The Population Geography Research Group (PopGRG) invites proposals for sessions at the RGS-IBG Annual International Conference in London, 31^st August-3^rd September 2011.

The conference theme is the geographical imagination.

Sessions may take the form of presented papers, panels, practitioner forums, discussions or workshops.  Innovative sessions and formats are encouraged.

Sessions are 1 hour 40 minutes long.   Most sessions will contain five 20-minute presentations which include time for questions, or four 20-minute presentations with discussion and questions at the end.  Interactive short papers sessions (5 to 10 min presentations with plenary discussion at the end) usually accommodate up to 8 papers.

To apply for a PopGRG sponsored session, please forward your proposal (max. 350 words), the name of the session convenor(s), and the session format (e.g. panel, paper session, discussion) to Joanna Sage (j.sage:lboro.ac.uk) by Friday 26^th November 2010.

We would like to invite abstracts for papers to be presented at a panel we propose for inclusion in the 2010 conference of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG).  The panel theme is migrant transnationalism, integration and place.

MIGRANT TRANSNATIONALISM, INTEGRATION AND PLACE

SESSION ABSTRACT:
This session aims to explore the intersections between migrants’ transnational engagements and integration in the destination country.  The session is based on the premise that our understandings of the interactions between transnationalism and integration depend on how we understand and use the two terms.

If integration is understood as a process whereby migrants and the mainstream population become more alike, transnational activities that link migrants with their country of origin can be a signifier of difference – transnationalism can be perceived as a barrier to integration.  This is especially true if the mainstream perceives migrant transnational activities to be a cause, or indicator, of ‘divided loyalties’.  At the same time, integration understood in this way can be seen as decreasing or limiting transnational ties, especially for the second generation.  Alternatively, if integration is understood as a process of migrant adaptation to life in a new country, then it could be considered as a complement to transnationalism, assuming that is also understood as form of migrant adaptation.

In recent years there has been a growing interest in the intersections between transnationalism and integration (see for example, Joppke and Morawska, 2003, Kivisto, 2001; Levitt, 2003; Nagel and Staeheli, 2008; Snel et al., 2006; Vertovec, 2007).  These studies indicate a growing consensus that integration and transnationalism are not mutually exclusive – but are they instead simply concurrent, overlapping, or even mutually supportive?  And, how do relationships between integration and transnationalism play out in different contexts?

For geographers the exploration of interactions between transnationalism and integration brings together issues of global connections (transnationalism) with how they influence the ways that migrants negotiate membership in their cities and countries of settlement. Geographers have contributed to the study of migrant transnationalism, among other through focus on transnational spatialities (e.g. Featherstone et al 2007), the significance of space in transnationalism (e.g. Ley 2004), transnational urbanism (e.g. Smith 2005) and bringing forward a place perspective (e.g. Gielis 2009).

We invite paper proposals that address (empirically and/or theoretically) aspects of the following themes:

- Has the growing acceptance of migrant transnationalism altered our approach to the analysis of integration, and how?
- How does the linking of transnationalism and integration affect our interpretations of the importance of place and space?
- Are there particular forms of transnationalism that interact differently with integration? i.e. transnational activities with an economic focus versus a socio-cultural focus?
- Do different forms of integration (e.g. structural or socio-cultural) interact with transnationalism in different ways?
- What is the impact of differences between immigrants (e.g. gender, age, human capital, generation) on the questions above?

SESSION KEY WORDS:
Migration – transnationalism – integration – place

SESSION FORMAT:
4 papers and 1 discussant, for a session of 1 hour and 40 mins. Should there be larger interest; consecutive sessions can be proposed, allowing for 8 papers to be included.

DEADLINE
Please submit abstracts by email no later than the 1st of February to Ceri Oeppen (co13@soas.ac.uk) and Marta Bivand Erdal (marta@prio.no).

The 2009 annual general meeting (AGM) of the Population Geography Research Group (PGRG) took place at the University of Manchester  on Wednesday 26 ^th August 2009

The agenda for the meeting can be downloaded from this site.

The (unconfirmed) minutes for the meeting are now available

The 2009 annual general meeting (AGM) of the Population Geography Research Group (PGRG) will take place at the University of Manchester  on Wednesday 26 ^th August 2009 13.10-14.25 (Room 142).

The agenda for the meeting can be downloaded from this site.

The AGM will coincide with the Royal Geographical Society with Institute for British Geographers Annual International Conference, which this year takes place in Manchester.

The committee of the PGRG are delighted to officially launch the new website of the research group – following the hard work of Pablo Mateos (Communications Officer of PGRG ) and colleague at University College London.
The new PGRG website that can be found at the following URL:
www.popgeog.org
The new website features the main activities of PGRG (conferences and workshops organised by PGRG), as well as a broad range of information relevant to researchers and practioners in population geography, such as up-to-date developments, conference reports, jobs, funding opportunities, journal content alerts, and notification of forthcoming meetings.

The website has been organised following a ‘blog post’ method which is much more dynamic, and easy to update and read than a traditional static website. The most recent posts appear at the top in the main page. Furthermore, all of the content is tagged using keywords that can be accessed by clicking on a “tag cloud” ranked by tag frequencies, as well as through more hierarchical menus that appear on the left and top margins.

Finally, a search menu facilitates searching for any specific term. Users can also subscribe to an RSS feed to be automatically notified when a new post is published, or feed this information into another website.
We hope that the new PGRG website becomes the main repository for key information relevant to population geographers in the UK and beyond.

Please disseminate this message as widely as you can, amonst academics, students, and practicioners interested in population geography studies.

If you have any material that might be relevant to post on the website (e.g. reports from conferences), please send the information to Pablo Mateos (p.mateos@ucl.ac.uk), Communications Officer, PGRG.

Please browse around through the links in the left, right and top margins of the website to learn more about recent and forthcoming activities in the field of Population Geography.