5th Neuchâtel Graduate Conference of Migration and Mobility Studies
University of Neuchâtel, 7–8 July 2022

Aim and Scope

The Neuchâtel Graduate Conference (NGC) is an international graduate conference organized by the nccr – on the move, the Swiss National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) for migration and mobility studies. It provides a stimulating environment in which doctoral and postdoctoral researchers from different universities and research institutions can exchange ideas, establish networks, attend targeted training, and initiate collaborative research.

The 5th edition will take place from 7 to 8 July 2022 as a hybrid event, with the physical event at the University of Neuchâtel and the possibility to attend the conference also remotely via Webex. It will gather around 50 researchers in the fields of migration and mobility.

Call for Papers: Tensions in Migration and Mobility

The topic of this year will be “Tensions in Migration and Mobility”. Deeply embedded in broader global economic, social, political and technological transformations, patterns of human movement are affected by tensions operating in a myriad of ways and at multiple scales. The notions that international migration disrupts a world organized in mutually exclusive nation-states, or that transnational practices of migrants clash with political ideas about “integration” or citizenship, are well entrenched in both theoretical and normative debates. The governance of migration and mobility has also become a key site of contradictions between political discourses and “policies on paper,” or between policies on paper and their implementation, which are partly reflecting tensions in public attitudes over the attributions of rights and access to services for diverse categories of mobile people. Moreover, the field of Migration and Mobility studies itself is affected by tensions between different epistemologies, disciplines, methods, as scholars are increasingly re-arranging their core categories. With this in mind, we wish to encourage junior researchers to explore past, contemporary or future tensions regarding the regulation and the experience of human movement. We are inviting you to provide scientifically grounded analysis on how political, economic, technological, and social change may enter in tension with evolving practices of migration and mobility. We welcome papers addressing this overarching topic from all related disciplines in migration and mobility studies, such as demography, economics, geography, law, political science, sociology, and other relevant fields.

Conference Format and Working Groups

As we intend to make room for in-depth discussions and facilitate the finalization of articles for publication in international journals, participants will be invited to remain within the same working group over the two days of the conference. Six closed groups with a maximum of eight carefully selected participants will be discussing precisely defined topics. Researchers from the nccr – on the move and senior scholars from our International Advisory Board (IAB) will guide the discussions and provide expertise.

Falling under the same overarching theme of“Tensions in Migration and Mobility”, the groups will be divided into the following topics:

1. Policy and Governance Tensions in the Fields of Migration and Mobility
2. Understanding Citizenship under Tension
3. Tensions Developed in a Transnational Social World
4. Between Access and Exclusion: Tensions in Attitudes and Preferences in the Attribution of Rights to Migrants
5. Tensions in Refugees’ and Migrants’ Integration
6. Rising Tensions in the Anthropocene: the Strained Relations between Mobility and Global Warming

Best Paper Award

The Neuchâtel Graduate Conference of Migration and Mobility Studies offers a prize of CHF 500 for the best paper to be submitted and presented at the conference.

Submission Procedure

The deadline for submission is 31 March 2022

Paper proposals should include the working group title you wish to propose, an abstract (max. 250 words), a list of up to five keywords, the name and affiliation of the presenter. Co-authored papers and papers at different stages of advancement are welcome.

Paper proposals must be submitted via this form by Thursday, 31 March 2022. Applicants will be informed by 20 April 2022. For any questions, please contact Robin Stünzi, Education and Careers Officer, by email at: [email protected].

There is no participation fee. To encourage participation from all universities, the nccr – on the move will provide funding opportunities up to CHF 400. Funding for the Neuchâtel Graduate Conference of Migration and Mobility Studies is specifically designed for international graduate students traveling from far or without mobility funding. Please contact Robin Stünzi, the Scientific Officer, to check your eligibility and apply for funding.

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