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Call for Papers

32nd Annual Conference of the Political Economy of the World-System
Section of the American Sociological Association

 

April 24-26, 2008

Conference Theme:
Flows of People and Money across the World-System


Location: Fairfield University
Call for Papers Deadline: December 31, 2007

A focus on the migration of people attempts to address the migration literature and invites people who study the multiple experiences of migrants across different zones of the world-system to enter into a dialogue with world-systems analysis. The central goal of this conference is to create multiple spaces for conversations about the movement of people across the world-system and, in symbiosis, the money flows that create the structural conditions in which the migration process occurs. The four sub-themes to be addressed in four different panels are: flows of people; flows of money; the incorporation of immigrants and immigrant experiences; and the intersection between migration studies and studies of global finance.

Featured Speakers

I. Wallerstein (Yale University, April 24, 2008), Ramon Greosfoguel (UC Berkeley, April 25, 2008)

Conference Topics

The Conference organizers invite abstracts on these four sub-themes as part of the overall theme elaborated above. Paper topics could include any of the following:

1. Flows of People

  • What are the past and current dynamics of mass migration?
  • How are different regions dealing with various migration pressures?
  • What are the current theoretical and methodological issues that allow those in the field of migration studies to understand present dynamics in the world-system?
  • To what extent do past migration flows explain current trends?

2. Flows of Money

  • What is the significance of remittances of various migrants from the core to the periphery?
  • What are the consequences of Foreign Direct Investment and Portfolio Investment in the Triad as well as in the Periphery?
  • What are the implications of the recent deregulations of financial markets across the world-system, and the link with migration flows in the world-system?
  • What are the challenges related to the Dollarization in parts of the Periphery, the emergence of the Euro, financial speculation in World Cities, or the future of Petrodollars?
  • What relationships exist between the liquidity roles of banks, financial fragility, and economic growth in the long run?
  • How will foreign capital penetration impact future standards of living in the periphery?
  • What is the relation between foreign direct investments and mass migration in the world system?
  • How does NAFTA create a context for differential treatment of skilled migrants, goods, and flows of money on the one hand and unskilled migrants on the other hand?

3. The Incorporation of Immigrants

  • Human smuggling and trafficking
  • The differential incorporation of migrants
  • Racism and discrimination towards immigrants
  • The gendered dimension of migration
  • Migrant laborers and state practices
  • Public policies and asylum seekers
  • Unions and immigrants
  • The future of dual citizenship
  • The transformation of immigrants into ethnic minorities

4. The Intersection of Migration Studies and Studies of Global Finance

The last panel will attempt to reflect upon the intersections of broadly conceived migration studies and the analysis of financial flows. Theoretical and methodological reflections, as well as case studies in which both topics are addressed (e.g. the Argentine crisis of 2002; the significance of remittances) are welcome, including papers that invite reflection upon past and present challenges to the world-system perspective, most notably in how to successfully incorporate migration studies and the analysis of financial flows into the evolving paradigm.

Please submit your 2-3 page proposals (abstracts) or entire paper electronically to:
pews2008@yahoo.com

or the Conference Organizers:
Dr. Terry-Ann Jones, Assistant Professor of Sociology
Dr. Eric Mielants, Assistant Professor of Sociology
Fairfield University
Dept. of Sociology & Anthropology, Donnarumma Hall 212
1073 North Benson Road
Fairfield, CT 06824

Participants whose papers have been accepted will be provided with free lodging and free meals for the duration of the conference, which is free and open to the public. Tenured and tenure-track participants are encouraged to seek funding from their home institutions for transportation to the conferencce in Fairfield, Conn. in order to enable the attendance of additional international scholars and provide financial assistance to graduate students submitting papers. Since 1978, most papers presented at the annual conferences have been published in edited books. For a listing of these volumes, click here.

Fairfield University is a Jesuit institution that prepares undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education students for leadership and service in a constantly changing world. Approximately 5,000 students from 35 states, 46 countries, and Puerto Rico are enrolled at the University which was founded in 1942 in Fairfield, Conn., within 65 miles of JFK, Newark, and LaGuardia Airports from where shuttle service is available.

Airport Transportation to Fairfield: Prime Time Shuttle of Connecticut: Transportation to/from JFK and LaGuardia Airports, 1-800-733-8267; Connecticut Limousine: Transportation to/from JFK, LaGuardia, Bradley and Newark Airports, 1-800-472-5466.

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