Poitiers, 22-24 October 2014 :
7th Conference
YOUNG PEOPLE & SOCIETIES
in Europe and around the Mediterranean
RJS 7- Young migrants into, inside and from Europe
The Seventh Conference Young People & Societies in Europe and around the Mediterranean – RJS 7 – will be held in Poitiers in late October 2014. Its main focus will be young migrants into, inside and from Europe, whether they be young migrants from the South planning to go to countries of the North, young migrants from a European country planning to settle permanently in another European country, or even individuals emigrating from Europe to settle elsewhere. The aim will be, in essence, to explore those migration processes from, inside and into Europe in which young people are involved, irrespective of their social conditions or origins.
International migration has grown fast as the world economy went global. In 2005 the United Nations put at nearly 200 million the number of migrants across the world, up from 75 million only in 1965 and 115 million in 1990, the figures showing a sharp acceleration of the process at the end of the reference period. Even though the rate of increase has slowed down since then, the total number of transnational migrants stood at a record 230 million – approximately 3.3 per cent of the world's population – in 2010. Despite the vital risks incurred by a vast majority of them and the selective measures adopted by a number of countries of destination, international migration still remains an ongoing phenomenon.
Back in 2007, Catherine Wihtol de Wenden wrote of migratory flows to Europe: “for more than ten years, television has been showing footage of illegal immigrants from Albania, the Middle East, China, sub-Saharan Africa, landing on the coasts of southern Europe or crammed in containers bound for a European country. In recent years, Europe, which is struggling to control its borders and attempting to involve its southern neighbours in this task, has become one of the main areas of immigration in the world. But it has been late in acknowledging itself as such because it has long considered immigration as a temporary phenomenon and in recent years has given priority to security over labour demand and needs for social integration without taking into account the ageing of its population.” (Contribution to the Migration Forum of the International Federation of Human Rights, Lisbon, 19-21 April 2007).
Even if Europe thus appears as a frequent destination for migrants from other continents, attention should also be given to migration movements in its midst, related to the presence of nomadic populations or to population movements from Eastern European countries to richer western or northern countries, or even migration of individuals who decide to leave Europe permanently or temporarily to try their luck elsewhere.
Young people account for a very substantial share of those flows. More often than not, what television shows is young men or sometimes women. Most migrant refugees in the Calais area were indeed young... To be also mentioned is the migration of very young people, especially teenagers, driven by motives sometimes dramatic, e.g. wars, family misery, and so on, but sometimes not – maybe adventurousness – to leave their countries of origin and try their luck in a European country. These young migrants, officially referred to as “unaccompanied foreign minors”, are particularly vulnerable and must face specific difficulties on arrival, from access to initial and vocational training to support till they are of age to eventual economic integration. Last but not least, mention should be made of migration connected to the mobility of students from Southern countries, for whom the question of return to their countries of origin often arises once they graduate.
Even though our main focus is therefore young people involved in migratory experiences, papers will be expected to address three key aspects: migration flows, the form of migration and state policies.
- migration flows: identifying current migration flows from a quantitative point of view, their motives, and especially the question of the role young people may play in them.
- the form of migration: papers should not merely describe migrants’ routes but, more specifically, aim at better understanding of their journeys through comments collected from migrants themselves, from the stories of their migration experiences or through any other tools designed to approach the subjective dimension of such experiences. The question of the transformation of migration processes – permanent or temporary migration – should obviously be addressed, especially for the younger migrants.
- state policies: even though the policies of states – whether countries of origin or destination – are a key issue in the analysis of migration phenomena, the main focus should be the link between migration processes and the often restrictive (control of unaccompanied foreign minors) or sometimes sympathetic (protection of vulnerable young people) nature of such policies.
A wide range of issues may thus be addressed: migration related to work, to economic unbalances, to social and political conditions in the country of origin as well as in the host country, to the pursuit of higher education or other factors. Such issues as “second generations”, i.e. the situation of young people from so-called “migrant backgrounds”, are also relevant.
Even though migration-related issues are the main theme of 7th Conference, it will also include a number of workshops on recurring themes that have cropped up since the very first one. Therefore, papers may be submitted on the following topics:
- social and professional integration of young people
- young people and labour
- young people and the gender issue
- longitudinal approaches (life stories and trajectories)
All those may be addressed from various theoretical and disciplinary perspectives (sociology, economics, psychology, history, geography, philosophy, etc.), and/or various national perspectives (emigration as well as immigration countries – provided it still makes any sense to classify countries according to this principle). In short, the idea will be to promote both international and transdisciplinary migration approaches.
* * *
The 7th Conference will be organised as follows:
- plenary meetings will provide an opportunity for presentations on the approach and analysis of
migratory phenomena, especially migration of young people
- some workshops will focus on the various aspects of migration
- other workshops will focus on the permanent themes of the Conference, notably those
mentioned above
The proposals of communications must be put down on the site of Gresco, at the address :
http://gresco.labo.univ-poitiers.fr from January 6th, 2014.
Paper proposals must be received before March 31, 2014.
The Scientific Council will review proposals during the month of April and authors will be notified of acceptance by April 30, 2014, at the latest.
Completed papers should be received by Friday 27 September 2014 at the latest.
Any information relative to the conference can be obtained by electronic message sent to the
following address: rjs7@univ-poitiers.fr
Scientific Council of the 7th Conference:
Florian Aumond (CECOJI - University of Poitiers) - Aude Cavaniol (CIAPHS – University of Rennes 2) - Solange Chavel (MAPP - University of Poitiers) - Speranta Dumitru (LAB - University of Paris V) - Henri Eckert (GRESCO - University of Poitiers) - Dominique Epiphane (CEREQ) - Francine Labadie (INJEP) - Françoise Lorcerie (IREMAM - Aix-Marseille University) - Gilles Moreau (GRESCO - University of Poitiers) - Jean-Luc Primon (URMIS - University of Nice) - Nelly Robin (MIGRINTER - University of Poitiers) - Daniel Senovilla-Hernandez (MIGRINTER - University of Poitiers) - Francesco Vacchiano (LAB - University of Lisbon) - Paolo Zurla (University of Bologna).
Organizing Committee:
Florian Aumond (CECOJI - University of Poitiers) - Solange Chavel (MAPP - University of Poitiers) – Bekaye Diabate (CECOJI - University of Poitiers) - Ibrahima Diallo (GRESCO - University of Poitiers) - Henri Eckert (GRESCO - University of Poitiers) - Francine Labadie (INJEP) - Gilles Moreau (GRESCO - University of Poitiers) - Sarah Przybyl (MIGRINTER - University of Poitiers) - Daniel Senovilla-Hernández (MIGRINTER - University of Poitiers) – Guillaume Teillet (GRESCO - University of Poitiers) - Chantal Vallet (GRESCO - University of Poitiers).
Métaphysiques allemandes et philosophie pratique MAPP
