26th Canadian Ethnic Studies Association
Biennial Conference
November 3-5, 2022
Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, N.S
“Immigration Politics, Refugee Crises, and Ethnic Dynamics in a Changing World Order: Canada and Beyond”
As we are nearing the end of the first quarter of the 21st century, there are a number of major developments on the global scene that call for a continued scrutiny but also a nuanced vision on ethnic dynamics and immigration issues.
First, the issues of immigration policy, border security, rising ethnic tensions, new and ongoing regional and national political conflicts, multiple displacements and escalating refugee crises dominate the news in many different countries – from the United States, Canada, and Mexico in North America, to the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Greece, and Ukraine in Europe, and to China, Australia, Myanmar, and New Zealand in East Asia and Oceania. This dominance has been so pronounced that the immigration/ethnic issues are frequently ranked among the topmost concerns in various nations, and the positions about those issues often determine the political directions and election results in different countries.
Second, there has been a global rise of a new right-wing populist wave, with direct implications for issues such as the meaning and possibility of citizenship, identity / sense of belonging, freedom, human rights, and justice. This is happening alongside a new wave of refugees surfacing as a result of an increased number of regional conflicts and proxy wars over geopolitical and economic interests, environmental disasters, and so on.
Third, despite the conservative and exclusionary politics in various western countries, citizens’ groups and solidarity movements have emerged or strengthened existing voices that support inclusion and integration of migrants and refugees.
Fourth, the COVID pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the discovery of mass burial sites of Indigenous children in Canada have revealed some of the deep-seated ethnic sentiments, racisms and other systemic inequalities once again.
Lastly, the new technological advancements (e.g., the emergence of a ‘cyber world order’ and the use of Artificial Intelligence in immigration decision-making) have resulted in both possibilities but also new challenges for immigration policies. Altogether, these developments have radically changed the world we live in and have created a new world order; hence, highlighting the need to revisit our existing conceptual and methodological toolboxes in the field of ethnic studies and immigration research.
This conference provides a forum to discuss the above issues. The participants will be addressing any aspect of this changing landscape, including (but not limited to):
The ethnic and immigration implications of the Russian invasion of Ukraine
The immigration and ethnic dynamics in BC and AC eras (Before & After Corona)
The place of Canada in the global migration scene
The global impact of Canadian immigration policies and practices
The treatment of immigrants and refugees; promises and limitations of Canada’s immigration policy
Regional aspects of immigration policies, and immigrant experiences in smaller cities and rural areas
Multiculturalism: policy, practice, evidence; and benefits, limitations, challenges
Ethnic diversity and cultural vitality
Implications of the changing global landscape on Canada’s immigration and multiculturalism policies
Immigration discourse at a time of rising right-wing populism
The interplay of international migration trends and ethno-cultural and religious communities in Canada
The experiences of particular immigrant and newcomer communities
Indigenous populations and relations with immigrants and newcomers
Settler-Indigenous relationship: historical and contemporary
The roles, contributions, and challenges of immigration/settlement agencies
Immigrant and refugee youth: health, education and integration issues
Immigrant and refugee seniors
Migration and gender-based violence
Refugees: trauma, survival and integration
Big data and big ideas in immigration and ethnic studies
Location
The 26th Canadian Ethnic Studies Association’s conference will be held in person at Saint Mary’s University which is located in the historic port city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, a vibrant, fastest growing urban community in Canada of about 448,000 people. Halifax is Atlantic Canada’s major educational centre and home to five universities, with a long history of immigration, settlement and diversity. Saint Mary’s University is located in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq.
To learn more about Halifax and to find out all that the city has to offer, visit Discover Halifax
Keynote Speakers
Anna Triandafyllidou
Ryerson University
Anna Triandafyllidou holds the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration and Integration at Ryerson University, Toronto as of 1st August 2019. She was previously Robert Schuman Chair at the Global Governance Program of the European University Institute (Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, 2012-2019). She is the Editor of the Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies, and chairs the IMISCOE Editorial Committee overseeing the IMISCOE Springer book series on international migration. She has published extensively on international migration, including guest editing a Special Issue on Temporary Migration: Category of analysis or Category of Practice, 2022, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies and a Special issue on International Migration in 2030, in press at International Migration. Her recent books include: Migration and Pandemics (Springer IMISCOE, ed. 2022), Migrants with Irregular Status in Europe (Springer IMISCOE, ed. with S. Spencer, 2020). Her most recent journal articles include: The global governance of migration: (2021) Towards a ‘messy’ approach, International Migration; (2020) Nationalism in the 21st Century: Neo-Tribal or Plural? Nations and Nationalism; (2020) De-centering the Study of Migration Governance: a Radical View, Geopolitics.
