Call for Papers for a Special Issue of REVISTA MIGRACIONES (University Institute of Studies on Migrations, UPCO) 

Research methodologies with migrant families, children and youth in diverse contexts

Academic coordinators: Rosa Mas Giralt (University of Huddersfield), Martha Montero-Sieburth (University of Amsterdam), and Joaquin Eguren (Pontifical University of Comillas, Madrid).

Rationale

Research on the processes and experiences of incorporation of migrant families and their children (the so called 1.5 and/or 2^nd generation) has increasingly attracted the attention of scholars from a wide range of disciplines and from countries in the Global South and North. Undertaking this type of research may require departing from traditional methodologies employed to study group dynamics of integration or (segmented) assimilation, and adopt instead approaches that can capture the everyday life experiences of migrant families (and different generation participants) and their processes of social, cultural and psychological adaptation in increasingly diverse societies. These approaches may entail, for example, using person-centred techniques such as visual, creative or narrative methods or participatory approaches which can bring to the fore young and adult participants’ own perspectives, or tools which can assist in understanding the psychological dimensions of processes of acculturation across dominant and non-dominant population groups.

Although literatures considering these methodologies (from a range of disciplines) are well developed, there is a need for further insights into the practical and ethical challenges and benefits of using these types of approaches when working with later generation children and young people and their families in diverse contexts. This special issue aims to develop a cross-disciplinary perspective on these types of research practices and therefore invites contributions that consider both theoretical and ethical aspects of everyday life methodologies, but also practical issues of access, recruitment of participant families and later generation children and the types of barriers or challenges found ‘in the field’.  Some areas of interest are (but are not limited to):

· Methodological challenges of designing and devising person-centred tools for research, comparison or evaluation with later generation young people and their families

· Issues encountered when trying to gain access to families and young people who have not commonly participated in studies and for which they may be primary and exploratory sources

· Practical issues that arise from accessing ‘hard-to-reach’ families and children (e.g. migrant populations that may appear ‘invisible’ due to their socio-economic characteristics, status or ‘statistical  invisibility’)

· Theoretical/ethical issues that arise from working with and across family groups when using participatory and/or innovative methods (e.g. drawings, vignettes, children’s role plays, etc.)

· Ethical and reflective practices of working with the families of later generation young people

· Cross-cultural issues, experiences and reflections from the interaction between researchers and young and adult participants.

Submission Procedure

Articles should be submitted in full and have a maximum length of 8,000 words including references, tables and graphs (Microsoft Word document, Times New Roman font 12pt, 1.5 line space). Articles have to be original and not be under consideration for publication elsewhere. They must be written in English and must meet the editorial requirements of the journal Migraciones – please see Authors’ Guidelines by following the link at the end of this message.

The academic coordinators of the special issue will pre-select the articles to be put forward for full peer review. Articles will be selected according to their compatibility with the special issue’s focus and concordance with its thematic coverage and its diversity of perspectives/disciplines. The academic coordinators are responsible for final acceptance of manuscripts.

Please submit your paper to: monografico2G@comillas.edu  by 1^st of December 2015. Please also use this email to send any questions you may have. All authors will be informed of the outcome of the pre-selection process by 15^thJanuary 2016. 

More information available at: http://revistas.upcomillas.es/index.php/revistamigraciones/pages/view/revista-migraciones-call-for-papers

We are developing an edited book with Rutgers University Press with the working title Visual Encounters in the Study of Rural Childhoods.The edited collection looks at rural childhoods from around the world with an emphasis on participatory and creative research practices. The development of the book comes out of a recognition that despite the growing interest in childhoods and spatiatality (including an interest in rurality), there is a paucity of critical (and practical) research that maps out both conceptually and methodologically the shifting influences on the lives of rural children, and that foregrounds the perspectives of children (present and past) themselves. This volume brings together two areas of study, children’s rural geographies, and visual studies (through for example, photographs, maps, picture books, films, art, and digital spaces), and in so doing considers questions such as the following: How does the visual romanticize, eroticize, or reflect rural childhoods? How are visual methodologies redefining rural childhoods and the associated social value systems (and vice versa)? We are particularly interested in work that takes up issues of rural childhood in diverse global contexts.  Continue reading Call for chapters on rural childhoods and the visual →