The PSA Ethnopolitics, Global Justice & Human Rights, and Women & Politics Specialist Groups will host an international conference 'Rights in Diverse Societies: Gender, Migration and Ethnopolitics in the EU' in Queen’s University Belfast, on 18-19 November 2016. The conference explores the intersections of ethnopolitics, gender and ethnic identities, and differential access to enjoyment of equal rights in diverse societies.

Specifically, the conference pushes the boundaries of three important yet heretofore separately conceived diversity management strategies: politics and policies of governance for ethnically diverse societies; recognition of diverse identities in contemporary polities; and the modalities of social construction of equality in the context of increasing diversity of contemporary politics. These three strategies are often conceived to be in tension – focusing on government structures versus government practices, as well as recognising versus acting upon diversity. However, the goal of our conference is to identify areas for scholarly and practical engagement and to push the boundaries of our appreciation and understanding for cooperation between scholars and practitioners.

The issue of immigration, and particularly immigration control, has become a major topic of discussion and policy activity in EU member states in general and in the UK in particular. What impact has migration had on the negotiation, access to and implementation of equal rights for incoming migrants, what are the implications for different groups and their practices in enjoyment of equal rights in the increasingly diverse societies? Do theories and practices generated over the past decades with regard to migrant and minority communities ‘speak to’ the autochthonous and migrant groups alike?

Possible topics include:

• The successful/ unsuccessful integration of ethnic, national, cultural, religious, racial etc. diversity and diversity management in contemporary contexts (practices of resignification and cultural translation that generate new ways of thinking about rights in theory and in practice for diverse societies)
• The gendered implication of migration and immigration (gendered debate on migration in the Western Europe, women’s and LGBTI people’s experience before, during and at the receiving end of the migration, gendered implications of accommodating migrants)
• The challenges of thinking about equal rights in diverse societies (gendered, racialised, or otherwise stratified representations legitimise rights claims; normative and institutional limitations of individual focussed approaches to equality)

We particularly welcome comparative and theoretical papers from young academics and postgraduate students. Please submit your paper proposal of max. 400 words and details (name, institutional affiliation, contact details) online at https://form.jotformeu.com/60465535184357 by midday on July 1 2016.

In case of any queries please contact the organisers:

Jennifer Thomson j.c.thomson@qmul.ac.uk (Women & Politics)

Birgit Schippers b.schippers@stmarys-belfast.ac.uk (Global Justice & Human Rights)

Timofey Agarin t.agarin@qub.ac.uk  (Ethnopolitics)