David Scott FitzGerald
University of California San Diego
David Scott FitzGerald is Theodore E. Gildred Chair in U.S.-Mexican Relations, Professor of Sociology, and Co-Director of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies at the University of California San Diego. His research analyzes policies regulating migration and asylum in countries of origin, transit, and destination, as well as the experiences of people on the move. FitzGerald’s books include The Refugee System: A Sociological Approach (Polity Press 2022); Refuge beyond Reach: How Rich Democracies Repel Asylum Seekers (Oxford University Press 2019)—winner of best book awards from the American Sociological Association’s (ASA) International Migration Section, ASA Human Rights Section, and the International Studies Association’s Human Rights Section; Culling the Masses: The Democratic Origins of Racist Immigration Policy in the Americas (Harvard University Press 2014), whose awards include the ASA Distinguished Scholarly Book Award; and Nation of Emigrants: How Mexico Manages its Migration (University of California Press 2009). His seven co-edited books include Immigrant California: Understanding the Past, Present, and Future of U.S. Policy (Stanford University Press 2021).
Daiva Stasiulis
Daiva Stasiulis is Chancellor’s Professor of Sociology at Carleton University. She has published extensively on issues of citizenship and non-citizenship, race, migration, intersectional feminism and diversity. In 2007, with co-author A. Bakan, she was awarded the 2007 Canadian Women’s Studies Association annual book prize for Negotiating Citizenship: Migrant Women in Canada and the Global System (University of Toronto, 2005). Her other books include: Gender and Multiculturalism: North-South Perspectives (ed. with A. Gouws, University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, 2016); Not One of the Family: Foreign Domestic Workers in Canada (ed. with A. Bakan, University of Toronto Press); and Unsettling Settler Societies: Articulations of Gender, Race, Ethnicity and Class (ed. with N. Yuval-Davis, Sage Publications). In a Special Issue (co-edited with B. Rutherford and Z. Jinnah) of Studies in Social Justice on Migration and Intersectionality: Perspectives from the Global South and North, she explores the issue of migrant disposability. She is currently completing a book on The Emotional Cartographies of Dual Citizenship: The Lebanese Diaspora and the 2006 War.
Professor Stasiulis has harnessed her research to support the advocacy of domestic worker associations, and other vulnerable populations (e.g. the stateless), and served as the Chair of the United Nations Expert Group Meeting on Violence Against Asian Migrant Workers. She has been a consultant to the Canadian federal government on policies pertaining to racism and anti-racism, migration, employment equity, political participation of ethnic minorities, and gender and equity analysis of immigration policy.
Margaret Abraham
Margaret Abraham is Professor of Sociology and the Harry H. Wachtel Distinguished Professor at Hofstra University, Long, Island, New York. She is the past President of the International Sociological Association (2014-2018). She has been involved in research and activism for over three decades and committed to promoting social justice and social change. Her teaching and research interests include gender, ethnicity, citizenship, intersectionality, globalization, immigration, and domestic violence. She has published in various journals and is the author of the award-winning book, Speaking the Unspeakable: Marital Violence Among South Asian Immigrants in the United States (Rutgers University Press 2000), the first book on domestic violence within the South Asian diaspora in the United States. Her edited volumes include Sociology and Social Justice (Sage, 2019); Interrogating Gender, Violence, and the State in National and Transnational Contexts (Current Sociology Monograph Series 2016); Making a Difference: Linking Research and Action (Current Sociology, 2012); and Contours of Citizenship: Women, Diversity, and the Practices of Citizenship (Ashgate, 2010) and Power, Violence and Justice: Reflections, Responses and Responsibilities (Sage, 2023). She serves on community board organizations, journal editorial boards and has been a consultant and advisory board member on national and international projects addressing gender-based violence. For more, see http://margaretabrahamonline.com
Accommodations
The Atlantica Hotel is offering a special rate of $125/night for single and double rooms for the participants attending the Canadian Ethnic Studies Association conference. If you are driving, a discounted parking rate of $13/day is also available.
To book, you must call The Atlantica Hotel at (902) 423-1161 and tell them that you are booking within the “Canadian Ethnic Studies Association” block to receive the discounted rate. This rate is only available until October 1, 2022, and for a limited number of bookings.
Contracted rates are guaranteed for 2 days prior to your arrival and 2 days after the scheduled departure subject to availability.
The Atlantica Hotel is a 30-minute walk, 5-minute drive or 15-minute bus ride to the Saint Mary’s University campus. If taking public transit, the #4 Halifax Transit bus route provides direct transport to and from the hotel and the Saint Mary’s University conference venue. Further information regarding Halifax Transit and route maps can be found on their website.
Other hotels nearby Saint Mary’s University include the Lord Nelson and the Westin, both which are a five-minute drive, or 20-minute walk from SMU. The Westin can be accessed by Halifax Transit’s route #29, while the Lord Nelson can be accessed by route #4 or #10. Further information regarding Halifax Transit and route maps can be found on their website.
If you would like to book other accommodations, please visit Discover Halifax for a comprehensive list of places to stay in the city.