MIGRATION, GLOBALIZATION AND NEW SOCIAL FORMATIONS

IMER Bergen 15 year anniversary conference and phd course

Bergen, 9-11 November 2011

International migration and attendant processes of globalization, both as social phenomena and in efforts at theorization, have become especially critical for the development of social theory and analysis, notably by challenging some of the fundamental questions of the social sciences. If one wishes, as Georg Simmel did, to answer the question "How is society possible?", one cannot take for granted that the relevant object is defined within the parameters of the nationstate, nor by those of ´ethnic groups´ or ´cultures´.

In a recent evaluation report on Norwegian sociology research, it is stated that ´[t]he key question to be explored by sociology today is not, perhaps, how society is possible, but rather how to study social processes and changes at local, national and global levels (Sociological research in Norway: An evaluation, p. 17). Across the social science disciplines, it now seems impossible to imagine place, society and culture without the mobilities of people, goods and information - thus recasting questions exploring e.g. social stratification, scale, space, media and politics.

In its 15 years of existence, IMER Bergen has directed its collaborative efforts towards examining, but also reframing the fundamental questions of the social sciences, as variously defined within particular disciplines. To celebrate this 15th anniversary, we want to put to the forth the contributions that IMER research in Bergen, but also in the wider international scholarly community, has made to the study of society in general, processes of social change and new social formations in particular.

A combination of international and local scholars will in the course of a two day seminar, discuss how IMER researchers deal with issues such as migration, globalization and transnational movements - how they examine 'culture', ´politics´, ´space´, ´gender´, ´media´, ´government´ and ´law´ - through the prism of International Migration and Ethnic Relations.

A commitment to provide a strong and creative scholarly environment for students and research recruits has been one of IMER Bergen´s main vocations. In this spirit, the 15th anniversary comprises a PhD course for candidates within the humanities and social sciences. In addition to the main conference, the course component of the conference will be constituted by workshop sessions with essay presentations.

Tentative programme

Wednesday 9 November
Anniversary conference.

Venue: 'Egget', Parkveien 1:

10.15-10.30: Official opening with Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Knut Helland, and Director of the Uni Rokkan Centre, Jan Erik Askildsen.

10.30-11.00: DAVID LEY (University of British Columbia):
"Masters of Space, or Prisoners of Space? Locating the Neoliberal Migrant"

11.00-11.30: YNGVE G. LITHMAN (University of Bergen):
De-etatizing social science?: "Verstehen" and "Erklärung" in a (somewhat) flatter earth

11.30-12.00: Discussion.

12.15-13.15: Lunch.

Venue: Auditorium, Bergen Resource Centre, Jekteviksbakken 31:

13.15-13.45: NINA GLICK-SCHILLER (University of Manchester):
Title to be announced.

13.45-14.15: METTE ANDERSSON (University of Bergen):
"'Reflexive Transnationalization' among Politically Engaged Minority Youth"

14.15-14.45: Discussion.

14.45-15.00: Coffee break.

15.00-15.30: BRUCE KAPFERER (University of Bergen):
Title to be announced.

15.30-16.00: RANDI GRESSGÅRD (University of Bergen):
"Equality Equals Hierarchy – the Holistic Foundation of Liberal Ideology and Integration Policy"

16.00-16.30: Discussion.

Thursday 10 November
Anniversary Conference.

Venue: Auditorium, Bergen Resource Centre, Jekteviksbakken 31:

10.15-10.45: ANDRÉ ITEANU (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (C.N.R.S.), Paris):
"The Free Noble and the Poor Beggar. What does the veil controversy reveal about French ideology"

10.45-11.15: CHRISTINE M. JACOBSEN (Uni Research and University of Bergen):
"The (not so) New Islamic Presence in Western Europe: Secular Governance and Religious Freedom in a Globalized Era"

11.15-11.45: Discussion.

12.00-13.00: Lunch.

13.00-13.30: SUSI MERET (University of Aalborg):
“Exploring the social, political and cultural challenges of right wing populism in the Nordic countries: comparative approaches, developments and perspectives”

13.30-14.00: ELISABETH EIDE (Oslo University College and University of Bergen):
"Media discourses, migration and post-22.7-debates; a critical inquiry"

14.00-14.30: HAKAN G. SICAKKAN (University of Bergen):
"The Politics of Diversity, the European Publics, and the European Public Sphere"

14:30-15.00: Discussion.

15.00-15.15: Coffee break.

15.15-16.30: Panel Discussion: “The Future of IMER Research”

* * *

19:00: Performance lecture with artist Tanja Ostojic: "Crossing Borders".
In collaboration with the International Contemporary Art Foundation 3,14.
Venue: Vågsallmenningen 12.

Friday 11 November
PhD course.

PhD candidates, please see the Course Site for more information.

Venue: Seminar room, Uni Rokkan Centre, Nygårdsgt. 5, 6th floor.

10:15-16:30: Essay presentations.


Conference fee: Nok 500,- for two days (includes lunch)

REGISTRATION to Hanna Skartveit by 20 October 2011.

The Conference is organised in collaboration with Uni Rokkan Centre, Dept. of Social Anthropology, Dept. of Sociology, Dept. of Geography, Dept. of Comparative Politics and SKOK, University of Bergen.