Call for Papers: 24th IMISCOE Annual Conference 2027 on “United for Human Rights and Global Equity” [Brussels and Online, 6-9 July 2027]

The 24th IMISCOE Annual Conference, “United for Human Rights and Global Equity”, will be held from 6 to 9 July 2027 in Brussels and online. IMISCOE (International Migration, Integration and Social Cohesion) is a research network of institutes working on international migration, integration and social cohesion. The 2027 edition is organised by the Brussels Institute for Social and Population Studies (BRISPO) and the Brussels Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Migration and Minorities (BIRMM) of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.

The call observes that human rights rest on a claim of universality, yet the category of the “human” has been unevenly constructed and selectively applied. Migrants and minorities, particularly those who are undocumented, racialised, displaced or from formerly colonised contexts, have often been excluded from full recognition within these frameworks, while current attacks on rights protections in asylum, deportation, family reunification and mobility governance threaten established safeguards.

The organisers invite critical and interdisciplinary work on how migration and racism intersect with wider structures of inequality, including colonial legacies, capitalism and geopolitical asymmetries, and on how legal, political and social frameworks shape access to human rights for migrants and their descendants. Questions raised in the call include:

• Under what conditions are people recognised as rights-bearing subjects?
• How has the “human” in human rights been conceptualised over time, and how has dehumanisation been resisted?
• How can people unite in solidarity for human rights across geographical, racial, class, gender and sexuality divides?
• How do legal and policy regimes enable, constrain or transform access to rights?
• Where might rights-based approaches obscure underlying inequalities, and where do they offer tools for contestation and change?

Contributions may be theoretical, empirical or methodological and may focus on any geographical context.

• Individual paper: a 250-word abstract with the name(s), affiliation(s) and contact details of the author(s). Individual papers are clustered into panels by theme.
• Panel: a 250-word abstract of the panel theme with a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 5 related paper abstracts of 250 words each, plus the names, affiliations and contact details of the chair(s), discussant(s) and authors.
• Workshop: for example a book workshop, policy workshop or roundtable, with an abstract of up to 400 words and the names, affiliations and contact details of the organiser(s) and up to 10 participants (excluding the chairs).

Every proposal must be linked to one IMISCOE Standing Committee, or to the Open Section only where it has no direct thematic link with any committee. The committees are: Arts, Culture and Migrations; Education and Social Inequality; Families, Welfare, Care and the Life Course; Forced Migration and Refugees; Gender and Sexuality in Migration Research; Methodological Approaches and Tools in Migration Research; Migrant Transnationalism; Migration, Citizenship and Political Participation; Migration, Migrants and Labour Markets; Migration Politics and Governance; Race, Racism and Discrimination; and Reflexivities in Migration Studies.

According to IMISCOE’s abstract guidelines, each abstract is scored from 1 to 5 by two anonymous reviewers on academic quality, originality, clarity and relevance, and only the highest-rated proposals are accepted. A strong abstract states its background, research question, methodology (if any), main findings or expected outcomes and conclusion, and explains what is new in relation to current migration research. Panel and workshop proposals should also show how the contributions fit together and should aim for diversity of gender, race and ethnicity, career stage, discipline and geography, including the Global South.

When submitting, applicants must choose to take part either on-site in Brussels or online. The conference is not fully blended: panels and workshops will run either fully on-site or fully online. A very small number of hybrid panels (at most 5 sessions per time slot) may be allowed in exceptional circumstances such as health issues, visa restrictions or special care needs, if justified and notified to the IMISCOE Network Office before registration is finalised. The conference may move fully online if exceptional circumstances require it.

Fees depend on whether the participant’s institute is an IMISCOE member, whether it is in an EU/OECD country, the mode of participation and PhD status. Participants from India fall under the non-EU/non-OECD columns.

• Non-IMISCOE institutes, non-EU/non-OECD countries: on-site EUR 125 (PhD students EUR 75); online EUR 65 (PhD students EUR 65).
• IMISCOE member institutes, non-EU/non-OECD countries: on-site EUR 100 (PhD students EUR 50); online EUR 50 (PhD students EUR 50).
• Non-IMISCOE institutes, EU/OECD countries: on-site EUR 360 (PhD students EUR 200); online EUR 225 (PhD students EUR 145).
• IMISCOE member institutes, EU/OECD countries: on-site EUR 230 (PhD students EUR 150); online EUR 150 (PhD students EUR 95).

All proposals are submitted online through the buttons on the official conference page (individual paper, panel or workshop proposal). The forms open after logging in, so first create a free account on the IMISCOE website. The extended deadline is 12 October 2026, 23:59 CEST (about 3:29 am IST on 13 October), and applicants will hear about acceptance around mid-to-late January 2027.