Human Rights and Justice in Immigration

Jerusalem: 25-27 May 2009 | CFP: 1 September 2008

Download the full CFP: Human Rights and Justice in Immigration

The Minerva Center for Human Rights at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is organizing an international conference designed to examine various normative aspects of immigration regimes with an emphasis on the Israeli immigration regime. The conference will examine actual arrangements for immigration in Israel and other countries, and will explore what could be considered desirable universal arrangements for immigration, taking into account the cultural as well as the economic interests of both potential immigrants and their hosts. The conference will be the culmination of the work of an interdisciplinary research group on these issues, which has been working together at the Minerva Center since early 2007.

The conference is scheduled for 25-27 May 2009, and will take place in Jerusalem. Recipients of this Call for Papers are invited to submit proposals to present a paper at the conference. Authors of the selected proposals will be offered flight expenses to Israel and accommodations for the three days of the conference.

Invited speakers who have already confirmed their participation include Prof. Rainer Baubock (European University Institute), Prof. Joseph Carens (University of Toronto) and Prof. Ayelet Shachar (University of Toronto).

Purpose
Utilizing Israel as the primary test case, the conference aims to examine three main, broadly applicable issues related to immigration, human rights and justice:

1. Normative questions pertaining to the rights of people who immigrate to nation states with strong ethno-cultural identity, and the use of immigration policy as a method of changing or maintaining an internal demographic situation;
2. The relationships between states and their respective diasporas;
3. The implications of considerations of global justice in the domains of culture and economic welfare for immigration.

We also are interested in discussing the adequacy of the rights discourse in general and the human rights discourse in particular for addressing these issues.

Submission of Proposals
Researchers interested in addressing these topics (either theoretically, or in the context of Israel or other countries) are invited to respond to this call for papers with a one-page proposal for an article and presentation, along with a brief CV. Proposals should be submitted no later than 1 September 2008. Proposals will be selected by 1 October 2008 and all applicants should receive notification by this date. Short written papers (of approximately 8-10 pages) based on the selected proposals will be expected by 20 April 2009. Full-length papers based on presentations made at the conference will be considered by the organizers for inclusion in a book or law journal symposium to be published following the conference.

Conference Academic Committee

Prof. Chaim Gans, Tel Aviv University
Prof. Ruth Gavison, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Prof. Yuval Shany, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Dr. Gila Stopler, Academic Center of Law & Business, Ramat

Contact:
The Minerva Center for Human Rights
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Mount Scopus
Jerusalem 91905
Israel
Tel: +972-2-5881156
Fax: +972-2-5819371
Email