Mobile Identities

5 June 2015
This conference will bring together Master's and PhD students from multiple disciplinary backgrounds to discuss the identity politics of contemporary migration, with specific reference to how notions of gender, sexuality and agency shape understandings of this evolving field.

Migration is as old as humanity itself. The land-scape of international migration has become increasingly diverse as a result of broader changes, both in the global economy and in geopolitics. Women form an increasingly significant part of migration processes; global trends indicate a shift in traditional gendered patterns of migration. The 'female face of migration' becomes particularly evident in the Global South, where women account for more than half of all migrants.

These shifting migration patterns are challenging gender roles, including ideas of masculinity. Men might be 'left behind', while migrating women take the role of breadwinners in 'trans-national families'.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UCL MIGRATION RESEARCH UNIT feminisation of migration is not only characterised by 'the growing participation of women in migration', but also the increasing independence of female mobility. Family ties continue to play an important role, and multiple and complex gender identities evolve: from female migrant domestic workers fighting for their rights to the discrimination of homosexual and trans-gender migrants.

The conference will bring together Master's and PhD students from multiple disciplinary backgrounds. It will provide a forum in which to discuss the identity politics of contemporary migration, with specific reference to how notions of gender, sexuality and agency shape understandings of this evolving field.

• For more information, please contact Dr. Claire Dwyer