News Archive November 2007
30/11/2007
Conflict and Cities and the Contested State has begun recruiting for its graduate programme
Briefly: Six doctoral studentships, starting September 2008, will be offered as part of our ESRC Large Grant. PhD research will be oriented to the central themes of the overall research project, focusing on cities affected by ethno-national conflict in states with contested boundaries. The six studentships are based, two each, in the Universities of Cambridge (Architecture, Urbanism) directed by Dr Wendy Pullan, Exeter (Politics and International Relations) directed by Professor Michael Dumper, and Queen's Belfast (Sociology) directed by Professor Liam O'Dowd. Applicants from closely related disciplines such as urban studies and human geography will be considered.
The deadline for applications: 15 January 2008. Further details are available on the project website: www.conflictincities.org I would be grateful if you would pass this information on to students that you think may be interested in this programme.
Wendy Dr Wendy Pullan
Conflict in Cities: Architecture and Urban Order in Divided JerusalemConflict in Cities and the Contested State
www.conflictincities.org
29/11/2007
3-year Research Post in Transport & Society, University of the West of England, Bristol
*** Examining what happens when people and the power of the crowd come togetherwith technology to address the transport challenges faced by individuals and society***
An opportunity is available for a highly motivated and capable individual to join the Centre for Transport & Society (CTS) at the University of the West of England, Bristol. CTS has a team of over 20 individuals with a shared aim to improve and promote understanding of the inherent links between lifestyles and personal travel in the context of continuing social and technological change. The group combines expertise in travel behaviour, transport planning and policy with expertise from the social sciences including geography, psychology and sociology. CTS is leading a major new 5-year study to investigate the creative ways in which individuals and "the crowd" are devising (potential) solutions, mediated through information and communication technologies, to the challenges and problems they face in relation to everyday mobility. The study in turn aims to better understand within the field of transport and mobility how such user innovation can serve as the basis for commercial exploitation and/or the realisation of economic and social benefits. This is an exciting collaborative project involving academic and non-academic partners and is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the Department for Transport and the Technology Strategy Board. The project is titled "Understanding user innovation - unanticipated applications of existing Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS)" -abbreviated to "User Innovation".
A 3-year full-time post is now available for a research associate or fellow to work within CTS on the project alongside Professor Glenn Lyons and Dr Juliet Jain. Further details and an application form can be obtained via http://www.transport.uwe.ac.uk The salary for the post will be in the range £20,723 - £32,535. The closing date for applications is 6 December 2007. For an informal discussion concerning this post please direct any enquiries to Professor Glenn Lyons - Glenn.Lyons@uwe.ac.uk
27/11/2007
Research Fellow in Diaspora Mobilisation and International Security
School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London
Department of Politics and International Studies Vacancy No: 100329 Fixed Term for 1 year £26,973 pro rata p.a inclusive of London Allowance The Department of Politics and International Studies is seeking to appoint a part-time Research Fellow for one year to work with Dr. Fiona Adamson on the project "Diaspora Mobilisation and International Security."
The research is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) New Security Challenges Programme, 'Radicalisation' and Violence - A Critical Reassessment." The aim of the research project is to produce a comparative study of political mobilisation of diaspora populations across a range of different cases. Duties of the post will include: the collection and analysis of data and research materials for the project; organising and administering of two international conferences; editorial and administrative duties, including the setting up and maintenance of bibliographic databases and general administrative assistance. The successful candidate should hold a PhD (or be close to completion) in International Relations, Political Science or a related discipline, have advanced research experience and a familiarity with qualitative research methods. You will also have excellent written/oral communication, administrative, time management and I.T. skills, plus the ability to show initiative and work independently. The ability to conduct research in one or more of the relevant languages of the project (French, German, Turkish, Arabic and/or possibly other languages, depending on the applicant's expertise) would be an advantage. Annual leave is 30 days pro rata per annum plus statutory and bank holidays. USS pension scheme will be available.
Informal inquiries may be directed via e-mail to Dr. Fiona B. Adamson fa33@soas.ac.uk. An application form and further particulars can be downloaded from www.soas.ac.uk/jobs. Alternatively, write to the Human Resources Department, SOAS, University of London, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London, WC1H OXG, fax no: 020 7074 5129 or e-mail vacancies@soas.ac.uk stating your name, address and the vacancy reference number. CV's will only be accepted when accompanied by an application form. No agencies. Closing date: Friday 14 December 2007 Interviews are scheduled for week beginning 21 January 2008 SOAS values diversity and aims to be an equal opportunities employer.
