UNPACKING THE CHALLENGES & POSSIBILITIES FOR MIGRATION GOVERNANCE – Cambridge conference (17-19 October 2019)

RESPOND Conference Attendees (17-19 October 2018, University of Cambridge)

by Aurora Rossi | Uppsala University

On 17-19 October 2019, the RESPOND project organised a conference at Newnham College, University of Cambridge. More than 175 participants attended this inspiring conference which aimed to unpack the challenges and possibilities for migration governance. 

The conference hosted 114 paper presentations, which were organized in 10 different panels. In addition, four keynote speeches were delivered by distinguished scholars. After the opening speech and presentation of RESPOND, Dr. Dawn Chatty, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology and Forced Migration at the University of Oxford, made a keynote presentation, entitled “A post-imperial lens on mass forced migration.” On the second day of the conference, the first keynote was delivered by the director of IMISCOE, Dr. Peter Scholten (Professor of Migration & Diversity Policy at Erasmus University Rotterdam).  Professor Scholten’s speech focused on an elaboration of migration governance models and was entitled “Mainstreaming versus alienation; a complexity perspective on the governance of migration and diversity.” The second keynote, entitled, “Immigration Law in the age of populism”, was delivered by Dr. Mario Savino (Professor of Administrative Law, Tuscia University of Viterbo & Coordinator of the Italian “Academy of Law and Migration”). The last keynote speech, “Agency, trauma and resilience: yet another perspective on refugee experience” was given by Professor Halina Grzymała-Moszczyńska (Professor of Psychology of Religion and Culture at the Jesuit University in Cracow and Professor Emerita at Jagiellonian University).

The conference panels provided wide coverage of migration studies and reflected upon recent debates. Panel I focused on “Governing through uncertainty?”; Panel II asked, “Who is shaping border management in the EU, and how?”; Panel III looked at “Governance of international refugee protection: challenges in Europe and Beyond”; Panel IV explored “Welcoming Culture” in Europe and Beyond”; Panel V examined “What´s working and what´s not: integration in the labour market and in education”; Panel VI focused on “Analysing gender and vulnerability”; Panel VII on “Analysing migrants’ public mental health”; Panel VIII on “Conflicting Europeanisation”; Panel IX on “Comparative perspective on migration governance”, and Panel X on “Integration and the local level: actors, practices and experiences”.

Panel about “Conflicting Europeanisation” at the Respond Migration Conference (17-19 October 2018, University of Cambridge)

In addition to the panels, the conference featured several enrichment activities. On the first evening of the conference, the documentary “Dog Years” (dir. Rocky Rodriguez Jr. & Helen Foster) was screened at Darwin College. On the second evening an innovative event, called “MethodPUB” was organized to discuss research methods for migrations studies. Around 30 participants attended each event.

Overall, the conference was received very positively by all participants and provided a relaxed and productive atmosphere for intellectual exchange. Most of the conference presentations will be turned into publications, either as part of special editions in journals or in the format of edited volumes.