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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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