An International Conference on Middle East and North African Immigrants and their Descendants, Diaspora/Homeland Relations:Transnationalism and the Reconstruction of Identities in Europe

An International Conference on Middle East and North African Immigrants and their Descendants, Diaspora/Homeland Relations:Transnationalism and the Reconstruction of Identities in Europe

Friday, 5 May 2006 - 3:00pm to Saturday, 6 May 2006 - 8:00pm
Venue: 
Maison Française, 2-10 Norham Road, Oxford, OX2 6/Nissan Lecture Theatre

Sponsors
Sponsored by the Maison Francaise, Oxford; the Groupe de Recherche Europeen "Democraties Europeennes (European Research Group "European Democracies), Paris; Europaeum, Oxford; and the Middle East Centre, St Antony's College, Oxford

Conference Aims:
To focus on the sending context by exploring:
(a) the perceptions, policies and discourses of the sending countries towards their citizens and former citizens living in Europe, examining the role of both state and non-state actors

(b) the attitudes of immigrants and descendants towards, and their involvement in, the countries of origin, with particular reference to the extent to which the second and third generations maintain ties with the homeland and how these transnational ties influence the reconstruction of identities in the European context

(c) the impact of conflicts in the countries of origin and in the wider Arab/Muslim world on immigrants and their descendants

Conference Programme

FRIDAY 5TH MAY 2006
(Maison Francaise, Norham Road, Oxford)
2 pm: Welcome and Opening Address (Dr. Eugene Rogan, Director of the Middle East Centre, St.Antony's College)
2.15 - 4.15 pm: Session One Chair: Catherine de Wenden
Leo Lucassen (University of Leiden, the Netherlands)
"Poles and Turks in the German Ruhr Area (1870-2000): A diachronic-convergent comparison"
Thomas Lacroix (University of Warwick, UK)
"The Moroccan State and the migrant organisations in Europe: from control to participation"
Gamze Avci (University of Leiden, the Netherlands)
"The changing orientations of Turkish migrant organisations in the Netherlands"
Discussion

4.15-4.45 pm: Tea

4.45-6.30 pm: Session Two Chair: Hein de Haas
Soha Abboud (Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain)
"University Studies as an Element of Integration"
Myriam Cherti (University of Sussex, UK)
"Transnational lives and 'local' identities: the case of Moroccans in London"

Discussion

7.30 pm: Conference Dinner for Speakers

SATURDAY 6TH MAY 2006
(Lecture Theatre, St.Antony's College, Oxford)
9.30 am: Welcome (Dr P.C.R. Flather, Secretary-General, Europaeum, Oxford)
9.40-11.00 am: Session Three Chair: Michael Willis
Catherine de Wenden (CERI-Sciences-po, Paris, France)
"Muslim population in France: Actors and objects of political discourse, 1974-2005"
Sonia Tebbakh (Maison Francaise, Oxford)
"The relationship between North African descendants and their country of origin: the end of idealism"

Discussion

11.00-11.30 am: Coffee

11.30 am-1pm: Session Four Chair: Dr Sonia Tebbakh
Dirk Jacobs (Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium)
"Political participation of Moroccan immigrants in Brussels"
Eva Ostergaard-Nielsen (Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain)
"The dynamics of migrants' local and transnational participation in the Mediterranean"

Discussion

1.00-2.30 pm: Lunch

2.30-4 pm: Session Five Chair: Leo Lucassen
Kira Kosnick (University of Nottingham Trent, UK)
"Struggle over Representation: Diaspora media strategies of Alevi and Kurdish migrants from Turkey"
Anja van Heelsum (IMES, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands)
"Moroccan youngsters: Berber identity and transnational ties"
Ann-Catrin Emanuelsson (University of Goteborg, Sweden)
"Kurdish transnational networks and accommodation of nationalism"

Discussion

4.00-4.30 pm: Tea

4.30-6.15 pm: Session Six Chair: Ahmed Al-Shahi
Tariq Ramadan (St Antony's College, Oxford)
"Reconstruction of European Muslim Identities"
Nicolas Bancel (University of Strasbourg II Marc Bloch, France
"The colonial maelstrom: France between history and memory"
Nancy Venel (Sciences-po, Paris, France)
"Islam as display? The social and political experience of young people from North-African immigration"
Discussion

6.15-6.45 pm: Closing remarks: Alexis Tadie (Director, Maison Francaise, Oxford), Catherine de Wenden and Naida Azizova

7.30 pm: Conference Dinner for Speakers

End of Conference

Additional Information

  • There is no registration fee.
  • Morning Coffee and afternoon tea are free of charge.
  • If you are coming by car, there are car parking spaces (for a limited period) in the streets round the Maison Francaise and St.Antony's College. If you are coming from outside Oxford, both institutions are within twenty minutes walk from railway station or bus station.
  • A buffet lunch on Saturday will be served in the Dinning Hall of St.Antony's College. Apart from speakers, participants who wish to eat there will be charged (reasonable prices) for the food at the till.
  • Cassette or video recording of the proceedings are not permitted. Similarly photography is not allowed.
  • The Conference organisers, the Maison Francaise and St.Antony's College do not take responsibility for loss of possessions of participants.
  • Please check the website for any changes in the programme

    Further Enquiries
    We look forward to seeing you and if you have any queries, please contact:

    Dr Ahmed Al-Shahi
    St.Antony's College,
    Oxford, UK
    OX2 6JF
    E-mail: ahmed.al-shahi@sant.ox.ac.uk

    Tel (International):+44 1865 284738