Migration and Crisis understanding migration dynamics from

Mediterranean Europe in the context of economic and financial crisis

International Conference at TU Chemnitz, Germany, 19th and 20th May 2015
hosted by
Jun. Prof. Dr. Birgit Glorius, TU Chemnitz
Prof. Dr. Josefina Dominguez-Mujca, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Call for Papers
Migration flows between Germany and the Mediterranean countries already have a long history with a
number of different stages. Before the 1973 oil crisis, Germany was an important country of
destination for labor migrants from Mediterranean Europe in the context of the guest-worker
programs. Those migrants were mostly young people from rural areas, without training and with only
elementary education. While many of them returned as a consequence of the oil crack during the
1970s, a significant proportion chose to stay for good in their destination countries. After the
integration of the Mediterranean countries in the European Union, an important number of Germans
migrated southwards, either as workers of certain economic sectors, or as retirees who came in search
of a place in the sun. These north-south migrations speeded up the internationalization process of
Mediterranean countries and increased the density of transnational social networks. While those
migration flows still exist, a new emigration wave has raised public attention and concern since 2007:
the migration in the context of financial and economic crisis.
Increasing numbers of mostly young and well educated migrants are leaving their home countries,
nurturing the fear of brain drain back home. The reason for their decision is seen in the high
unemployment rate especially among young people and in the lack of career opportunities and
transparency on the home labor market. Furthermore, processes of demographic and social
transformation as well as the increasing internationalization of society may serve as important frame
elements which are fuelling migration decisions. So far it is unknown if the migratory movements in
the context of the economic crisis will be of temporary nature or if they will lead to long-term absence
or permanent settlement in the host countries.
Also the German economy and politics underwent significant transformations during the last years,
which are mainly due to the effects of demographic change. Facing shortages of qualified manpower
on the labor market, more and more companies have started recruitment campaigns abroad, which are
supported by state programs and labor market institutions. Furthermore, German migration politics
have adapted to the increasing competition for qualified labor force on a global labor market.
So far, there are only few results of comparative studies that would allow us to analyze those recent
European mobility processes concerning their durability, contextuality and their consequences for
European economy, politics and society. Therefore we would like to increase our knowledge by
integrating the existing case studies in a broader context and by this feed a discussion on general
results and further research questions.

The conference is part of a project funded by the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) as part of the program
Hochschuldialog mit Sdeuropa/ Dialogue with Institutions of Higher Education in Southern Europe, and the project title:
Migration und Krise: Das Beispiel Spanien / Migration and Crisis: The example of Spain.

Our conference, which will take place at the TU Chemnitz on the 19th and 20th May 2015 aims to
present and discuss empirical results concerning migration processes and practices, the management of
migratory moves by institutional frameworks and on public discourse about the recent migration in the
context of economic crisis. The results will be discussed on the basis of current approaches from
migration and integration theory, social theory and governance approaches to ensure an
interdisciplinary validation of results beyond the specific case study context.
We invite papers that deal with one or several of the following aspects:
Processes: Description of recent south-north migrations from a socio-demographic or regionalized
perspective; characterization of migrants concerning age, gender, ethnicity and legal status; selectivity
of migration, especially regional selectivity (e.g. effects of center-periphery-relations, reasons for
regional preference of specific destinations),
Practices and Strategies: Examination of the motives, decision-making processes and migration
strategies of migrants, in particular concerning the connectivity of career development and family
formation; long-term mobility strategies and the decision criteria for a specific target country,
Institutional framing of migration processes: political and regulatory frame, activities of public and
private employment agencies, chambers, language schools, companies and other actors,
Perceptions and discourses: Perception and public opinions of the recent south-north migration
processes from the perspective of politics and society in origin and destination countries; reflection of
migration process from the perspective of migrants; media discourses on migration in the context of
crisis and demographic change.
All aspects mentioned can be shown from several and multiple perspectives, thus integrating
perspectives of source and destination countries, of migrants and non-migrants, of intermediary actors
and the public opinion displayed in political and media discourses.
Even though we focus on empirical findings from the Mediterranean countries as source countries, we
also invite contributions that are based on research in other regions, if they are able to broaden our
comparative perspective.
Papers can have conceptual character or report from recent research. A selection of conference papers
will be published as a book in the course of the year 2015.
If your are interested in presenting a paper, please submit an abstract in English of no more than 300
words, including a short biographical note to Birgit Glorius: birgit.glorius@phil.tu-chemnitz.de before
January 31st.
Notification of acceptance will be communicated until February, 28th 2015. The final program will be
circulated in March 2015.

The conference is part of a project funded by the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) as part of the program
Hochschuldialog mit Sdeuropa/ Dialogue with Institutions of Higher Education in Southern Europe, and the project title:
Migration und Krise: Das Beispiel Spanien / Migration and Crisis: The example of Spain.