Online Workshop

FFVT Scholarly Workshop „Forced Migration and Dynamics of Political Mobilisation: Conceptual Approaches, Comparative and Case Studies“

December 7, 2021

This Workshop brings together scholars of interdisciplinary backgrounds who work on topics related to forced migration with a particular focus on political mobilisation dynamics. Originating from social movement research, mobilisation denotes sustained collective initiatives to bring about or prevent social or political change, operating outside – yet in close interaction with – formal political institutions, whose orientation and leadership they may directly challenge (Khoshneviss & Benford 2017). Political mobilisation focuses on strategic action by individuals or groups towards extending their support base for aims that are directed towards social change (Mayer 1991). The mobilising actors often are ‘authentic’ groups – those affected by discrimination or injustice (Roose 2013; Shadmehr 2014). The angle of mobilisation research hence allows for studies on the agency of individuals and groups under existential pressure, the exploration of the range and limitations of social and/or political engagement, and the change ensuing movements bring about. It also allows for examining cases where actors make efforts to mobilise groups they consider as being affected from injustice to include them in a social movement (Roose 2013).

The discussions in the three panels will address the question: Which factors cause political mobilisation in the context of forced migration, and which dynamics and outcomes can be identified?

Languages
  • English
Programme
Tuesday, December 7, 2021
10:00 - 10:30
Opening & Welcome
10:30 - 11:50
Panel 1: Political Mobilisation for Rights and Citizenship
  • Rethinking Democratic Citizenship in an Age of Migration: The Turkish Case, Damla B. Aksel (Bahcesehir University, Istanbul)

  • The Voiceless Political Victim and Quotidian Struggles of Asylum Seekers/Refugees in South Africa, Oyewo Adetola Elizabeth & Samuel Uwem Umoh (University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa)

  • From ‘Subject’ to ‘Being Political’: The Mobilization, Political Subjectivization and Acts of Citizenship of Burundian Urban Refugees, Oluwasinmisade Akin-Aina (University of Bielefeld)

  • A Reappraisal of Hirschman’s ‘Voice, Exit and Loyalty Model’: the Case of Political Mobilisation and Forced Migration of Syrian and other Refugees in 2015, Franck Düvell (Institute for Migration Research and Intercultural Studies, University of Osnabrück)

11:50 - 12:00
Short break
12:00 - 13:20
Panel 2: Political mobilisation of host country populations for/ against refugees & Transnational mobilisation
  • Contested Hospitality: Comparing Local Patterns of Migration-Related Protest, Elias Steinhilper & Moritz Sommer (DeZIM Institute, Berlin)

  • The Outcomes of Anti-Immigration Mobilization in Europe, Kristian Berg-Harpviken (PRIO, Oslo)

  • From 2015 up to COVID19 pandemic: Is there a European Refugee Protection Movement? Ludger Pries & Natalia Bekassow (Ruhr-University Bochum)

  • Burmese Rohingyas in Exile and Online: A Digital Diaspora in the Making, Anas Ansar (Bonn Centre for Dependency and Slavery Studies, University of Bonn)

14:15 - 15:45
Panel 3: Diaspora mobilisation and contentious politics
  • “We, the People of India”? An Examination of Diaspora Contestations over Forced Migration and Citizenship in India, Bidisha Biswas (Center for Global Cooperation & Research, University of Duisburg-Essen)

  • Forced Migration, Politics of Scale, and Activism across Kurdistan, Turkey, and Europe, Gulay Kilicaslan (York University, Canada)

  • The Dynamics of Cameroon’s Radical Diaspora and Political Mobilisation: Origin, Evolution and Perspectives, Kaze Tindo Narcisse Saturnin (University of Yaounde 1, Cameroon)

  • The politics of political mobilisation among Afghans in exile, Katja Mielke (BICC, Bonn)

  •  Disruptions and Continuities in Engagement in Armed Political Movements in Exile: Activist Ideologies, Motivations and Activities, Lisa Richlen (Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel)

15:45 - 16:00
Wrap-up and outlook: Which new questions emerge and where do we go from here?