CALL FOR PAPERS
Unpacking the Sending State:
Regimes, Institutions, and non-State Actors in Diaspora & Emigration Politics
Academic Workshop organized under the Auspices of the
International Studies Association and the ERC Starting Grant “Diasporas and Contested Sovereignty”
at the University of Warwick, 12-13 September, 2016
Convenors: Dr. Maria Koinova (m.koinova@warwick.ac.uk) &
Dr. Gerasimos Tsourapas (gt16@soas.ac.uk)
This workshop seeks to understand how regimes, institutions and non-actors shape sending states’ extraterritorial
engagement with migrants and diaspora populations abroad. This is the second workshop to be convened as part of a
venture research grant, sponsored by the International Studies Association. This emerging research agenda seeks to
consolidate ideas on international migration politics within the fields of International Relations and Comparative
Politics on issues of statehood, conflicts and security, democratization, authoritarianism, political economy, and
political geography. We seek to challenge assumptions that the sending state is a unitary actor, and to understand a
variety of political dynamics within sending states that shape policies of state and non-state actors that span the
globe.
The focus of the second workshop will be on the role of political regimes. We seek to explore some of the following
questions: What are the regime-specific mechanisms states use to govern their diasporas abroad? How do regimes
shape the extraterritorial activities of governments, political parties, and charity organizations? When and how do
diasporas mobilize for regime change, democratic reforms, and human rights? How do sending states’ extraterritorial
engagements with migrants and diasporas contribute to the durability of authoritarian regimes? How do the values
and practices migrants and diasporas have acquired under different regimes affect their interactions with their new
host-state environments?
This workshop seeks to gather a growing number of researchers interested in states, regimes, international migration
and diaspora politics. It also aims to serve as a meeting point of scholars at different levels of their career trajectories,
working on different world regions, and with different methodologies, who are all at the forefront of emerging
scholarship on diasporas, regimes, and the sending state.
Original contributions are welcome, as we expect selected papers to form part of a special issue proposed to a leading
International Relations journal. Papers will also be considered for a dedicated panel to be submitted for the 2017 ISA
Annual Convention.
Participants’ accommodation will be fully covered. Stipends to cover some travel expenses will also be available. Please
apply with a paper abstract (max. 500 words) and 1-page CV featuring current work and publications by June 15, 2016
to m.koinova@warwick.ac.uk and gt16@soas.ac.uk. If interested to apply for a 2017 ISA panel, please send this
information by 28 May, 2016.