Area and Global Studies for International Cooperation - AGIC

An online conference organised by Paolo Cuttitta and Antoine Pécoud

[here below the call for contribution and papers, in guise of an introduction to the conference]

A key aspect of the ongoing transformations in migration and border governance is the inclusion of non‐state actors, including supra‐ and intergovernmental organizations, the private sector and civil society.
As far as civil society is concerned, research has looked at the diverse activities and attitudes ‐ from resistance to support to restrictive state policies ‐ of NGOs/CSOs, particularly in the ‘Global North’. It has also examined civil society in transnational spaces, such as rescue at sea in the Mediterranean. Recent scholarship has further documented the diversity of CSOs, from highly professionalized international NGOs to local grassroots organisations, and between human rights‐based NGOs and more humanitarian‐oriented organisations.
While conventional views about CSOs tend to position them in opposition to states and markets, there is evidence that these organisations play a more complex role.

Building upon this scholarship, we invite papers that investigate the role(s) played by NGOs and CSOs in contemporary migration and border regimes, their relationship to state authorities and other actors in the field (such as international organisations, carriers, the border security industry, militias, smugglers, migrants, etc.), and their involvement in attempts to discipline and manage migration. Other key questions include the extent to which NGOs support migrants in challenging restrictive border policies, their relationship to humanitarianism and human rights, and the impact of their activities on the making and unmaking of territories and borders.

15-16 March 2021

Program and link in the attachment.