Workshop
Why and how should we research the deportation of foreigners?
Epistemological, methodological and ethical issues in deportation studies
Conveners:
Agnieszka Radziwinowiczówna and Ibrahim Soysüren
University of Wolverhampton (UK) – University of Neuchâtel (Switzerland)
University of Wolverhampton, 3-4 September 2020
In spite of the quick development of the field of deportation studies, the scholarship on the practicalities of researching this topic is still scarce. This workshop and the subsequent publication aim to provide a ground for discussion about the genealogy of deportation studies, the ways scholars understand deportation and the epistemological, methodological and ethical challenges they face during their work.
Deportation was not always used against foreigners. The international principle of law pursuant to which only foreigners may be subjected to deportation is a modern one (Kanstroom, 2007, p. 206) and even today it is not always respected (Stevens, 2017). Initially important in nation-building processes, from the 1960s, the deportation of foreigners was mostly applied during economic crises to control the size of the labor force (Golash-Boza, 2015). The almost symbolic role of foreigner deportation in migration policies began to change towards the end of the previous century. Deportation processes have become faster and the use of deportation has become more systematic. The legal means that foreigners may employ to resist their deportation have been reduced, while state actors have been given more options to issue and carry out deportation orders. The twenty-first century has seen historically high numbers in foreigner deportations, with over half a million people deported from Saudi Arabia in 2018 (Saudi Arabia Immigration Detention Profile, 2018) and almost 440,000 individuals deported from the USA in 2013 (U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2016). Moreover, nation-states often advertise the number of “removed” foreigners as an indicator of the success of migration control.
This promotion of deportation and the extensiveness of its implementation have gone hand in hand with a growing interest in this issue among researchers. Over the last two decades, several aspects of the deportation of foreigners have received close attention from an increasing number of researchers with backgrounds in the social sciences and humanities. In order to better understand the state of the art in the field of research now known as deportation studies, to secure its achievements, and to provide a new impulse for the future of the field, we must give thought to epistemological and methodological issues. This workshop aims to reflect on these two aspects of research on deportation.
The topics of the workshop will include (most notably, but not limited to):
Epistemological issues in deportation studies:
– Genealogy of deportation studies,
– Reasons behind the development of deportation studies,
– Definitions of deportation(s),
– The temporality of delineating deportation (beginning, duration, end, etc.);
Methodological issues in deportation studies:
– Methods and combinations of methods,
– Researcher-research participant relationship,
– Getting access to the “field”,
– Positionality of the researcher,
– Action-based methods in deportation studies;
Ethical aspects of deportation research:
– Anonymity of actors / research participants,
– Covert research,
– Vulnerability of foreigners / deportees,
– Risk and harm issues.
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This workshop aims to bring together contributions from different disciplines in the social sciences and humanities. The selection process will aim to reflect, to the greatest possible degree, the diversity of academic disciplines, methodological approaches and studied countries. Participation in the workshop is free of charge. During the two-day workshop at the University of Wolverhampton, the participants will discuss the first versions of their papers that will be later included in a special issue of a highly ranked international journal (title TBC). Please note that participation in the workshop does not necessarily guarantee that selected papers will be included in the planned special issue.
Abstract submissions
We welcome abstracts of up to 350 words by 21st of February 2020 at the latest. Please include title, authors’ names, emails and institutional affiliations. Proposals must be sent to both Agnieszka Radziwinowiczówna (A.Radziwinowiczowna@wlv.ac.uk) and Ibrahim Soysüren (ibrahim.soysuren@unine.ch).
Bibliography
Golash-Boza, T. M. (2015). Deported: Immigrant Policing, Disposable Labor, and Global Capitalism. New York and London: New York University Press.
Kanstroom, D. (2007). Deportation Nation: Outsiders in American History. Cambridge, Massachusetts; London: Harvard University Press.
Saudi Arabia Immigration Detention Profile. (2018). Retrieved December 15, 2019, from Global Detention Project website: https://www.globaldetentionproject.org/countries/middle-east/saudi-arabia
Stevens, J. (2017). Introduction. In B. N. Lawrance & J. Stevens (Eds.), Citizenship in question: Evidentiary birthright and statelessness (pp. 1–24). Durham & London: Duke University Press.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2016). 2015 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics. Retrieved from U.S. Department of Homeland Security website: https://www.dhs.gov/immigration-statistics/yearbook/2015
This workshop is a part of a research project ‘Brexit and Deportations: towards a comprehensive and transnational understanding of a new system targeting EU citizens —BRAD’ Nov. 2018 – Oct. 2020