果冻传媒

Dr. Maria Koinova is co-organizing a workshop within the British International Studies Association's working group on the "International Politics of Migration, Refugees and Diasporas."

British International Studies Association

Working Group on the 鈥淚nternational Politics of Migration, Refugees and Diasporas鈥�

Call for Papers for a Workshop: Governing Transit Migration: Varieties of Approaches in International Politics

Organised by Dr. Maria Koinova and Dr. Gerasimos Tsourapas

17 September 2018 at the 果冻传媒, United Kingdom

Migration has emerged as one of the major challenges of our time, from the Syrian refugee crisis to the sub-Saharan refugees seeking to reach European shores via the Mediterranean to the mobilisation of the Turkish diaspora across Europe for the 2017 constitutional referendum, and the debates on immigration reforms in Europe and the United States. While researchers and policy-makers have examined both emigration and immigration, transit migration remains underexplored in migration studies, even more so from the perspectives of International Relations and Political Studies.

This workshop seeks to bring this conversation to the attention of BISA members and other scholars worldwide who would like to join this workshop. We seek to attract a range of researchers working on transit migration and its connection to sending and destination states and international organizations, and would welcome abstracts from doctoral students, early-career scholars and senior academics.

The workshop seeks to structure the discussion along two main axes: firstly, we are interested in institutional politics. What types of institutional responses do sending, transit and receiving states issue to regulate transit migration? How do international organisations, non-governmental organisations and think-tanks respond to the phenomenon of transit? How could we explain such responses, and how could we assess them about their adequateness and shortcomings? Secondly, we are interested in the migrants and refugees and their experiences with transit. How do migrants and refugees engage with existing institutions and societal structures during their migration journeys? How do they respond to various institutional obstacles preventing migration, and what kind of coping strategies do they develop? How do they mobilize during and in the aftermath of their transit migration?

This one-day workshop aims to address these questions, within the broader perspective of migration governance. It will take place on 17 September 2018 at the 果冻传媒. We welcome applications from junior and senior scholars in international politics, as well as those with particular regional expertise in the Middle East, Eurasia, sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America.

If you are interested to participate, please send a paper abstract of 300 words maximum to Dr. Gerasimos Tsourapas (g.tsourapas@bham.ac.uk) and Dr. Maria Koinova (m.koinova@warwick.ac.uk) by 10 June 2018.

The organisers will decide about accepted abstracts by 15 June 2018. The organisers may consider the submission of select papers as a special issue in an ISI-ranked journal. Limited financial support will be available for BISA members. We welcome new BISA members at

The Department of Politics and International Studies is delighted to announce that Professor Shirin Rai has been appointed to the Politics and International Studies Sub-Panel for REF2021. Professor Rai served in this capacity for REF2014 and we are pleased that she has agreed to act in this all-important role once again. Congratulations and thank you, Shirin!

For further information including full lists of all panel members - please see the following link:

Dr. Charlotte Heath-Kelly's research project, Counterterrorism in the NHS, has recently received press coverage from .

The report has revealed that four NHS mental health trusts are subjecting patients to blanket screening for radicalisation, with some referred to the Prevent programme for watching Arabic TV or going on pilgrimage to Mecca. The report, written by Dr. Heath-Kelly along with co-investigator Dr Erzs茅bet Strausz, is covered in the article, titled "."

The full report, Counterterrorism in the NHS: Evaluating Prevent Duty Safeguarding by Midlands Healthcare Providers, can be read on the project's website.

Dr Adrian James, registrar of the Royal College of Psychiatrist, published a positive reaction to Charlotte's research in The Guardian, in an article titled "."

Drs Charlotte Heath-Kelly and Steve Kettell recently gave TEDx talks, for , on the theme of conflict.

Dr Heath-Kelly's talk, The Motivation of Terrorism, explored the motivations of terrorism, as identified through Charlotte's interviews with members of EOKA (a terrorist organization based in Cyprus).

Dr Kettell's talk, The Necessity of Secularism, addressed the role religion plays in warfare and will question society鈥檚 habit of hastily blaming religion for conflict.

Les aveux de la chair [Confessions of the Flesh], the fourth volume of French philosopher Michel Foucault鈥檚 History of Sexuality is published today (Feb 8, 2018), despite Foucault鈥檚 expressed wish that there should be 鈥榥o posthumous publications鈥�.

Stuart Elden, Professor of Political Theory and Geography, in 果冻传媒 University鈥檚 Politics and International Studies Department and Monash 果冻传媒 Professor in the Faculty of Arts, Monash University, is one of the leading experts in Foucault鈥檚 work.

He comments on the significance of and on Foucault鈥檚 academic legacy:

鈥淲hile Michael Foucault worked across many conventional academic disciplines, he was essentially a philosopher who explored questions through historical investigations. Most of his books are titled the history of something – madness, sexuality – or the birth of something – the clinic, the prison. He sometimes described his work as archaeologies – digging down to discover previously unseen layers, or genealogies – tracing roots and lineages of ideas and practices. But this work was always to try to explore larger questions – why do we think the way that we do, or know what we do; how does power work over us; what does it mean to be a subject?

鈥淚n many ways is the key to the whole History of Sexuality series. In 1976, with the publication of the first volume, Foucault outlined a thematic treatment of six volumes. The second book, on that plan, was to be on the medieval church and especially the question of confession of sins. Its initial title was La chair et le corps [The Flesh and the Body]. Foucault wrote much of a volume under this title. But he came to realise that crucial issues in the Christian tradition could be traced much further back. So through the late 1970s and early 1980s, which we can see in his lectures and other sources, he explored older and older historical material.

鈥淭his book is the result of this work. But Foucault felt that he needed to precede this book with a treatment of pagan antiquity, as he came to realise that many of the issues in the early Christian tradition had links to Greek and Roman texts and practices. So he put this book aside, wrote the books which were published as Volumes II and III, and the intended book on Christianity became Volume IV.

鈥淭he book is in three parts. The first discusses how the ancient notion of aphrodisia – a notion we might understand as pleasure, became replaced with the Christian notion of the flesh. That, in turn, precedes our modern understanding of sexuality. The second and third parts of the book discuss being a virgin and being married. These are the two key subjects that the Church fathers are concerned with – the monk and the married man.

鈥淭he book is much closer in style to Volumes II and III than some of Foucault鈥檚 other works. It is written in an austere style of textual analysis, without the kind of rhetorical flourishes that characterise some of his other work.鈥�

Reflecting on Foucault鈥檚 continued relevance, Professor Elden added: 鈥淔oucault only rarely wrote about contemporary events. In his lectures and interviews, and especially in his political activism around prisons and health in the early 1970s, he sometimes connected his work to the current moment. But most often he was concerned with the historical analysis of issues. He spoke of his work as a 鈥榟istory of the present鈥�, an examination of how we got to where we are, how what is currently taken for granted was made possible. The issues he was concerned with – madness and mental illness, medicine and health, punishment, sexuality and so on – remain pressing issues today and Foucault鈥檚 investigation of these issues, and perhaps especially the questions he asked about them, mean he continues to be a regular reference.

鈥淲ith the publication of his lecture courses, and now this entire book, we are continually finding new work to explore and think with him.鈥�

8 February 2018

• Professor Elden is the author of Foucault鈥檚 Last Decade, a study of Foucault鈥檚 History of Sexuality which draws on archival material and interviews:
• He is also the author of a book on the immediately preceding period which looks at Foucault鈥檚 political activism and academic work on power –
• He is currently writing a book entitled The Early Foucault