International Conference: Migrations, Exiles and Associative Movements in Europe during the XX Century. Lisbon, 18, 19, 20 May 2016

The conference Migrations, Exiles and Associative Movements in Europe during the XX Century aims to look into the Portuguese associative movement in the several European countries, identifying its motivations, its features, its dynamics and its complexity during the different migratory cycles and in the exile contexts.

This associative movement was a common solution among the Portuguese communities, given the absence of a suitable official protection network and proper framing concerning emigrants diverse needs, be it of a social, administrative, cultural or recreational nature. More or less explicitly, it also serve as platforms for anti-regime activities abroad.

Thus, the motivations to their creation and development are multiple. Social and administrative support, rights pleas, political consciousness, criticism of the Portuguese dictatorial regime in the international arena, promotion of cultural, recreational and sport activities, setting in motion Portuguese classes and keeping the links with Portugal are some of them. These objectives emerge from or adapt to particular political, economical, social and cultural contexts, both of the departing country and hosting countries, as well as to the adopted e/immigration policies.

There is no intention of circumscribing the analysis to the French case, but to open the scope to other European countries that hosted Portuguese communities, such as Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland and Spain, in order to compare the associative dynamics and to stress similarities and variances between those realities.

It will be also be of interest to follow the Portuguese associative movement abroad, identifying key moments that may have had a particular influence over it. For instance, what was the impact of the establishment of the dictatorial regime in 1926, the wars (both I and II WW and the Portuguese Colonial War), or the Carnation Revolution of 1974?

This multidisciplinary conference aims to revisit e/immigration in the context of the associative movement, mainly through the following thematic axes:

• Actors/Players;
• E/immigration politics;
• Control and Surveillance;
• Motivations and goals (socio-cultural, political, educational...);
• Political and civic consciousness;
• Discourses and representation.

We also seek to retrieve the memory of those associations, to set conditions for sharing testimonials and to foster debate among researchers, academics and other social agents connected to the e/immigration issues.

General Submission Guidelines

We will accept contributions in Portuguese, English and French.

Calendar:

Initial abstracts due: January 15th 2016

Contributors informed of decision no later than: February 8th 2016

Proposal: Title; abstract (500 words max); short CV (1 page max.).

Email for proposal submission: conferenciaassociativismos@gmail.com

Fee: 10€

Organizing Team:

Ana Sofia Ferreira (IHC-FCSH/UNL), Isabel Lopes Cardoso (CHAIA/Universidade de Évora e IHC-FCSH/UNL), João Madeira (IHC-FCSH/UNL), Susana Martins (IHC-FCSH/UNL), Yvette Santos (IHC-FCSH/UNL)