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[ecrea] Call for Papers - The Broken Other: New Faces of Nationalism  and Immigration during the European Economic Crisis
Wed Jan 26 14:29:15 GMT 2011
Call for Papers - The Broken Other: New Faces of 
Nationalism and Immigration during the European Economic Crisis
Institute of Contemporary European Studies 
(iCES) and iCES Ethnography Research Group 
announces a call for paper for a conference on the theme of:
Economic Crisis, Nationalism and the Broken 
Other: new faces of nationalism and immigration 
during the European economic crisis.
The current economic crisis in Europe has 
instigated a new wave of ethnic violence, racism 
and political aggression towards collectivities 
perceived as non-indigenous; 'the Other'. This 
has been materialised in France through the 
'Roma issue' and in Italy with violence towards 
North African immigrants. The United Kingdom has 
implemented new immigration caps and across 
Europe the general rise in petty crime since the 
crisis began is attributed to 'foreign' 
populations; in extreme cases resulting in the 
revocation of citizenship and eventual 
deportation. In Greece, Albanian immigrants have 
left en-mass due to the economic situation. Even 
in Germany potent political rhetoric has 
questioned what it is to be a national citizen 
during the economic crisis. In these cases there 
is a divergence from classic theories of 
nationalism as the Other is framed as 'food', 
'money' and 'security' rather than solely 'Albanian', 'African' or 'immigrant'.
The new framing of the Other is similar to the 
category of 'threat to state' by 'non-state' 
actors against which state-endorsed violence is 
enacted and justified. Even the US 'war on 
terror' has been linked to controlling economic 
competition and resources. Immigration is 
publicly perceived as a category of threat in 
the current economic circumstances. Clamping 
down on immigration is a way of preventing the 
resolution of the tensions of post-colonial 
economic competition as markets and mobility of 
people means a divergence on how markets move 
and are controlled. However, messy economic 
competition, like unchartered immigration, is 
something that states require in order to 
maintain ambiguity and distract attention from 
the actual tensions of economic competition. Yet 
the concept that economic tensions can generate 
economic solutions is difficult to communicate 
to national citizens at times of economic 
turmoil. Immigrants are an economic risk, they 
are part of the capitalist strategy; the so-called 'casino capitalism'.
Throughout Europe there appears to be a wave of 
'econo-nationalism'; the rise of political 
nationalism through official and unofficial 
routes, from governmental policies to sporadic 
anarchistic extremism. The renewed sense of 
nationalism has been triggered by the economic 
crisis. Even liberal governments change their 
policies in accordance to public fears towards 
groups that are perceived to be in competition for employment and welfare.
At this fascinating time in the socio-economic 
history of Europe we invite papers that address 
issues of social, economic and political 
tension, immigration, political policy, 
citizenship, crisis, ethnic violence and 
nationalism within the context of the current 
European economic crisis to partake in an 
interdisciplinary and anthropological conference 
at Regent's College, NW1 4NS, London 12 May 2011.
Please contact: (triasiva /at/ regents.ac.uk) for any further information.
Dr Ã?ngels Trias I Valls
Senior Lecturer in Anthropology
Institute of Contemporary European Studies
Regent's College, London
NW1 4NS
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