MMC 4th Regional Conference, June 28-30, 2016  

1.  Call for Abstracts - "In the Era of Transnational Migration"  
2.  Call for Papers : "Integration of Migrants and Social Policy Issues"

Call for Abstracts
4th Mahidol Migration Center Regional Conference
“In the Era of Transnational Migration”
June 28-30, 2016

The Mahidol Migration Center (MMC) will hold its 4^th Regional Conference at the Institute for Population and Social Research (IPSR), Mahidol University, Salaya on June 28-30, 2016. The theme of the conference, “In the Era of Transnational Migration”, incorporates a broad range of topics including trends in migration within and outside of the ASEAN region, social and economic aspects of migration, and regional and international migration policies.

MMC invites migration researchers, program implementation experts and policymakers from throughout the ASEAN region to submit abstracts on this theme for potential presentation at the conference. Abstracts should be 200-300 words and should provide a clear statement of the issues, geographical focus and details of the research to be presented (if applicable). Empirical research, policy analysis and reviews of previous research are all appropriate topics, but priority will be given to recent data on issues of critical interest to Thailand and the ASEAN region. A short-list of papers will be published in a special issue of the Journal of Population and Social Research.

Abstracts should be sent to ploychompoo.suk@mahidol.ac.th by March 11, 2016.

CALL FOR PAPERS
Regional conference on integration of migrants and social policy issues
28-30 June, 2016
Mahidol Migration Center, Mahidol University, Thailand

There is a long history of intra-regional cross-border migration in Asia. More recently, many move because of economic reasons, some move as refugees and some move because of marriage. These intra-regional migrants are increasingly becoming long stayers in the place of destination especially when they are women who generally tend to be responsible for care/reproductive work. There are national level debates on importing migrant labors through registration such as Thailand, through marriage, such as in Korea, and as domestic workers, such as in special economic zones in Japan. However, there is little discussion on the social reproduction of these migrants in these policy discussions. How are they integrated in the local community, how are their children cared of and educated, who are going to take care of them when they are sick/old, how are their problems heard, how can their rights be protected, how can their identities be recognized? When increasingly more migrants are staying at the place of destination for long period of time, we need to learn how we can change our society and community to create an inclusive society, and recognize how such social transformation can be of benefit both to migrants and to the receiving societies.

Migrants are often defined firstly as “non-nationals” before as “workers”. Their precarious citizenship status makes it difficult for them to claim their rights as workers. The fact that care/reproductive work is undervalued in the formal sector of economy makes it even more difficult when they are involved in this type of work. It should also be noted, however, that migrants often contribute to care work in both the place of destination and in the place of origin through working as domestic workers; working as care workers in care institutions; working as carers/ wives in the husbands’ family under international marriage; and caring for their own children in the place of destination as well as in the place of origin through remittances.

The conference attempts to discuss the linkages between social policy and integration of migrants, especially those who are in care/reproductive work. Some points to explore include but not limited to the followings:

• How national debate ignores the actual lives and social reproduction of migrants? How do we go beyond the productivity and economy focused debate on migration and put migrants’ rights and social reproduction as a central concern?
• How do national/ local social policies define and accommodate the realities of migrants? How can social policies be inclusive for migrants?
• How do migrant children get their welfare and establish their identities?
• What are the challenges the immigrants/ labor migrants face?
• How is the nature of their problems different in different receiving countries/ societies?
• How do ethnic compositions in the communities shape the ways migrants are integrated in the society?
• How do migrants manage their social reproduction?
• What are the relations between the migrants and the receiving communities, and how are their relations shaped?
• What are the different experiences of migrants by gender, age, ethnicity, and religion?

The conference is supported by Toyota Foundation, and will be held in conjunction with Mahidol Migration Conference.

Convenors:

            Kaoru Aoyama, Kobe University, Japan

            Doo-Sub Kim, Hanyang University, Korea

            Kyoko Kusakabe, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand

            Sureeporn Punpuing, Mahidol University, Thailand

Submission of Proposals:

Paper proposals should include a title, an abstract (300 words maximum) and a brief personal biography of 150 words for submission by 28 February 2016. Please send all proposals in MS word document format to Kyoko Kusakabe at kyokok@ait.asia. Successful applicants will be notified by 16 March 2016 and will be required to send in a draft paper in 5,000-9,000 words (or completed powerpoint slides with an extended abstract in 4-5 pages) by 10 June 2016. Based on the quality of proposals, partial or full funding will be granted for selected participants. Full funding covers air travel to Bangkok by the most economical means, plus board and lodging for the duration of the conference.

Full papers submitted for this conference will be considered for publications in the Journal of Population and Social Studies.