27/11/2007
Congreso Internacional: Patrimonio de la Humanidad, Turismo y Cambio Climático – solicitud de comunicaciones
El congreso tendrá lugar en Ibiza, del 22 al 24 de mayo del 2008 y quiere evaluar los posibles impactos del cambio climático, ya sean físicos, en el patrimonio cultural o en la biodiversidad marina como en la repercusión que tienen en la vida cotidiana de la ciudadanía, es decir en la economía, la cultura y sobre todo en el bienestar de los ciudadanos. La fecha límite de presentación de comunicaciones es el 31 de marzo de 2008. Para mayor información pueden contactar a la organización en plaexcelencia@eivissa.org o visitar www.eivissa.es
29/11/2007
The Intercultural City: Planning For Diversity Advantage
New book by Phil Wood and Charles Landry
In this new book, Phil Wood and Charles Landry ask ‘when will cities stop complaining about cultural diversity and start seeing it as one of their greatest assets and sources of advantage?’. Published to coincide with the 2008 European Year of Intercultural Dialogue, the book offers new techniques such as the intercultural lens aimed at helping professionals make the most of cross-cultural interaction and diversity advantage. Policymakers looking to drive forward such new priorities are offered indicators of openness and interculturalism to gauge how far they have come and what lies ahead. Drawing on effective policies the authors have looked at in various cities, they end the book with 10 steps to an intercultural city. Britain (and several other western nations) has had a policy of ‘multiculturalism’ under which those things that differentiate us became prominent, and people drifted towards parallel lives. More recently, perhaps in reaction to the terrorist threat, the talk is of security, cohesion and integration. The authors argue that neither approach is right for the long term, and that we need a society in which we not only live together but interact, co-operate and co-create. They call it The Intercultural City.
Many of the ideas and projects discussed in the book will also be at the centre of an international conference which is being planned by the authors to mark the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue in the UK. The Intercultural Cities Conference will be held on 1 & 2 May 2008 in Liverpool, the European Capital of Culture. To register your interest in the conference and to keep abreast of programme announcements please go to http://inter.culture.info/ICC
‘This book is a welcome celebration of urban cultural diversity that lays out new concepts and policies to enhance recognition across the social and cultural divide, but without ducking the very real challenges.’
Professor Ash Amin, Department of Geography, Durham University
Many of the ideas and projects discussed in the book will also be at the centre of an international conference which is being planned by the authors to mark the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue in the UK. The Intercultural Cities Conference will be held on 1 & 2 May 2008 in Liverpool, the European Capital of Culture. To register your interest in the conference and to keep abreast of programme announcements please go to http://inter.culture.info/ICC
http://www.unhcr.org/protect/PROTECTION/4742a6b72.pdf
28/11/2007
UNHCR Dialogue on Protection Challenges
The first meeting of the High Commissioner's Dialogue on Protection Challenges will take place in Geneva, Switzerland from 11-12 December, 2007 and focus on the relationship between refugee protection, durable solutions and international migration. The Dialogue, chaired by High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres, will examine the challenges and dilemmas linked to refugee protection today in the context of mixed migratory flows. It will highlight opportunities for strengthening operational and other partnerships in this regard. A discussion paper has been prepared for this event, and is available at: http://www.unhcr.org/protect/PROTECTION/4742a6b72.pdf
26/11/2007
Diaspora and International Security - Research Fellow Position
School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London Research Fellow in Diaspora Mobilisation and International Security (0.5FTE) Department of Politics and International Studies Vacancy No: 100329 Fixed Term for 1 year £26,973 pro rata p.a inclusive of London Allowance The Department of Politics and International Studies is seeking to appoint a part-time Research Fellow for one year to work with Dr. Fiona Adamson on the project "Diaspora Mobilisation and International Security." The research is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) New Security Challenges Programme, 'Radicalisation' and Violence - A Critical Reassessment." The aim of the research project is to produce a comparative study of political mobilisation of diaspora populations across a range of different cases. Duties of the post will include: the collection and analysis of data and research materials for the project; organising and administering of two international conferences; editorial and administrative