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Call for Papers for the MIMAP closing conference ,
"Irregularly staying Migrants: Empirical Findings and Methodological Advances"
Managing irregularity is a central issue in the political debate on effective migration management. The complexities and challenges associated with irregular migration require a multifaceted approach to research and policy-making. In Germany, the government has recently implemented concrete measures to reduce the number of irregularly staying migrants. Thereby, it is pursuing two main strategies: first, the "opportunity residency law" aims to provide pathways to legal residency; second, measures such as the "return improvement law" are intended to expedite the departure of those required to leave. The actual impacts of these regulations have yet to be studied.
This conference aims to bring together researchers from various disciplines and methodological backgrounds (qualitative, quantitative, ethnography, mixed-methods), who empirically address irregularly staying migrants or apply innovative methodological approaches to study explicitly hard-to-reach migrant groups. Thereby, we seek to provide a platform for the presentation of empirical findings and methodological approaches that contribute to a better understanding of irregularly staying migrants, and that can inform asylum and migration policy. By "irregularly staying migrants" we refer to persons "without any legal residence status in the country they are residing in" (Kraler & Ahrens, 2023), irrespective of their way into irregularity and regardless of whether they are known to the authorities or not.
The MIMAP research project
In the MIMAP research project ("Feasibility study on the im-/mobility of people obliged to leave Germany"), we explored the im-/mobility trajectories (Peitz, 2023), aspirations (Johnson forthcoming 2024; Stache, Johnson, Peitz, Carwehl, forthcoming 2025), and living situations of rejected asylum seekers (Stache, 2024). Additionally, the project probed the applicability of an app-based respondent-driven sampling (RDS) to survey this target group (Peitz, Stache, Johnson, 2024).
Themes and Topics
We welcome submissions on various topics related to irregular migrants, including but not limited to the following questions, ideally with implications for practitioners or policy makers:
Ways into and out of irregularity: What are recent estimations of irregular migration stocks and flows, or trends and forecasts on the local, national or international level? What are the implications of terminating an irregular stay by voluntary return, deportation, onward migration, or regularization? Are there specific patterns, and do these patterns change over time or in consequence of new laws?
Integration, well-being and everyday life: Under what conditions (e.g. housing, employment) do irregularly staying migrants live? How does the obligation to leave the country affect social participation, identity, life satisfaction, and health? What role do agency, social networks, and discrimination play? How do irregularly staying migrants experience phases of activity and passivity? What inequalities exist among them, e.g. concerning gender?
Agency, networks, and negotiating im-/mobility: How salient is the negotiation of return or onward migration in everyday life and how actively is a further stay in irregularity negotiated? Which formal and informal actors are involved in individual negotiations about staying or leaving? What information and which external factors are relevant for the decision-making process? Do im-/mobility aspirations change in the course of irregularity?
Methodological and ethical reflections: What are promising innovative approaches, 'do's and don'ts' of empirical research with hard-to-reach, hidden and/or vulnerable migrant groups? How to comprehensibly and ethically correctly guarantee issues of privacy and data protection? What is the role and responsibility of researchers working with such groups? What are opportunities and risks of using digital research tools (web, app, social media)? How can response rates, coverage, representativeness and data quality be improved?
Submission Guidelines & Organizational Matters
- Abstracts of max. 300 words (preferably in English) should be submitted via the pdf form "MIMAP closing conference: Submission form" by November 30, 2024. Authors of accepted abstracts will be notified by January 31, 2025.
- This call is also open to work-in-progress contributions.
- Formats of presentations are oral and poster presentations.
- Limited places are available for people who are not actively contributing with a presentation or poster. We will provide information on registration in spring 2025.
- Participation is free of charge. Travel and accommodation costs must be covered by the participants.
- The conference will feature a keynote address by a leading expert in the field of migration studies and will give participants the opportunity to engage with cutting-edge research and to network with peers.
- If you have any questions, please contact: mimap.conference[at]bamf.bund.de