Important dates
Submission of abstracts: Deadline extended to 23 January 2017
Announcement of selected papers: 30 January 2017
Submission of full papers: 13 March 2017
Workshop date : 27 March 2017
Background
Though the movement of people in pursuit of work is not new, labour migration appears to be a growing phenomenon in the South Asian region. What’s more, empirical studies as well as papers analyzing government data have shown that migration is not a simple movement from village to city in this region, but involves multiple streams (rural-rural, rural-urban, urban-rural and urban-urban) and patterns including short-term, iterative, permanent and return migration (Agrawal, Chandrasekhar, & Gandhi, 2015; Chandrasekhar & Sharma, 2014). Moreover, short-distance migration and longer distance movements across regions within the same country and even across borders are all part of an increasingly complex migration landscape.
Van Hear’s (2010) enquiry on how human mobility is embedded in processes of social transformation, and debates that alternate between optimistic and pessimistic positions while linking labour migration with development dynamics (Gamlen, 2014), have been some starting points for this workshop. While this exploration has occurred largely in the context of international migration, this appears to be a good moment to look as well at the intersections of labour migration and social change in the context of internal migration and regional migrations within South Asia, in both sending and receiving communities.
Scholars have recently observed how mobility has substantially transformed the ‘rural’ quality of Indian villages that send migrants, especially in the domains of social mobility, poverty, land ownership, non-farm activities, thus blurring the lines between urban and rural space (Himanshu et al 2016 ; Jodhka, 2016). However issues of social transformation in small towns, in relation to labor outmigration, remain lesser known. As far as issues of economic integration of immigrants are concerned, academic papers and documentations of initiatives have raised concerns, among others, over economic literacy, political, labour and housing rights (Thieme et al., 2005), the role of social networks(Fernandes & D, 2011), and safety and mobility issues especially from a gendered perspective (Banerjee & Raju, 2009). Stakes of social integration and assimilation issues have received less attention in general in the South Asian context.
About the workshop
This workshop offers a platform for young researchers, scholars and practitioners to share thoughts and receive feedback on current research about labour migration and the social changes it induces in sending and receiving communities. We invite papers from PhD scholars as well as young researchers and practitioners engaged with issues of migration and social change. The papers may be theoretical or empirical, qualitative or quantitative in their approach, but must rely on in-depth knowledge of labour migration, and clearly eludicate the link between migration and social change. Recognizing that social changes encompass a wide array of social dynamics, papers may encompass themes related to, but not exclusive to poverty, livelihoods, emerging labor market opportunities, social mobility, access to migration opportunity, inequality, caste relations, gender, spatial changes, etc.
Accepted papers will be invited to make presentations approximately 15 minutes-long at the workshop. Discussants and panel chairpersons will be reputable academicians and practitioners working in the field of labour migration in a social sciences context. The workshop will offer participants an opportunity to get valuable feedback from experts, but also interact and make connections with peers interested in the field of migration. Limited funds are available to support travel and accommodation for out-of-station scholars, and will be decided on a case-by-case basis.
Interested researchers must send abstracts (of up to a 1000 words) and a current CV to Mukta Naik (mukta@cprindia.org) and Tristan Bruslé (tristan.brusle@csh-delhi.com). Abstracts must include a problem/research statement, methods and approaches, key findings and analysis.
About the organisers
The Centre for Policy Research (CPR) has been one of India’s leading public policy think tanks since 1973. The Centre is a non-profit, non-partisan independent institution dedicated to conducting research that contributes to the production of high quality scholarship, better policies, and a more robust public discourse about the structures and processes that shape life in India.
The Centre for Social Sciences and Humanities (CSH) is part of a network of research centres of the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Located in New Delhi, it seeks to examine the various transition processes that affect India and the South Asian region along with the impacts of globalization. The research fields cover the entire spectrum of Social Sciences and Humanities (economics, political science, international relations, international law, geography, demography, sociology, anthropology and other areas), with a focus on the study of contemporary dynamics of development in India and South Asia.
SHRAMIC is a multi-stakeholder project that brings together academia and NGOs to study migration related issues. Besides CPR, other partners of SHRAMIC include the Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research (IGIDR), National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) and IRIS Knowledge Foundation (IRIS-KF), supported by Tata Trusts.
