Event organised by: The Global Migration Institute at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), Canada
Conference days: 10-12 March 2027
Deadline for paper submissions: 26 June, at 23:59 EDT (Toronto time zone)
The Global Migration Institute at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) is delighted to announce that it will host the 2027 IMISCOE Spring Conference in Toronto. The Call for Papers can be found below.
Call for Papers
Across the globe, states and international organizations are increasingly deploying advanced digital technologies (ADTs), from biometric registration systems and AI-driven risk assessments to mobile applications mediating access to services, as instruments of migration management. While these tools promise efficiency and innovation, they also raise urgent ethical and political questions about surveillance, accountability, the rights of migrants and refugees, and intersectional forms of discrimination based on gender, race and class. Similarly, app-based platform work, algorithmic decision-making, and the externalization of environmental costs resulting from hosting energy-intensive data centres have many implications for migrant labour and mobility.
At the same time, digitalization is reshaping the research process itself. Migration scholars are navigating new opportunities and challenges in data collection, storage, and analysis. From digital ethnography and big data analytics to participatory and community-based approaches designed to counteract power asymmetries, ADTs are reconstituting the field of migration studies. These developments call for reflexive and interdisciplinary dialogue that brings together diverse perspectives and methods to critically engage with digital transformations, grounded in migrants’ lived realities.
For the 2027 IMISCOE Spring Conference, we invite migration scholars from all disciplinary backgrounds, geographical regions, and career stages to submit paper proposals that critically interrogate the digital transformations shaping both migration governance and the practice of migration research. Specifically, the program will focus on two interrelated dimensions:
- First, we welcome contributions that examine how ADTs are impacting migration governance and human rights. We seek to discuss the deployment of advanced technologies in border management, the influence of algorithmic decision-making on migration narratives, and the impact of these tools on the rights and lived experiences of migrants and refugees.
- Second, the conference seeks to explore how digitalization is reshaping research methods and ethics. We invite reflections on the opportunities and challenges of digital data collection, the ethics of conducting research in the digital era, and the ways in which ADTs are reconstituting the scientific work on migration.
We will be accepting submissions broadly aligned with the following themes:
- Emerging conceptual frameworks in the study of ADTs and migration. Topics may include but are not limited to human-rights and digital border governance; technocolonialism; environmental migration and digital modeling; intersectional approaches to digital governance and ADTs; digital sovereignty.
- Interrogating the use of digital technologies in migration governance and border surveillance. Topics may include but are not limited to digital borders and algorithmic decision-making; ethical considerations of ADTs in migration governance.
- Socio-economic impacts of ADTs. Topics may include but are not limited to: misinformation, public narratives, and migrant rights; identities and digital documentation; the digital divide and migration data sharing; platform labour and migrant livelihoods.
- Conducting migration research in the digital age. Topics may include but are not limited to: the ethical implications of working with digital data; big data methods and tools; digital ethnography; methods of analyzing social media and other platforms; participatory and creative methodologies such as photovoice and digital storytelling.
In addition to academic panels, the conference will feature plenaries, roundtables, and social events aligned with the overarching theme and TMU’s commitment to fostering an engaged, inclusive, and globally connected research community. Grounded in a reflexive and community-engaged approach, this conference provides a platform for scholars to engage in meaningful dialogue with diverse social actors.
In the spirit of TMU’s values of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI), we are committed to dismantling barriers and promoting a wide range of perspectives by featuring participants from diverse disciplinary backgrounds, career stages, and geographic locations. We place particular priority on increasing the participation of under-represented and equity-deserving groups—specifically Indigenous, Black, and racialized researchers, 2SLGBTQ+ scholars, and persons with disabilities. Recognizing that expertise is not only academic but experiential, we especially encourage the involvement of scholars and practitioners with lived experience of migration, displacement, or precarious status.
Conditions/Requirements
Individual Paper Proposals: Paper proposals should consist of a 250-word abstract, along with the name(s), affiliation(s), contact details and a short (max. 50 words) bio of the author(s). We strongly encourage authors to highlight the way(s) in which their research relates to the overall conference theme, as well as the conceptual and methodological novelty of their contribution.
- Panel allocation: individual papers will be thematically clustered into panels.
- Limit: To enable a wide participation, only one submission per (presenting) author is permitted.
- Fees: There are no registration fees for this conference.
To apply, please fill in this form: https://www.conftool.net/imiscoe-spring-2027/
The deadline for submissions is 26 June, at 23:59 EDT (Toronto time zone). Applicants will be informed about the decisions regarding their submissions by early September 2026.
The conference will take place in a hybrid format. Panels running throughout the conference days will be expected to take place either fully on-site or fully online (there will be no hybrid panels including presentations both on-site and online).
Please note the following regarding your online application:
- When submitting proposals, applicants must choose their intended mode of participation: ON-SITE in Toronto or ONLINE.
- To enable a wide participation, only one submission per (presenting) author is permitted.
- Applicants may indicate their interest in presenting their paper in either French or Spanish should this option become available.
- Please note all applicants will need to create a new ConfTool account to submit their abstract. Accounts created for previous conferences through ConfTool will not be valid.
The conference organizers may consider the possibility of publishing an edited volume or a special issue based on papers presented during the conference.
For any questions please contact:
