In August 2012, the Leiden research profiles Global Interactions (LGI) and Asian Modernities and Traditions (AMT) with the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) will host an international conference on the theme of ‘World Wide Asia’ to critically explore Asian migrations as a globalizing force.
The theme of Asian migrations, in the broadest sense, touches upon a wide array of practices, infrastructures, social issues and configurations of power. The mobility and influence of Asian peoples and productions have been a driving force in reshaping global and local landscapes from ancient to modern times, as demonstrated, for instance, by the historical trade networks that facilitated European colonialism, the Indian Ocean as an integrated cultural space, the intensified global trajectories of commodities, ideas and technologies, and the redefinition of urbanization by processes emerging from the ‘Global South’.
This conference seeks to gain a nuanced understanding of Asia’s role in historical and modern articulations of the global. It seeks to explore the problematics of place, dislocation/connectivity, and culture from diverse Asian perspectives on travel, exchange, circulation, translation, identity, and global power. We are particularly interested in the following topics and issues with respect to Asia:
- Migration and the City
- Mobility, Markets & Human Capital
- Regimes of Identification
- Migrant Lives and Global Labor
- Borderlands
- Commodities and Migration
- Expanding Empires
- Disaster, Development and Aid
The conference will be preceded by a four-day PhD master class on the same theme. All student participants will be invited to attend the conference and participate in discussions. A select number of students may also be invited to present their work in the proceedings.
Submissions: The deadline for submissions is February 15th, 2012. Please send an abstract of not more than 250 words, along with the proposed title, author’s name, affiliation and email to: worldwideasia2012@gmail.com. We will send out notifications in March.
Confirmed Speakers:
Adam McKeown (Columbia University, USA)
Radhika Singha (Jawaharlal Nehru University, India)
Leo Lucassen (Leiden University, The Netherlands)