Scientific Conference: Urban Memories of Migration

“As this wave from memories flows in, the city soaks it up like a sponge and expands. A description of [the city] as it is today should contain all [the city’s] past. The city, however, does not tell its past, but contains it like the lines of a hand, written in the corners of the streets, the gratings of the windows, the banisters of the steps, the antennae of the lightning rods, the poles of the bags, every segment marked in turn with scratches, indentations, scrolls.” – Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities, 1974 (original 1972), Orlando, Florida: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. pp. 10-11

“The city is the repository of people’s memories and of the past; and is a receptacle of cultural symbols. Such memories are embedded in buildings – but they can acquire meanings different from those intended by the architect. They can reveal collective myths which need to be unlocked and undermined.” (John Urry, “How societies remember the past.” The Sociological Review 43 (1)_suppl (1995), pp. 50-51)

Background and General Purpose: We are pleased to announce that the BROAD-ER project will be organizing a scientific conference in Barcelona, “Urban Memories of Migration”, which will focus on an innovative research path linking three interdisciplinary studies: urban, migration, and memory studies. The goal of the conference is to bring together scholars from different generations and disciplines to engage in a constructive scholarly debate that can help us develop scientific knowledge at this crossroad. The objective is carefully select proposals that has the potential to become a written contribution for a forthcoming Special Issue, available to the public in an open-access format. We have a small budget for travelling in case the participants cannot have funds.

Frame:

Cities are shaped by past collective memories, with migration memories influencing their future. There is an interdisciplinary intersection yet to be fully developed in urban, migration, and collective memory studies. Memory is about interpretations of the past, which influence representations and behaviours, policies and governance, and also determine the way we imagine the future. The concept of a homogeneous city is therefore untenable. Migration, a major factor in urban demographic changes, necessitates integrating historical dimensions into discussions. Migration and urban studies often overlook temporal reflectivity, which is key to understanding social bonds, cohesion, belonging, and identity through shared memories. Incorporating memory studies introduces two innovations: it emphasizes temporal continuity (past, present, and future) and addresses the undervaluation of history in migration studies, traditionally focused on space. This is essential for understanding the impact of migration memories on social, cultural, and political cohesion and creating welcoming societies. Investigating how cities use these memories to improve migration governance involves exploring the existence and intersection of multiple collective memories and identifying key actors in their formation and dissemination.

We look at papers (case study, comparative, conceptual, theoretical, empirical) that wonder, for instance:  Why do we need to open a research program bridging Urban memory of migrations? How do memories of migration impact the social, cultural, and political conception of common belonging and the creation of welcoming societies? How do cities use these memories to better understand current migration governance?  What is the place of migration memory in urban spaces? Is there one or various collective memories of migration in the city? How do the variety of collective memories intersect? Who are the main memory actors? Is there a politics of migration memory in the city?

Main themes we would like to cover, but feel free to propose other one:

–Bridging Urban, Migration and Memories studies: critical reviews

–Collective memories of migration in cities

–Migration memories and belonging and/or cohesion, city identity

–Urban memories and Migration governance

–City history musuem of migration

–Memory places, migration and the city

–Memory actors and migration in the city

–Politics of memory and migration in the city

Submission Guidelines:

-Abstracts should be no more than 300 words in length.

-Please include a brief biographical statement (maximum 100 words) detailing your academic affiliation and research interests.
-Submissions must be sent via email to [[email protected] & [email protected] & CC: [email protected]] by 21 June 2024.

We look forward to your submissions and to the enriching discussions that will undoubtedly emerge from this unique scholarly gathering.

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BROAD-ER Scientific Conference Organizing Team

Ricard Zapata-Barrero (GRITIM-UPF, Pompeu Fabra Universuty, Barcelona) and Ceren Kulkul (MiReKoc, Koç University, Istanbul)