy and Austria, the relationship between politics and religion in each country, together with the differences and similarities that exist.

The panel welcomes contributions from senior scholars as well as early-career researchers coming from a wide range of disciplines, in particular from religious studies, political science, law and sociology that reflect on the interrelation between religion and asylum politics. We are interested in theoretical papers as well as empirical work, based on single case studies as well as larger comparative work from around the world, with a special interest in papers based on European cases, in particular Italy and Austria. Papers can engage empirically, conceptually, and normatively with these issues or aspects thereof.

Deadline for paper proposals: 16.01.2022 Here for the general call for papers and panels

Paper proposals include: Title and abstract of max. 250 words, contact details of the author(s).

Proposal submissions and questions to: Katherine.Arena@eurac.edu

More Details: Please see pdf below and visit the page of the Austrian Academy of Sciences