Saskia Sassen’s understanding of immigration as “a process constituted by human beings with will and agency, with multiple identities and life trajectories beyond the fact of being seen, defined and categorised as immigrants for the purposes of the receiving polity, economy and society” is a very useful starting point in order to better grasp, among other issues, the gendered aspect of migration; the mere fact that the profound and turbulent experiences of migration undoubtedly affect women and men differently. This reality is recently reflected in the changing paradigm in relevant studies and policies that are gradually paying more and more attention to the gendered aspects of the migration processes and experiences in all their different aspects and levels.

Τhis international conference aims to reflect on the implications of considering conjointly gender and migration against a very specific context, that of today’s Europe. Migrants’ integration in  European societies involve a plurality of actors, including international, national and regional bodies, state agencies and municipalities, interest groups, community-embedded civil society organizations, as well as individuals. Migrants’ integration processes shape and produce new forms of inclusion and exclusion, challenge concepts of national and European citizenship and trigger significant processes of place as well as identity-making. In treating gender as a constitutional part of experiencing, managing and also understanding migration and integration, this conference will shed light not only on the far-reaching challenges, but also on the great opportunities posed by the recent migration flows to European societies. For it will consider the new social potential opened up when the diversity of gendered migration experiences, their evolving agency and empowerment in different scales (private/public, urban/rural environment, national/diasporic/global) and in relation to different contexts (ethno-racial, religious, cultural, family) and their interaction with locals in the process of their integration are considered.

The conference is the fifth in a series of events organized by the DAISSy research group of the Hellenic Open University during the past years, focusing on ways of understanding and managing cultural diversity, especially in relation to recent migration flows. It is addressed to scholars, practitioners, and policy makers representing a broad range of disciplines and perspectives, including, among others, personnel of educational institutions, training centers, social workers and researchers who interact with migrants and refugees, members of migrant and refugee communities, NGOs and voluntary organizations, public administration and local authorities’ representatives.

The conference will promote the results and activities of the WEMIN: Migrant Women Empowerment and Integration-776211-ΑΜIF-2016-AG-INTE project, which was funded under the European Union’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF). In addressing social, educational, and professional aspects of migrant women’s integration in eight countries throughout the European Union, the WEMIN--776211-ΑΜIF-2016-AG-INTE project designed and implemented a pioneering integration model for migrant and refugee women (MRW) of all ages, thus empowering them to become protagonists of the communities they live in.

The conference will combine keynote lectures, presentations and thematic workshops with the parallel engagement of MRW and women from the host communities involved in the project.

Conference Topics

The main topics of the conference include, but are not limited to:

• Towards gendered sensitive migration and integration policies
• Migrant and Refugee Women: challenges and good practices for integration
• Migrants’ integration at local level: partnerships, strategies and practices
• Adult migrants’ education: current challenges from a gender sensitive perspective
• Working Life, Social Life and Integration from a gender sensitive perspective
• Gendered norms and roles in migratory contexts
• Gender-based violence and migration
• Representations and constructions of migrant masculinities and femininities
• Art and gendered experiences of migration and integration

Therefore, this international conference will be the final closure event, aiming at presenting the outcomes of the WEMIN-776211-ΑΜIF-2016-AG-INTE project to additional stakeholders-organizations and policy-makers, by combining presentations and thematic workshops with the parallel engagement of members of its target groups.

Download:

• Conference Concept Note
• Conference Announcement