June 2 – 4, 2022, Ljubljana, Slovenia
In migration studies, children used to be understood as ‘baggage’, something that adults carry around with them, that they are burdened with and take care of, but that has no agency of their own. Academic debates have long since abandoned this stance and moved towards understanding migrant children as actors who help shape their own migration process. The active role of children in migration is the subject of several research studies, not only because children make up a considerable part of contemporary migration, but also because migrant children experience migration processes differently from adults and therefore require special academic attention.
Migrant children and youth do not form a homogeneous social group. They differ in terms of their past experiences, their present situation and their aspirations for the future. They also have different cultural and linguistic backgrounds, belong to different ethnic groups and differ in terms of their legal status, gender, age, socioeconomic status, cultural and social capital and the like. This diversity is consequently reflected in contemporary academic debates on migrant children, which touch on a wide range of issues and approaches in research, pedagogy, law and policy.
The conference aims to address a wide range of issues that arise around the migration experience of children and young people. We invite professionals, academics, researchers and students from different disciplines with an interest in children and young people’s migration to participate.
The research consortium within the MiCREATE project welcomes theoretical and epistemological reflections, methodological contributions, empirical studies, examples of good practice, policy considerations and the like. These could include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Theoretical and epistemological reflections on children migration research.
- Methodologies in research with migrant children.
- Empirical studies, legal and policy considerations on issues relevant to migrant children.
More information available here.
