easa

Dear colleagues,

In view of the IMISCOE Annual Conference to be held in Paris-Aubervilliers =
(France), 1-4 July 2025, I am collecting contributions for a panel on im/mo=
bilities in the professional field of international aid in the global South=
s (panel description below).

If you are interested to participate in this panel, please submit a 250-wor=
ds abstract, as well as a title, author(s) name(s), institutional affiliati=
on(s) and email address(es) to anissa.maa@ulb.be.=
Deadline for submissions is 19/09/2024. Please note that the panel will be=
held in person.

Please feel free to circulate amongst your networks.

Kind regards,
Anissa Ma=E2

22nd IMISCOE Annual Conference
1st=964th July 2025, Paris=96Aubervilliers and online
=93Decentering migration studies=94

Panel title: Undesirable migrants versus privileged expats=92? Exploring th=
e coproduction of im/mobilities in the professional field of international =
aid in the global Souths.

Abstract: Broadly speaking, migration studies can be divided according to w=
hether they focus on so-called =93migrations=94 or =93mobilities=94. This d=
istinction sheds light on a two-tier governance that restricts the movement=
of some, while encouraging that of others. However, it tends to reify the =
opposition between two archetypal figures =96 that of the =93undesirable mi=
grant=94 and the =93privileged expat=92=94 =96 both of which have proven in=
sufficient to grasp the variety of mobilities on a global scale, as well as=
their entanglements at a local level.

This panel aims at going beyond this binary divide, by exploring the comple=
x dynamics underlying the hierarchisation and coproduction of different for=
ms of spatial im/mobilities. To do so, it empirically focuses on the profes=
sional field of international aid in the global Souths, in sectors such as =
development, humanitarianism, migration management etc=85 So-called =93Aidl=
and=94 is a relevant site of inquiry insofar as it employs people with uneq=
ual access to mobility, namely: Western expatriates, foreign employees from=
the Souths, national staff, and contractual workers. While it rests upon a=
division of labour that reproduces global inequalities of citizenship, cla=
ss, race, gender, and sexuality, this professional field is also a space wh=
ere power asymmetries are negotiated.

In this perspective, this panel raises questions such as: to what extent is=
this professional field productive of differentiated forms of mobility? Ho=
w are power relationships related to im/mobility addressed in the field? Ho=
w are aid workers negotiating their access to global and local mobility?

To answer these interrogations, the panel adopts an intersectional perspect=
ive attentive to the multiple articulations between im/mobility and citizen=
ship, class, race, gender, and sexuality. It welcomes contributions address=
ing the global and local im/mobilities of international aid workers, throug=
h the possible (but not limited) lens of: professional categories and work =
statuses (expatriation, brokerage=85), narratives of identification and dis=
tinction, daily practices and experiences. Special attention will be paid t=
o contributions dealing with: =93in-between=94 positions of racialised West=
ern expatriates and expatriates from the Souths, security and differential =
exposure to risk, relationships of power, mutual dependency and intimacy am=
ong workers. Priority will be given to qualitative research and authors dem=
onstrating reflexivity regarding their position in the field.

Convener: Anissa Ma=E2, postdoctoral researcher F.R.S.-FNRS, Universit=E9 l=
ibre de Bruxelles

Dr. Anissa Ma=E2
Postdoctoral researcher F.R.S.-FNRS - Universit=E9 libre de Bruxelles
FWA Affiliated Research Fellow - University of Oxford