duties, including the setting up and maintenance of bibliographic databases and general administrative assistance. The successful candidate should hold a PhD (or be close to completion) in International Relations, Political Science or a related discipline, have advanced research experience and a familiarity with qualitative research methods. You will also have excellent written/oral communication, administrative, time management and I.T. skills, plus the ability to show initiative and work independently. The ability to conduct research in one or more of the relevant languages of the project (French, German, Turkish, Arabic and/or possibly other languages, depending on the applicant's expertise) would be an advantage. Annual leave is 30 days pro rata per annum plus statutory and bank holidays. USS pension scheme will be available. Informal inquiries may be directed via e-mail to Dr. Fiona B. Adamson fa33@soas.ac.uk. An application form and further particulars can be downloaded from www.soas.ac.uk/jobs. Alternatively, write to the Human Resources Department, SOAS, University of London, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London, WC1H OXG, fax no: 020 7074 5129 or e-mail vacancies@soas.ac.uk stating your name, address and the vacancy reference number. CV's will only be accepted when accompanied by an application form. No agencies. Closing date: Friday 14 December 2007 Interviews are scheduled for week beginning 21 January 2008 SOAS values diversity and aims to be an equal opportunities employer. Fiona B. Adamson Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in International Relations Department of Politics and International Studies School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) University of London Thornhaugh Street Russell Square London WC1H 0XG Tel: +44 (0) 20 7898 4683 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7898 4559 E-mail: fa33@soas.ac.uk
26/11/2007
Celebrating the Edges of the World: Tourism and Festivals of the Coast and Sea
Journeys of Expression VII
February 29 - March 1 2008
Venue: University of Iceland, Reykjavík
Journeys of Expression VII will bring together researchers who share interests in festivals, cultural events and associated tourism in coastal settings. The conference encourages contributions from contrasting but related theoretical and conceptual approaches from the social sciences and humanities.
Communities inhabiting coastal settlements around the world have long celebrated the harvest of the sea and have appeased and appealed to the Gods of the oceans through festivals and events. The coast has also been the focus of tourist activity for many years as a liminal space for recreation, whether in large scale seaside resorts, remote and beautiful coastal areas as ports of (dis)embarkation for cruise passengers, or in fishing harbours. Here tourists may encounter community celebrations and festivities incidentally, or as packaged by tourism and cultural agencies.
The phenomenon of coastal festivals and associated tourism suggests a number of themes of interest to this conference. These include: (i) Ritual and festivity in the liminal spaces of the seaside; (ii) Festivals and performances of ocean produce; (iii) Worshipping the Gods of the sea and associated touristic commodification; (iv) The role of festivals in the development, decline and regeneration of seaside resort areas; (v) Encounters between natural and cultural worlds; (vi) Fishing festivals in times of abundance and scarcity; (vii) Port and harbour festivals as celebrations of cosmopolitanism; Cruise ports and cultural events; (viii) Maritime celebrations of shipping and 'sea-power'.
In the tradition of the Journeys of Expression conference series, we wish to encourage an interdisciplinary debate on the suggested themes and welcome paper proposals from academics from various disciplinary backgrounds including: tourism studies, geography, sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, history, art, architecture, marine archaeology, politics, etc.
If you wish to submit a paper proposal, please send a 300-word abstract with full address and institutional affiliation details as an electronic file to Dr. Philip Long (p.e.long@leedsmet.ac.uk). The deadline for the reception of abstracts is 14th December 2007. Please ind regularly updated information regarding this conference, registration procedures and (at a later stage) a programme at our website www.tourism-culture.com.
Organisers: Centre for Tourism and Cultural Change, Leeds Metropolitan University, UK; and Geography Department, University of Iceland. Partners: Visit Reykjavík; and the International Festivals and Events Association Europe (IFEA). In association with: Icelandic Tourism Research Institute; and University of Akureyri, Iceland.
Centre for Tourism and Cultural Change, Faculty of Arts and Society, Leeds Metropolitan University
25/11/2007
New Special Issue on"Mobility, Space and Social Inequality" at the Swiss Journal of Sociology
(http://www.sociojournal.ch/index.php?page=archivsuche&lang=de&searchType=issue&issue=97) is out now.
