Feminist geographies, gender relations and economic migration: organisations, networks and strategies

Call for papers "Feminist geographies, gender relations and economic migration: organisations, networks and strategies"

RGS-IBG Annual International Conference 2008
Geographies that Matter?
27-29 August 2008
Marina Prieto-Carron (Birkbeck College) and Tanja Bastia (University of Manchester)

Global international migration trends have seen an increase in women's participation in economic migration since the 1970s. However, feminist scholars have pointed out that many women migrants experience deskilling and are only able to find work in badly paid, insecure and often informal jobs.

This panel seeks papers that will advances a comparative analysis of gender relations in international migration for work and help to better define migrants? gains (and losses) ? whether material or symbolic, legal, cultural or social. The papers adopt an intersectionality framework linking gender, race and ethnicity and build on research conducted in different geographical regions to better understand the role of social networks, organisations and the various strategies adopted by economic migrants. Particular attention is paid to migrants? labour market insertion and the types of sectors migrants participate. The panel aims to advance a broader feminist analysis of what women gain from engaging in labour migration by covering political organising, advocacy, labour market strategies as well as the more intimate changes which take place as a result of migration thereby linking feminist geographies from the global to the local, the private and the public.

We look forward to receiving your abstracts by 20th February. Please include the following information: name, institutional affiliation, email address, abstract of max 200 words.
Marina Prieto-Carron M.Prieto-Carron@ bbk.ac.uk
Tanja Bastia Tanja.Bastia@ Manchester. ac.uk