Fernand Braudel Center, Binghamton University

 

 

Call for Papers, XXXII ASA Political Economy of the World-System Section Annual Conferences

 

 

The XXXII Political Economy of the World-System (PEWS) Conference will take place 24-26 April, 2008, at Fairfield University, in Fairfield, CT. The organizers of the PEWS Conference invite papers relating to the theme, “Flows of People and Money across the World-System.”

 

Keynote Speakers: I. Wallerstein (Yale U.) (April 24, 2008), and Ramón Grosfoguel (UC Berkeley) (April 25, 2008).

 

A focus on the migration of people attempts to address the migration literature and invites people who study the multiple experiences of migrants across different zones of the world-system to enter into a dialogue with world-systems analysis. The central goal of this conference is to create multiple spaces for conversations about the movement of people across the world-system and, in symbiosis, the money flows that create the structural conditions in which the migration process occurs. The four sub-themes to be addressed in four different panels are: flows of people; flows of money; the incorporation of immigrants and immigrant experiences; and the intersection between migration studies and studies of global finance.

 

The Conference organizers invite abstracts on these four sub-themes as part of the overall theme elaborated above.  Paper topics could include any of the following:

 

1. Flows of people

- What are the past and current dynamics of mass migration?

- How are different regions dealing with various migration pressures?

-  What are the current theoretical and methodological issues that allow those in the field of migration studies to understand present dynamics in the world-system?

- To what extent do past migration flows explain current trends?

 

2. Flows of money

-  What is the significance of remittances of various migrants from the core to the periphery?

- What are the consequences of Foreign Direct Investment and Portfolio Investment in the Triad as well as in the Periphery?

- What are the implications of the recent deregulations of financial markets across the world-system, and the link with migration flows in the world-system?

- What are the challenges related to the Dollarization in parts of the Periphery, the emergence of the Euro, financial speculation in World Cities, or the future of Petrodollars?

-What relationships exist between the liquidity roles of banks, financial fragility and economic growth in the long run?

- How will foreign capital penetration impact future standards of living in the periphery?

- What is the relation between foreign direct investments and mass migration in the world system?

-How does NAFTA create a context for differential treatment of skilled migrants, goods and flows of money on the one hand and unskilled migrants on the other hand? 

 

3. The Incorporation of Immigrants

We invite papers in this section pertaining to the following topics:

-human smuggling & trafficking;

-the differential incorporation of migrants;

-racism and discrimination towards immigrants;

-the gendered dimension of migration;

-migrant laborers and state practices;

-public policies and asylum seekers;

-unions and immigrants;

-the future of dual citizenship; and

-the transformation of immigrants into ethnic minorities.

 

4. The intersection of migration studies and studies of global finance

The last panel will attempt to reflect upon the intersections of broadly conceived migration studies and the analysis of financial flows. Theoretical and methodological reflections as well as case-studies in which both topics are addressed (e.g. the Argentine crisis of 2002; the significance of remittances) are welcome, including papers that invite reflection upon past and present challenges to the world-system perspective, most notably in how to successfully incorporate migration studies and the analysis of financial flows into the evolving paradigm. 

 

Please send your 2-3 page proposals (abstracts) or entire paper as an electronic attachment to: pews2008@yahoo.com 

 

Alternatively, you can contact the Conference Organizers by mail:

Dr. Terry-Ann Jones & Dr. Eric Mielants

Dept. of Sociology & Anthropology, Donnarumma Hall 212
Fairfield University

1073 North Benson Road

Fairfield, CT 06824, USA

 

The deadline to submit proposals is December 31, 2007.

Participants whose papers have been accepted will be provided with free lodging and free meals for the duration of the conference, which is free and open to the public. Tenured and tenure-track participants are encouraged to seek funding from their home institutions for transportation to the conference in Fairfield, CT.

 

 

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