It is edited by Vincent Kaufmann, Sven Kesselring, Katharina Manderscheid and Fitz Sager and collects the following contributions in English, German and French:
Urry, John - Des inégalités sociales au capital en réseau
Freudendal-Pedersen, Malene - Mobility, Motility and Freedom: The Structural Story as Analytical Tool for Understanding the
Interconnection
Jiron M., Paola - Unravelling Invisible Inequalities in the City through Urban Daily Mobility. The Case of Santiago de Chile
Abraham, Martin; Nisic, Natascha - Regionale Bindung, räumliche Mobilität und Arbeitsmarkt - Analysen für die Schweiz und Deutschland
Bacqué, Marie-Hélène; Fol, Sylvie - L'inégalité face à la mobilité : du constat à l'injonction
Zollinger, Lukas - Sozialräumliche Konstitutionsbedingungen der neokonservativen Denkweise der Schweizerischen Vokspartei. Eine wissens- und gemeindesoziologische Untersuchung in einer suburbanisierten Agglomerationsgemeinde des Kantons Zürich
Tully, Claus J.; Baier, Dirk - Die Verschränkung zweier Dynamiken. Jugendliche Mobilität in der Moderne
It also includes 20 pages of book reviews on mobility related issues and books.
23/11/2007
Call for papes- Historical Sociology Special Issue - Imperial Plantations Past and Present
Editors: Piya Chatterjee, Women’s Studies, University of California-Riverside, Monisha Das Gupta, Ethnic Studies and Women’s Studies, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, Richard Cullen Rath, History, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa
In this special issue, we seek to stage an interdisciplinary conversation between the past and the present in order to engage the enduring logics of plantation systems. While keeping in mind that historical plantations have conditioned those of today, attention to contemporary plantation systems shows that the plantation is no artifact of old empires. We are looking for essays that engage plantations’ global reach, even when the object of study is as local as a particular plantation. We welcome submissions from all regions that have been profoundly changed by plantations including but not limited to eastern Africa, southern and southeastern Asia, the Americas, or plantation islands (whether in the Caribbean, the West African coast, the Indian Ocean, or the Pacific).
We invite essays that think beyond area studies and nationalist frameworks. In this issue, we conceive of plantation economies and societies as bringing together multiple diasporas and staging encounters between indigenous people and immigrants. Of particular interest to us are papers that consider conquest from indigenous perspectives while marking land appropriation as necessary to the development of the plantation complex. Submissions might investigate the connections, disjunctures, and interplay among various racialized/ethnic groups as well as consumers and producers; multi-disciplinary approaches linking cultural processes such as diaspora and creolization; or the effects of supra-national structures like the World Bank and programs for structural adjustment on labor and commodity circuits. We would like to see the papers track shifts in labor regimes and consumption patterns over time rather than considering them in isolation.
Millions of workers continue to labor within racialized, gendered, and sexual economies of the plantation from which the past is difficult to extricate. Essays might consider colonial, neo-colonial, and post-colonial plantations as carceral economies geared toward rendering labor predictable through everyday and extraordinary violence. We would like to foreground analyses that treat race and gender as intersecting systems of violence. We also seek papers that investigate how plantations carry ideologies such as race, caste, patriarchal gender roles, heteronormativity, or religion around the globe. What relations of power do plantations carry with them and how are they transformed in the process?
We are looking for the ways that consumption simultaneously fetishizes and erases the laboring bodies who produce plantation commodities. What fantasies of consumerism erase the corporeality of the product consumed? How does capitalism both connect and isolate labor, plantation infrastructures, and consumers? By connecting cultures of mass consumerism to cultures of production, we seek to bridge the artificial divides of metropole and periphery, global and local. How do memory and memorialization -- for example in nostalgic recreations of plantations as tourist sites -- erase or minimize the realities of historic and present-day plantations? In sum, we want this special issue to trace how historical and contemporary plantations manifest the global circuits of labor, commodities, and consumption.
