[Commlist] Call for Abstracts: ‘’Migration and Technologies of Un/Bordering’’

Extended Call for Abstracts
‘’Migration and Technologies of Un/Bordering’’
Friday June 6th, 2025

Institute of Advanced Studies, University of Surrey

We are delighted to announce this Call for Abstracts, for the hybrid[1] 
 and free, 1 day conference on ‘’Migration and technologies of 
Un/Bordering’’ on Friday 6th June 2025, at the University of Surrey.

Deadline for Abstracts: Friday 21stMarch 2025 

Confirmed Keynote Speakers include:Dr Evgenia Iliadou (Independent 
Researcher)

Migration has always been presented as a contested issue, especially so 
in particular political discourses that often racialize migrants, while 
presenting them as ‘problem’ to be managed through stricter immigration 
and border regimes. 

Contemporary understandings of borders extend beyond their territorial 
manifestations, comprisingcomplex constructs that materialise in 
physical, symbolic, and virtual spaces. The interplay of different forms 
and various scales of bordering processes exacerbateexclusion, halts 
mobility (for some, while facilitatesit for others) as part of racial 
capitalism and colonial systems.

 

This occurs both within systemic frameworks and in public discourse, 
particularly through platforms like social media, providing a fertile 
ground for the rise of extremist ideologies, across the physical and 
digital spaces. Advanced technological developments have transformed 
processes of bordering and created interoperable, ‘smart’ border 
infrastructures and omnipresent border ecosystems, with onerous 
implications on the human rights and liberties of people on the move. 
Hand-in-handwith operations on the ground, technology, including big 
data and AI, are utilised in the shaping of migration pathways, the 
proliferation of surveillance and the criminalisation of migrants and 
migrant solidarity alike.

Against this backdrop, technology, digital mediaand platforms have 
proved means of resistance too, fostering spaces of hope and 
solidarities and highlighting migrant-led struggles for racial and 
social justice.

 

As our modern world seems to become‘smaller’,and conservative, 
reactionary and far-right ideologies threaten to push communities 
further into the margins, we ask:

 

How can technology be used to escape, challenge, unmake and eventually 
obliterate borders?

 

This conference aims to explore current developments in the intersection 
of technology, borders, and human mobility to provide macro-meso-micro 
level understandings of the processes and implications of un/bordering 
across levels and scales. Understanding and addressing the role of 
technology is vital if we seek to dismantle systemic injustices while 
fostering inclusive and equitable societies. This is why, we invite 
academics, activists, artists and people with experiences of migration 
and border-crossing, to engage in discussions that explore the following 
themes (list is not exhaustive):

  *

    Physical, temporal, symbolic and techno borders 

  *

    AI and the making of (digital) borders

  *

    Big data and ethics in migration and technology studies

  *

    Borders in Higher Education and resistance

  *

    Migration, technologyand Human Rights

  *

    Islamophobia, migrationand borders

  *

    Creative, collaborativeand online methodologies for the study of
    borders and technology

  *

    Decolonial approaches to studying migration, bordersand technology

  *

    Borders, migrationand technology

  *

    Border abolition and migrant justice activism (in digital, physical
    and hybrid environments) 

  *


We invite participants to submita poster presentation covering the main 
aspects of their research. Posters will be presented as a visual display 
both online and at the in-person conference and contributors will be 
invited to do a 10’ presentation of their board and discuss their work 
in more detail. Our aim is to facilitatediscussions on the diverse 
research areas we explore and highlight the intersections across our 
various fields and themes.

The poster presentations will be followed by a roundtable discussion on 
key themes and ways of moving forward in establishingan international 
network of researchers from multiple disciplines and at different career 
stages.

Poster requirements:

·         The Visual should be easily readable from a distance (1-2 
metres). Please ensure all the necessary details are clearly visible, 
and the overall texture matches your intention (avoid visual artefacts, 
blurs, pixelation, etc., if this is not part of your idea).

·         If you plan to use text (for a title, clarifications, 
descriptions, etc.) - please use short sentences, simple words, and 
bullets to illustrate your points; use colours for emphasis, but do not 
overuse (2-3 colours are usually enough). Remember that this is a visual 
representation of your research, not a "classic" presentation with text.

·         The file should be a pdf. Size: standard A2 (420 x 594 mm).

·         If successful, please submit your poster image by: Friday 19 
April 2025.

Important Dates

Deadline for Abstracts (no more than 250 words): Friday 21stMarch 2025 

Submission 
Portal: https://www.ias.surrey.ac.uk/event/migration-and-technologies-of-bordering/ 


Notification of Outcome: Friday 28March 2025 

Deadline to submitposter image (successful candidates only): Friday 19 
April 2025

Registration Opens (free): Friday 28th March 2025 

Deadline for Registrations: Friday 30 May 2025

Conference Date: Friday 6th June 2025, 10.00 – 18.00 GMT

For academic enquiries please contact: Dr Maria-Nerina Boursinou 
((m.boursinou /at/ surrey.ac.uk) <mailto:(m.boursinou /at/ surrey.ac.uk)>)

For administrative support please contact: Ms Silfana Nasri 
((s.nasri /at/ surrey.ac.uk)). <mailto:(s.nasri /at/ surrey.ac.uk)>

[1] Please note that the online option is available only to colleagues 
from outside the UK with Visa restrictions or those who face severe 
challenges that may prevent them from traveling. If you wish to 
participate or present remotely, please contact Nerina Boursinou (at 
(m.boursinou /at/ surrey.ac.uk) <mailto:(m.boursinou /at/ surrey.ac.uk)>) to discuss 
this option. We particularly welcome submissions from the Global South.

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