Call for Papers: International Workshop “The Golden Age of Rural-Urban Migrations?, 18–20 February 2027
Institute of History, Jagiellonian University Kraków,
18–20 February 2027
In the mid-20th century, the world remained deeply divided – both politically and economically. The Iron Curtain, colonialism, and economic backwardness marked various boundaries. Yet in this divided world, the same process could be observed in various places: migration from rural areas to cities, and global urbanisation. Although this phenomenon has accompanied humanity ever since cities first emerged, from the 1930s onwards – and particularly after the Second World War – there was an unprecedented acceleration: the second, after nineteenth-century urbanisation, such a rapid and irreversible social change.
During the workshop, we aim to examine this change from a grassroots perspective, focusing primarily on human experience – the ‘lives’ of those at the centre of migration processes, interwoven with political and economic contexts, as well as global change – the ‘system’ with its geopolitical and economic mechanisms.
We invite researchers from various academic disciplines (including history, sociology, anthropology, migration studies, and economics) to submit proposals for presentations that fit within the framework outlined above and address one or more of the following topics:
▪ migration to cities in individual biographies and intergenerational experiences
▪ mechanisms of migration to cities and transnational/transcontinental biographies (particularly between socialist and capitalist countries) ▪ the impact of policies and ideologies on migration experiences
▪ the relationship between horizontal and vertical social mobility: mechanisms of advancement or degradation; emancipation through migration ▪ mechanisms for creating and maintaining social hierarchies, practices of discrimination
▪ social mobility and shame in rural-urban migrations
▪ mechanisms and models of migration: chain migrations, commuting, migration networks ▪ means of communication and transmission of information
▪ rural-urban migration and gender order
- We particularly encourage you to submit papers on your ongoing research and research projects.
- Abstract (up to 250 words) and a short bio of the author should be sent by 1 October 2026 to the address rural.urban.biographies@gmail.com
- The notification of acceptance will be sent in the second half of October 2026.
- Participants of the workshop will be asked to share working versions or extended abstracts of their papers (3-5 pages) no later than the end of January 2027.
For more details, refer here