Please send an abstract of 250 words by January 10, 2008 to jhscfp@way.net. If you already have a paper, please send it to the same address along with the abstract. The final articles should be 7,500-10,000 words. See author guidelines for the journal at http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/submit.asp?ref=0952-1909&site=1. While we encourage authors to use images for their articles, they have to high resolution jpg, tiff or pdf files. The issue is slated for publication in January or February 2009 (volume 21, issue 4). Direct any questions about the special issue to the above address.
17/11/2007
Survey on returned migrants in the Maghreb
The field survey on the migrants from the Maghreb that return to there countries is now completed.
The first results based on about 1000 interviews provide valuable details on the reintegration modes and the post return conditions of migrants. From October, an in-depth study based on the exploitation of these data will be available online.
http://www.mirem.eu/donnees/enquete/enquete
15/11/2007
First issue of ‘Euromed Aviation Info’
The first issue of the twice-yearly publication ‘Euromed Aviation Info’ is now available online in English and French. It features, among other things, an interview with Jacques Barrot, EU Commissioner for Transport, information on upcoming workshops and details of the schedule of survey missions that are carried out in the Mediterranean partner countries.
Euromed Aviation is a €4.99 million three-year regional project, which aims to promote a Euro-Mediterranean common aviation area and to facilitate any future negotiations of comprehensive Aviation Agreements with the European Union’s Mediterranean partners.
www.euromedtransport.org/aviation
15/11/2007
Launch of new programme on border management systems in the South Caucasus
European Commissioner for External Relations and ENP, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, together with her partners from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia have endorsed a new € 6 million 3 year programme on border management in the South Caucasus. It took place at the EU Ministerial Conference on EC programme in support of integrated border management systems in South Caucasus. The new programme aims to introduce EU border management standards, interagency cooperation between border guards and customs officials within the countries, as well as cooperation between agencies of neighbouring countries. It will focus on improvement of national strategies as well as tackle on-the-ground activities such as common border checks, and upgrading of border crossing points.
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEX/07/1010&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
14/11/2007
New MEDSTAT website
MEDSTAT II, the EU-funded regional Euro-Mediterranean Statistical Co-operation programme, has just announced that its new dedicated website is now online. The site provides information in English, French and German on MEDSTAT II, its background, organisational structure and partners, as well as on the programme’s activities, events and publications and statistical data relevant to MEDSTAT’s priority areas.
The three-year, €30 million MEDSTAT II programme objective is to strengthen the capacity of the partner countries’ National Statistics Institutes in order to provide users with updated, timely, reliable and relevant high-quality statistical data necessary for political decision-making.
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/medstat
13/11/2007
EuroMeSCo launches Call for Research Projects
EuroMeSCo, the EU-funded network of research institutes in countries of the EU and the Mediterranean, has issued an invitation to participate in its latest Call for Research Projects. Applications, which can be submitted online before June 2008, should consist of an outline of the research project and deal with a list of defined topics such as ‘Democracy, Human Rights and Political Reforms’ or ‘Security and Citizenship & Regional Challenges.'
http://www.euromesco.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=643&Itemid=42&lang=en
11/11/2007
Investigar la inmigración en España
20 de Noviembre - 18h - Programa Migraciones
El objetivo de este taller de debate es presentar algunas de las últimas publicaciones que el Observatorio para la Inmigración ha editado, y reflexionar sobre el estado de la investigación en el ámbito de la inmigración en España.
Figuran entre otros títulos, Literatura sobre inmigrantes en España y Empresariado étnico en España.
Ponentes invitados: Federico Bardají Ruiz, autor de Literatura sobre inmigrantes en España y Joaquín Beltrán, Laura Oso y Natalia Ribas, coordinadores del libro Empresariado étnico en España. Presentación a cargo de Montserrat López Cobo, directora del Observatorio Permanente de la Inmigración (OPI), y del director de la Fundación CIDOB, Josep Ribera.
Lugar: Fundación CIDOB. C/ Elisabets, 12. 08001 Barcelona.
Organiza: Programa Migraciones, Fundación CIDOB
Información: Asistencia libre con plazas limitadas.
9/11/2007
Mediterranean Motorways of the Sea: Call for Proposals
The Mediterranean Motorways of the Sea (MEDA MoS) initiative has issued a call for proposals for pilot projects connecting the South and East Mediterranean and Europe. The projects will aim at improving intermodal/maritime transport axes and schemes, and increasing the use of maritime routes where feasible. They are intended to serve as reference models for future Motorways of the Sea, starting with the replication of their best characteristics as part of integrated transport solutions. The characteristics of such solutions are detailed in the Call.
