Globalisation, Diaspora and Transnational Belonging

June 15-16, 2017, Middlesex University, London, UK

Call for abstracts – Deadline: March 1^st, 2017 [click here to submit]

Conference Aims and Objectives

Following the success of the first international Kurdish migration conference (KMC) held in 2016 at Middlesex University (London) and the strong interest and participation by the international scholarly community, the 2nd KMC will be held at Middlesex University on 15 and 16 June 2017.

Displacement and forced migration have a distinct meaning and significance in the history of the Middle East. In recent years, the political and economic instability of the area, together with the repressive and coercive policies of most regional states and their international allies, the marginalisation of minority groups and the rise of fundamentalist movements, continue causing permanent crises, fuelling displacements and forced migrations. Millions of people have lost their homes and livelihood and were forced to seek a safe haven either in the neighbouring countries or taking a long and dangerous journey to Europe. The images of drowned three-year-old Kurdish boy Alan Kurdi in the Aegean Sea, mass killing of Yazidis and Syrian nationals, displacements of religious and ethnic minorities made global headlines without any effect.

Similarly to its neighbouring countries, today the Kurdistan Region in Iraq hosts some 1.8 million refugees from Syria and internally displaced persons. A considerable number of refugees and displaced people are also hosted by the Kurdish Cantons in Rojava (Kurdish region in Syria) and by municipalities in the Kurdish Region of Turkey.

Far away from the homeland, the over 2 million Kurds living in Europe, the USA, Canada, Former Soviet republics and other countries are following with great concern the events in the Middle East. Since the 1980s, the Kurdish diaspora in the Western has played an important role, recreating new Kurdish diasporic spaces in settlement countries while simultaneously reconnecting to their home country and making the question of Kurdistan a transnational political issue through their political engagement, media and cultural production and activism. However, what is the relationship of the Kurdish diaspora with the contemporary challenges and conflicts in and around Kurdistan? What kind of exchanges and interactions are taking place? How do Kurds relate with new refugees and displaced people living in Kurdistan, the Middle East and Europe? Moreover, what are the experiences of the Kurdish diaspora in countries where hostility and  discrimination towards immigrants are alarmingly on the rise?

The Kurdish Migration Conference 2017 aims to bring together researchers from a range of disciplines working on Kurdish migration to discuss these and other relevant questions and to exchange their views and findings about all aspects of migration from, through and into Kurdistan, as well as about the experiences of diasporic communities and second generations abroad.

Keynote speakers:

• Professor Joshua Castellino (Middlesex University, London)
• Dr Osten Wahlbeck (University of Helsinki, Finland)

More speakers will be confirmed in the coming weeks.

Call for abstracts

Researchers are encouraged to contribute to and help shape the conference through submissions of their abstracts. The conference themes cover issues relating to migration from, through and into Kurdistan.

Topics of interest for submission include, but are not limited to:

• Migration, ethnicity, citizenship, belonging and identity politics
• Migration, labour market, entrepreneurship and economic integration
• Migration, gendered experiences, and sexuality
• Family dynamics and intergenerational relationships
• Migrants, media and translocal cultural politics and representations
• Political participation, (digital) networks and organizations
• Transnational ties and/or remittances
• Migration, law, legal status, rights, and undocumented migration
• Internal and international migration, borders and borderlands
• Discrimination and xenophobia and diasporic narratives of Kurdish resistance
• Refugee and internal displacement issues
• Migration theories and frameworks
• Research methodology and Kurdish migration

We also welcome submissions of proposals for panels.

Special panel: Kurdish Studies at British Universities

Due to a strong demand of scholars working in all subject of Kurds and Kurdistan at British universities, we have decided to organise a special panel(s) on “Kurdish Studies at British Universities”. The papers for this panel are not limited to migration but is open for all subject of Kurds and Kurdistan studies. If you would like to be considered for the special panel please note this in your submission.

How to submit

Click here to submit your abstract (or panel) proposal online 

N.B. All speakers will be required to register and pay the registration fee ahead of the conference. You will be sent information on how to register upon acceptance of your paper.

Registration fee:  £ 50
Discount fee for students (undergraduate, postgraduate or doctoral): £ 25

For more information, please contact the conference organisers:
– Dr Janroj Yilmaz Keles: J.Keles@mdx.ac.uk
– ‎Dr Alessio D’Angelo: A.Dangelo@mdx.a.uk

Important Dates

– Deadline for abstract submissions: March 1^st, 2017
– Notification of acceptance: March 15, 2017
– Conference date: June 15-16, 2017

This conference is organised by the Business School
and the Social Policy Research Centre at Middlesex University.