We invite submissions for the upcoming Writing Retreat. The event will be held on 25th–26th June 2026 in Cerdanyola Del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain. The retreat offers a dedicated and supportive environment for migration researchers to engage in intensive writing and peer-to-peer exchange. Scholars at all career stages are welcome.
Street-level bureaucracy has long been recognized as a central arena in which migration policies are shaped, negotiated, and enacted. While migration governance is often designed at national or supranational levels, its practical meaning emerges through the everyday work of frontline actors such as border control workers, immigration police, social workers, and other street-level professionals operating at the interface between the state and migrants. Through the exercise of discretion, interpretation of rules, and everyday problem-solving, these actors do not merely implement policy but actively shape governance outcomes.
This writing retreat focuses on street-level bureaucracy in migration policy, inviting contributions that examine implementation processes, everyday practices, and decision-making at the frontline. Particular attention may be given to how street-level actors respond to policy ambiguity, institutional constraints, and competing demands, including through informal adaptations, local innovations, and forms of engagement that may blur the boundaries between implementation and policymaking. In some contexts, frontline practices may also involve normative positioning or advocacy, raising questions about accountability, legitimacy, and the political role of street-level actors within migration governance. We welcome submissions that explore street-level bureaucracy in migration policy in empirically and/or theoretically rich ways. Papers may address one or more of the following aspects:
- Street-Level Discretion, Implementation, and Decision-Making: How frontline actors interpret, negotiate, or adapt migration policies in everyday practice as well as the implications of discretionary action and frontline practices for migrants’ rights, access to services, and differentiated outcomes.
- Problem-Solving and Policy Adaptation or Innovation: Informal practices, local adjustments, and (incremental) innovations that emerge in response to for instance policy gaps, uncertainty, or institutional constraints.
- Normative Orientations, Loyalty, Resistance and Engagement: Ethical considerations, moral judgments, and, in some cases, advocacy or resistance in street-level migration work.
- Crisis, Change, and Uncertainty: Street-level governance under conditions of political contestation, policy reform, or overlapping crises.
Dates: 25–26 June, 2026
Location: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Spain
Organizers: The IMISCOE SC on Migration Policy and Governance (Maria Schiller, Cathrine Talleraas, Thomas Lacroix & Giacomo Solano) and the TransDeM – Transnational Relations, Democratization and Migration Research Group at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Jelle van der Wal).
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 March 15, 2026 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 to the retreat.
There is no registration fee. There is a compensation available for (non-Barcelona based) participants of up to €250 to contribute to travel expenses and accommodation. If in need of additional support, the applicant should inform the organizers upon submission (researchers from the Global South). The Writing Retreat can be combined with participation at the 23rd IMISCOE Annual Conference in Girona.
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!