Writing Retreat
Date: 8-9 May, 2025
Location: University of Hildesheim, Germany
Organizers: Migration Policy Research Group, University of Hildesheim (Zeynep Aydar) & the IMISCOE SC on Migration Policy and Governance (Maria Schiller & Cathrine Talleraas)
The dynamics of migration governance at the local level have become a central point of scholarly and policy discussions. What particularly becomes more common is the research on smaller localities and rural geographies. This call invites researchers who explore how migration policies and debates, often framed at national and supranational levels, are interpreted, contested, or transformed at the local level, revealing nuanced interactions within multi-level governance frameworks. At the same time, these interactions and local level responses are situated within the broader context of a global polycrisis—the intersection of overlapping and reinforcing crises such as climate change, economic instability, and geopolitical conflicts. These crises are reshaping the capacities, roles, and frameworks of state and local level actors, prompting questions about the transformation of the state and the concept of resilience in governance systems. Furthermore, the transformation from government and governance and the other way around invites a re-evaluation of power distribution and accountability in policy-making processes. This call aims to explore these interconnected themes, addressing how states and localities adapt to challenges and opportunities in governance. Through a multidisciplinary lens, contributions will illuminate the entangled dynamics of migration governance crisis-driven policy evolution, and shifting paradigms of governance and statehood.
Accordingly, the IMISCOE Standing Committee of Migration Politics and Governance, in cooperation with the Migration Policy Research Group at the University of Hildesheim, invites submissions addressing the aforementioned topics for its upcoming Writing Retreat. The event will be held on 8th-9th May 2024 in the city of Hildesheim, Germany. This retreat provides a unique opportunity for migration researchers to engage in intensive writing sessions and to receive valuable peer-to-peer feedback. Although all levels of researchers may attend, we strongly encourage early career
researchers and PhD students to apply. We welcome submissions that explore recent developments in migration and diversity governance in empirically and/or theoretically rich ways. We particularly welcome papers which analyze governance processes in the Global South, although contributions on localities in the Global North are highly appreciated too. Papers should address one or more of the following aspects:
• Local Level Migration Governance Exploring especially smaller localities and rural geographies as case studies, including local responses to migration debates and policies applied on levels above.
• Investigating the diverse policy implementations in the frame of multi-level governance
• Polycrisis & Transformation of the state: Investigating the impact of multiple intertwined “crisis” on state and policy making. A focus might be put on the transformation of state or the “resilient state”.
• Transformation of focus from Government to Governance, and Vice Versa: Impacts and consequences
Submission Guidelines
Proposals should include a paper title, a 250-word abstract that outlines the basic paper idea, and the name(s), affiliation(s), and contact details of the author(s). We strongly encourage authors to highlight the conceptual and methodological novelty of their contribution.
Abstracts must be submitted by 31.01.2025 to
Accepted papers must be at a draft stage at least one week prior to the Writing Retreat. Participants are expected to prepare a very short presentation of their paper for the retreat.
There is no registration fee, and the organizers will cover lunch and a writing-retreat dinner. The organizers will also compensate all (non-Hildesheim based) participants with a lumpsum of €250 to contribute to travel expenses and accommodation. If in need of additional support, the applicant should inform the organizers upon submission (e.g., early career or researchers from the Global South).
Join us in this collaborative and stimulating environment to advance your research and engage with fellow scholars in the field of migration politics and governance. We look forward to your contributions!