From May 12-13, 2022, the international conference „Spaces and Locations of Migration“ will take place at the campus of the University of Vienna, co-organized by first members IAI, FH St. Pölten and Center for Historical Migration Research at the Institute for Rural History.
From a historical perspective, spatial mobility was/is part of daily practices. When people moved, they often did so because of better opportunities somewhere else; they repeatedly migrated due to economic circumstances, for cultural and individual reasons (e.g., lifestyle migration, educational migration), or in reaction to political emergencies, as a result of persecution, physical violence, or other kinds of repression. People were (and are) mobile in more complex ways than the once in a lifetime move from one social and cultural context to another. Their movements include ongoing, circular, or return migrations. Moreover, migration cannot be reduced to cross-border movements. A more flexible definition of migration is needed that does not overlook the relevance of permanent or semipermanent changes of residence. Its scope cannot be limited to movements over long distances or across state borders.
Permanent changes of residence are a worthy object of analysis but so are short-term stays, recurrent patterns of seasonal and circular mobility, and the practices of being constantly on the move of vagrants and traveling people. Even sedentariness does not constitute a clear-cut opposite to migration. The life course of many people includes at different times mobility as well as sedentariness – and many practices that lie somewhere in between.
The conference will raise the question if and how a stronger reflection about space and the spatial dimensions of migration/mobility can contribute to de-nationalize, de-‘ethnicize’ and de-‘migranticize’ migration research.
The conference program: Programm_Spaces and Locations of Migration
Vom 12.-13. Mai 2022 findet am Campus der Universität Wien die internationale Tagung „Spaces and Locations of Migration“ statt, die von den first-Mitglieder IAI, FH St. Pölten und Zentrum für historische Migrationsforschung am Institut für Geschichte des ländlichen Raums mitveranstaltet wird.
Das Tagungsprogramm: Programm_Spaces and Locations of Migration