Motorways of the Sea, an EU-funded initiative for better intermodal freight options, relying on the integration of short sea shipping into transport logistics, is part of the Euro-Mediterranean Transport programme.
http://www.euromedtransport.org/30.0.html
Routledge are releasing more titles on a regular basis. The paperbacks will be sold to individuals via the dedicated website.
7/11/2007
EuroMeSCo Research Workshop: "Democracy and Migration in the Euro-Mediterranean Area”
In the framework of its research programme 2006-2007, EuroMeSCo held a research workshop on "Democracy and Migration in the Euro-Mediterranean Area” on 27-28 September 2007 at Pembroke College in Cambridge. The aim of this seminar was to bring together some of the researchers involved in related EuroMeSCo projects, as well as a few external experts, to discuss the individual findings and facilitate cross-fertilisation.
The workshop was introduced by Dr. Tobias Schumacher (EuroMeSCo secretariat, Lisbon) who pointed out that the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP) and thus Euro-Mediterranean relations since 9/11, and even more so since the Madrid and London bombings in 2004 and 2005 respectively, have become exposed to an increasing degree of securitization, particularly in policy areas, such as immigration, asylum and border control. In a way, it seems, according to Schumacher, as if there existed a consensus among the political elite on both shores of the Mediterranean that the way terrorism is expressing itself nowadays, was considered to be a new phenomenon that can only be countered through the introduction of highly restrictive measures at the expense of civic liberties. Whereas this trend affects the rights of third-country nationals in particular, or third-country nationals with an Islamic background to be more precise, the securitization of Euro-Mediterranean relations and policies has resulted in a rather unforeseen revitalization of sorts of parts of the EMP’s hitherto rather dormant first basket. Schumacher argued that while the unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as the numerous conceptual flaws that are underpinning the first basket, precluded the latter from being implemented properly, the recent change of the security climate in the Euro-Mediterranean area contributed to a rapprochement between the EU, EU member states and their counterparts in the South and led to an intensified cooperation in the field of anti-terrorism legislation. According to Schumacher, this is reflected, for instance, by the adoption of a Euro-Mediterranean code of conduct on terrorism, and an informal
understanding that allows EU member states on the hand to externalize – and thus outsource – areas of migration control and on the other hand Arab Mediterranean regimes to give priority to stability over political liberalization and democratization, the latter of which is the ultimate normative objective of the EMP. In view of this, Schumacher remarked that it seems as if there were at least three dichotomies that needed to be addressed: 1.) how to combine security/securitization with processes of political liberalization?; 2.) how to fight terrorism and pursue the relevant measures without curtailing civic liberties and personal freedoms and violating human rights?; 3.) how to
relate the European Neighbourhood Policy’s alleged incentives that are supposed to be on offer in exchange for reform to the increasing tendency of EU member states to clamp down on immigration? These initial remarks paved the way for the first session, which was introduced by Francesca Galli (Cambridge University) and George Joffé (Centre of International Studies, Cambridge University). In their presentation on “The Legal and Political Implications of the Securitization of Counter-Terrorism Measures across the Mediterranean”, they pointed to an overreaction that was generated by the incidents of political violence, as mentioned above, and examined whether, and if so, to what extent, this had led to a securitization of both policies and legislation within the EU. With this in
view, they identified developments in European security policy, in terms of the Union´s declamatory policy and the construction of new security institutions, as well as the application of externalisation and intensive trans-governmentalism to security policy across the Mediterranean. They reviewed the latest developments in the security dialogue between the EU and the southern Mediterranean partners and touched upon the evolution of domestic security policies within France and the United Kingdom and the Maghreb. Galli and Joffé explained that while the events of 9/11 contributed to bringing the security discourses of the EU and North Africa closer together and a common, yet
highly simplified understanding of what constitutes the main security threats, i.e. political Islam, they emphasized that this did not bring about further agreement on how to tackle this and other alleged threats, and what practices need to be promoted in order to do so. In other words, as was remarked by the two speakers, the EU and its southern Mediterranean partners do not share a unified approach to radical Islamist groups, nor even towards the concept of transnational terrorism. Ironically, as European policy-makers claim to have a very clear understanding of the nature of the predominant security threats, they persist in considering that authoritarian governments and some co-opted secular opposition parties need to remain their privileged interlocutors. Unsurprisingly, this implies that hard security concerns (continue to) take precedence
