After Crises

The 18th Society for the Study of Ethnic Relations and International Migration (ETMU) conference is organized online on 2-3 December 2021. The conference focuses on what happens after a crisis – such as a pandemic, an environmental crisis, conflicts between nation-states, and forced migrations – from the viewpoint of migration, minorities, and indigenous peoples. We also invite scholars to critically examine how crises are constructed in public and academic discussions.

Crisis rhetoric can create moral categories that differentiate between those who are full citizens, those who are in need of help during crises, and those who are to blame for it. Thus, the rhetoric of crisis may enable states and groups to claim authority that they would not have in normal circumstances, and legitimate the use of divisive political powers. Crises can also bring into relief structures that reproduce inequality locally and globally. The 18th ETMU conference provides a space for analysing how crises have affected migration and other forms of mobilities, as well as meanings attached to crises during different time periods.

It is also important to note that crises can bring people together and create new solidarities between groups, as they strive to resolve the crisis together. Therefore, we invite scholars to imagine new forms of dialogue and diversity in the context of crises. How do crises shape the hierarchies of global mobilities? How do those who have fled a crisis adapt to new environments? Is it possible to imagine new types of communities after the crisis? How can indigenous people be better included in the new forms of community? What can we learn from crises?