Archive for calls, 2011

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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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