over the development of democratic states and, as a consequence, the security situation in Europe´s southern neighbourhood remains precarious. In the subsequent discussion, there was a broad consensus among the participants that if the EU and thus the EMP´s first basket were to be ultimately successful, attempts at (re-)building security regimes should rebalance Justice and Home Affairs concerns with other essential elements of both the Union´s and the southern Mediterranean partner´s external policies, on the basis of international law and respect for human rights. Moreover, participants were reminded by Georgios Karyotis (University of Strathclyde) that the externalization of threats that is somewhat underpinning the actual securitization of the discourse started already before 9/11, and they agreed that it is increasingly difficult to reverse that trend, as it was considered to be highly ideologized. The second session, introduced by Galit Palzur (Hebrew University of Jerusalem), followed up on this debate, as it focused on “The Repercussions of 9/11 on the Asylum Policies of selected EU Member States towards Asylum-Seekers from the South”. In her presentation Palzur tried to established a correlation between variables, such as the influence of public opinion, the power of
interest groups, the overall economic situation in countries such as Germany, France and the United Kingdom, the relationship of the country in question with the US, and thus the degree to which these countries may be exposed to a terrorist attack, and how these factors would impact upon individual asylum policies. Based on this matrix, she argued that the events of 9/11 represented a turning point with respect to asylum policies especially in France and Germany although measures, such as the Debré Laws, the Chèvenement Laws and the “Sicherheitspaket I”, were introduced already ahead of the terrorist attacks in the US. Furthermore, she maintained that security concerns had increasingly shaped asylum policies particularly vis-à-vis Muslim asylum-seekers and pointed to the declining approval rate of asylum seekers in the countries under study. This sparked a debate over the feasibility of the applied variables, and there was widespread agreement that it is crucial to distinguish between refugees and migrants and to abandon the somewhat artificial and analytically problematic distinction between Muslim and non-Muslim asylum-seekers. In the third session, Xavier Aragall (IEMed, Barcelona) gave an overview of an ongoing EuroMeSCo project on “New Directions on National Immigration Policies: the Development of the External Dimension and its Linkage with the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership” and raised the question to what extent EMP states are externalizing their policies and which role the EMP plays in such a process. While Aragall argued that the Euro-Mediterranean framework should be utilized as
a system of arbitration of sorts with respect to the identification of commonly accepted solutions to shared problems in the field of migration, it was stressed by others that a higher degree of Europeanization may not imply a higher level of coherence with the southern Mediterranean partners. In this context, it was pointed out by some participants that the governmental elite of most of the southern Mediterranean partner countries do play a rather active role and implicitly provided the basis for the EU to externalise and adopt tighter security measures in the wake of 9/11, as many of the southern leaders had already anticipated the development of the current securitization discourse some years ago when they themselves pointed to the phenomenon of transnational violence.
In view of these presentations and comments, the participants reached the conclusion that the time has come to “deconstruct the constructed”, i.e. to de-securitize the current discourse that conceives of migrants both as potential threats to the stability and homogeneity of European (and southern Mediterranean) societies, and as potential terrorists. According to the participants, this must go hand in hand with a Euro-Mediterranean-wide debate about common security governance that is based upon the safeguarding of individual rights, greater accountability of governments and thus real transparency of security/counter-terrorism measures.
5/11/2007
EuroMed Aviation project holds Air Traffic Management Workshop
The next EuroMed Aviation project seminar takes place at the headquarters of Eurocontrol in Brussels, Belgium on 6-8 November 2007. Entitled Pan-European Functions, the three-day Air Traffic Management (ATM) workshop will address three mainl topics related to Eurocontrol: the Central Flow Management Unit (CFMU), the European Aeronautical Data Base (EAD) and the Central Routes Charge Office (CRCO).
