Recognising Refugees: Refugee Admission, Relocation and Recognition Practices in Comparative and Transnational Social Sciences

RECOGNISING REFUGEES: Refugee Admission, Relocation and Recognition Practices in Comparative and Transnational Social Sciences

HYBRID WORKSHOP: 11 April 2024

This workshop is being run in association with the Volkswagen Foundation European Challenges Project AFAR (Algorithmic Fairness for Asylum-Seekers and Refugees)

Workshop Details:

The processes whereby protection seekers seek admission to countries of asylum, and have their asylum claims assessed, have been the subject of important sociolegal studies, as well as scholarship in comparative political science, both quantitative and qualitative. The practices themselves are changing significantly, particular as UNHCR and governments employ digital and AI tools to register claims, collate and analyse biometric data, and in some instances, undertake identity verification and the assessment of claims. At the same time, alongside individualised RSD, forms of group-based assessment, in some cases leading to temporary statuses, also proliferate. Against this backdrop, this workshop aims to provide early career scholars with an opportunity to showcase their work-in-progress, with the particular aim of honing comparative and transnational research designs in this field, and developing tools to study the use of new technologies. 

The aim of this workshop is to bring together a global group of legal scholars at diverse career stages to explore. In association with the AFAR project, the partners, Professor Rebecca Hamlin (University of Massachusetts Amherst Migration Working Group), and Professor Cathryn Costello (Sutherland School of Law, UCD) invite abstract submissions for papers studying admission and refugee recognition practices with comparative or transnational approaches, in particular:

• Papers that bring new insights into selective admissions, relocation and resettlement practices, in particular those that involve matching technologies; 
• test existing theories by applying them to new approaches and practices in RSD;
• papers that examine underexplored regimes and contexts;
• papers that avoid Eurocentrism and develop insights into practices beyond Europe and the Global North.

Submissions:

We welcome submissions from researchers examining refugee admission and recognition practices in comparative or transnational perspective.  We welcome papers from any discipline, in particular sociolegal studies, politics/ IR, sociology or anthropology. Interested participants should provide an abstract in Word format of no more than 500 words. Together with their abstracts, applicants should provide the following information: name, affiliation, the title of the proposed paper and an email address. To submit an abstract please write to (opens in a new window)cathryn.costello@ucd.ie and (opens in a new window)rhamlin@umass.edu by October 4, 2024 with the heading ‘Submission Recognising Refugees Workshop’.

The criteria for selection are originality, quality of research, and fit with the comparative / transnational approach of the workshop. We aim for a diverse workshop, bringing together a global group of scholars at various career stages (both established and early-career scholars, including advanced PhD students). Work already published is not eligible for submission. Speakers will be informed of the acceptance of their proposals by October 11, 2024 and be required to submit a full draft paper by March 1, 2025. Papers should be between 8,000 and 10,000 words, including references. 

Workshop Format
The organisers will hold a hybrid one-day workshop on 11 April 2025. 

Each paper will receive comments and feedback from senior academics as well as other workshop participants, who are expected to have read each other’s papers. 

The organisers have some limited funds to support the attendance of early career researchers, in particular those from the Global South.  Online participation will be enabled in order to reduce the workshop’s carbon footprint.