Call for Proposals: PDRI Conference on Migration

Call for Proposals: Penn Development Research Initiative (PDRI) Conference entitled “Barriers and Bridges to Immigrants’ Integration”

Deadline for submission: February 15, 2021

Application form: https://rb.gy/iaznki

More information: The Penn Development Research Initiative (PDRI) is announcing a call for paper proposals for a Conference entitled “Barriers and Bridges to Immigrants’ Integration”. The conference is planned to take place online on Friday, May 7, 2021.

The conference will explore the consequences of immigration and returned migration, focusing on the mechanisms that constrain or enable immigrants’ economic, political, and cultural integration.

We seek to gather a multidisciplinary group of scholars doing thought-provoking research in less-developed countries, but also studying ethnic minority and immigrant groups in advanced industrial societies. Specifically, we are interested in papers that are grounded in theory while also providing rigorous and original empirical analyses addressing questions of practical, normative, and policy importance:

• Which policies and programs (e.g., legalization policies, language accommodation, housing and settlement programs) promote the economic, political and cultural integration of immigrants?
• How do citizenship policies and immigrants’ right to vote alter the political landscape of host societies, and what does that entail for ethnic minority and immigrant groups’ political representation?
• Do host populations discriminate against immigrants and why? What is the relationship between discrimination and successful integration?
• Which interventions can successfully ameliorate such discrimination and foster inclusionary attitudes?

The goal of the conference is to facilitate a deeper understanding of these questions and will propose answers that will inform the academic literature and policy making. The conference will include 20-minute presentations of papers, discussant feedback, and audience Q&A.

Interested scholars should submit one-page abstracts for consideration by February 15, 2021. Paper drafts must be submitted by April 23, 2021 in order to be accepted in the program. We welcome applications from researchers in countries around the world.

One-page abstracts may be submitted through the following link: https://rb.gy/iaznki

The conference will be open to the general public, conditional on registration. We plan to circulate registration forms closer to the event, once the agenda is finalized.

We look forward to receiving your proposals!

Guy Grossman, University of Pennsylvania

Stephanie Zonszein, University of Pennsylvania

Please direct questions to pdri-info@sas.upenn.edu