Panel: Border Externalisation: Critical Global Perspectives
Externalisation is a strategy whereby States instigate measures beyond their own territorial borders in order to prevent or deter the entry of migrants who lack the requisite legal entry permission, many of whom are thought likely to apply for asylum, stay irregularly or apply for ‘complementary’ pathways. There are many examples of States using externalisation as a means of immigration/asylum management, most of which based on South-North movements and on the Global North’s attempts to move their migration controls further away, particularly to Global South’s territories, as is the case of Turkey, Libya, Mexico, Guatemala and Nauru, to name a few. This reiterates a long-established pattern of global power dynamics between the Global North and South in which the latter concentrates the unwanted migrants of the former. It also creates an assumption that externalisation is a border control technology exclusively applied by Global North countries. Conversely to this, this Cfp aims to challenge this inaccurate assumption, by focusing on immigration/asylum controls and management beyond the Global North: such as in South-South movements that engage in externalisation technologies, particularly as routes to the Global North become more dangerous and costly, new patterns of mobility emerge, and unforeseen destinations in the Global South arise as alternative routes for those migrants who do not wish to take such high risks. At stake is not only the duty of States to ensure their asylum policies are in line with their international obligations but also the protection of forcibly displaced people. As such, this call invites anyone interested in sharing their findings and analysis on the following (and related) topics to submit a 250-word abstract for a panel submission to the upcoming IASFM annual conference in January 2025 in Indonesia:
1 – The uses of externalisation in South-South corridors of migration;
2 – The uses of visa policies and border diplomacy as an externalisation strategy;
3 – Differences between externalisation in North-North, South-North and South-South corridors of (forced) migration;
4 – Uses of ‘complementary’ pathways: safe route alternatives or externalisation strategies?;
5 – How, if at all, has externalisation changed (or how is it changing) over time in South-South and South-North corridors of migration?
6 – Race and Externalisation in South-South corridors of migration: how racialised dynamics of migration management operate in racial lines in externalisation measures.
7 – Comparative perspectives between externalisation practices in the Global North and the Global South
8- Critical perspectives on externalisation in the Global North: colonial legacies; gender, race and class intersections.
Deadline: May 25th 2024, send an email with title and abstract, your name, email and affiliation to
Results: May 30th , 2024.
Please notice the submission to this Cfp does not guarantee that it will be accepted by the IASFM. Equally, we cannot offer any support in travel grants –please check with the IASFM for availability and eligibility of travel grants. Please see further information about this conference here: https://iasfm.org/iasfm2025/