The EuroMed Aviation project, financed by the MEDA regional programme with up to €4.99 million over three years, aims to promote the emergence of a Euro-Mediterranean airspace and to facilitate any future negotiations of comprehensive Euro-Mediterranean Aviation Agreements with the Mediterranean partner countries.
http://www.euromedtransport.org/
2/11/2007
Balancing Tourism Development and Cultural Site Preservation
Along the Red Sea Coast
The UC Berkeley Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Colloquium presents:
Amir H. Gohar, Planner
Weds, Nov. 14, 1:05-2:00 PM
Room 315A, 221 Wurster Hall
University of California, Berkeley
Mass tourism expansion is becoming a threat to all the environmental resources in the Egyptian southern Red Sea region, including the area's biodiversity and cultural assets. While there are defenders of biodiversity, there are few defenders of cultural resources. Egyptian planner Amir H. Gohar will speak about introducing a new scientific approach that not only complements existing environmental preservation efforts but also offers an economically sustainable solution to maintain and preserve cultural assets.
NOTE: This event is part of the Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Colloquium Series, coordinated by TSWG Core Member Caroline Chen. You have received this announcement as a subscriber to the Tourism Studies Working Group's email list.
For more information about the series, write to LAEP.colloquium@berkeley.edu or visit them on the web at http://laep.ced.berkeley.edu/events/colloquium.
3/11/2007
The 14 Nordic Migration Researchers Conference '"Borders and Boundaries"
Time: November 14-16, 2007
Place: Bergen, Norway.
Deadlines:Submission of abstracts: 15 September Submission of paper: 15 October
Conference program now available!
The 14th Nordic Migration Researcher Conference will be hosted by IMER/UiB at the University of Bergen. The theme for the Nordic Migration Researcher Conference points to issues of sovereignty, demarcation, distinction, exclusion and discrimination, but also to issues of transience, communication across distinction, and acceptance. Aspects of 'the global turn' and the Europeanization of Europe, not least as manifest in migration and migrant populations, have brought border and boundary issues to the forefront not only in social science and humanities scholarship, but also placed them with exceptional prominence on the political agenda. The conference will be organized in plenaries, subplenaries, and workshops.
For each of the three days, the plenaries will focus around a specific topic. The following topics have been defined: Transnationalism and the relevance of borders Specifically, the relevance of state/European borders in our attempts to understand migratory movements and migrant population 'integration'. What reshapings of the sovereignty regimes do we see, and why? Do we see a development towards a sociology of mobility? Or do we see a re-nationalization within Europe? Borders, boundaries and identity construction are crucial issues here.
Speakers:
*Jonathon Moses, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
*John Urry, Lancaster University, UK
Mobility and gender
Increasingly, there has been a stronger and much needed focus on gender within studies in international migration and ethnic relations. This plenary will deal with, and tie together, some ways in which gender constructions are tied to imaginaries of community, and gendered distinctions in agency and the quality of life.
Speakers:
*Uli Linke, Rochester Institute of Technology, USA
*Laura Agustín, London Metropolitan University, UK
*Anja Bredal, Institute for Social Research, Norway
Globalizing idioms and human rights
Increasingly, globalizing and essentializing idioms, especially religious and ethnic ones, have been seen as major impediments to reasoned resolutions to conflicts and controversies. These idioms have been largely contrasted with human rights perspectives. The plenary will explore these issues, with particular attention also to the essentializing dimensions in the human rights discourses.
Speakers:
*Anne Norton, University of Pennsylvania, USA
*Howard Adelman, Griffith University, Australia
*Bruce Kapferer, University of Bergen, Norway The Organizers welcome abstracts and paper submissions!
Please check out the workshop list <http://www.imer.uib.no/14Nordic/workshops/index.htm> and note which workshop you prefer to contribute to when submitting your abstract. Abstracts will only be accepted through online submission.
Conference programme can be viewed here <http://www.imer.uib.no/14Nordic/programme.htm>
For questions about the academic program contact Knut Hidle <mailto:Knut.Hidle@agderforskning.no> or Yngve Lithman <mailto:Yngve.Lithman@sfu.uib.no>
For general queries, comments or proposals please contact Kjersti Skjervheim <mailto:Kjersti.Skjervheim@global.uib.no> For more information please visit the conference web page <http://www.imer.uib.no/14Nordic/index.htm> <http://www.imer.uib.no/index.htm>
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