Call for Proposals: XV International Congress on Regional Integration, Borders and Globalization in the American Continent

Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico

Monday, June 15, 2015 (All day)

Proposals to participate in the XV International Congress on Regional Integration, Borders and Globalization in the American Continent are currently being accepted.

The congress will be held jointly with the IV International Congress of Border Cities On 28, 29 and 30 October 2015 At the Institute of Social Sciences and Management Autonomous University of Ciudad Juárez (UACJ) In Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, México

DESCRIPTION: The International Congress on Regional Integration, Borders and Globalization in the American Continent has been since 1996 a space that encourages critical reflection in order to contribute to a greater understanding of our reality. It has also fostered action research and the construction of a critical stands vis-à-vis the most pressing problems of the American continent. To continue this reflection, its 15th Congress is jointly held with the 4th International Conference on Border Cities, held since 2009 at the Autonomous University of Ciudad Juárez (UACJ). This joint conference seeks to integrate various discussions and debates which have taken place for nearly twenty years through our project and research program on Regional Integration, Borders and Globalization in the Americas. This conference’s purpose is primarily to establish new mechanisms for interdisciplinary teamwork and comparative work. On this occasion, we seek to emphasize a critical view of the concept of borders and their economic, political, social, psychological, cultural, legal and territorial manifestations. Further, we seek to question the very existence of borders in a globalized world. This conference will include a visit to the border town of El Paso, Texas. The call for proposals includes papers, roundtable discussions, full panels, book presentations, video conferences, documentaries and academic exchanges with open discussions on the following

THEMES

  1. THE PROCESS OF REGIONAL INTEGRATION IN FRONT OF THE GLOBAL CRISIS
    • Regional integration, free trade and globalization
    • Productive and service sectors in globalization
    • Neoliberalism, globalization and limits of national sovereignty
    • Political and geopolitical thinking of globalization and integration
  2. FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS AND GEOSTRATEGY
    • Regionalization and extraction of strategic natural resources
    • Regional integration, megaprojects and environmental impacts
    • The emergence of new integration processes in the region 
  3. MILITARIZATION AND REGIONAL SECURITY
    • Militarization, armaments and repression
    • Regional security and multidimensional security
    • “War on Terror and the “War on Drugs”
    • Insecurity and organized crime
  4.  MIGRATION, FORCED DISPLACEMENT AND REFUGEES
    •  New migration flows
    • Forced migration and human trafficking
    • Displacement of peoples and exile
    • Refugee Policies
  5. NEW SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND EXPERIENCES OF ORGANIZATION
    • Ethnicities in the face of globalization
    • Emerging social networks
    • Social conflict and resistance
  6. THE BORDERS IN THE FACE OF INTEGRATION
    •  Borders as global and transnational spaces
    • Regional integration, cooperation and border development
    •  Economic transactions and cross-border labor markets
    • The construction of cross-border social networks
  7. SECURITY AND BORDER MILITARIZATION
    • Borders and bio-politics
    • Border Crossing Controls
    • Material expressions of border security (walls, canals, fences, prisons and detention centers, etc.)
    • Dehumanization of borders and democratic responses to terrorism and insecurity
  8. CROSS-BORDER CULTURE
    • Culture, history and border narratives
    • New identities and cross-border subjects
    • Border, inter-ethnic territories and ethno-development
    • Universal citizenship, cosmopolitanism and cross-border mobility
    • Cultural heritage and border landscape
  9. BORDER CITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
    • Political processes and public policy
    • Violence and Public Safety
    • Environment, public health and welfare
    • Social vulnerability on the borders
  10. CONSTRUCTING AN AGENDA OF CRITICAL STUDIES OF THE BORDER
    • Construction, de-construction and reconstruction of the concept of borders
    • Internal and external Borders (borders within borders)
    • Boundaries within the nation-state

OBJECTIVES

  • Examine the impact of the global economic crises on the political and social landscape in the Western Hemisphere
  • Develop networks to analyze ways of working jointly on globalization and borders
  • Provide methodological tools to articulate resistance processes and reflection on regional integration alternatives
  • Strengthen the link social movements—academia
  • Encourage and promote comparative approaches between countries in the region to discuss common issues
  • Promote the study and critical reflection of the concepts of borders and boundaries as well as knowledge of the social reality of the border cities

PARTICIPANTS Researchers, teachers, students, activists and members of civil society organizations

PRACTICAL INFORMATION Transportation, accommodations and food costs will be paid by the participants. Because the campus of the Autonomous University of Ciudad Juárez is located in an area where food services (restaurants) are not close by, the Local Organizing Committee agreed to retain the services of a restaurant which will provide meals at a cost of $ 30.00 (thirty US dollars) or $ 400.00 (four hundred pesos) for the three days. A participant wishing to utilize this service must pay all $400 pesos upon registration. At the end of the congress, there will be a visit to the border town of El Paso, Texas. The costs shall also be paid for by the participants. Please send a note next to the abstract of the paper if you are interested in this activity. All participants are responsible for having a valid visa issued by the United States to cross the border.

DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACTS Please, turn in your proposals by June 15, 2015, with an extension of one page maximum, double spacing, Times New Roman 12 font. The deadline to receive submissions for those interested in publishing their paper in a Memory CD version of the conference is September 30, 2015. The length of the paper is 20-25 pages, double spacing, Times New Roman 12 front, in Word format. The deadline for submission of papers to the Organizing Committee for its review and possible publication in a book is December 5, 2015. Please send abstracts and papers to the following three addresses:

Publication of papers in the book: The papers will be submitted to a review committee and those that are selected will be published. The Committee will provide the editorial guidelines for all papers to be published. Depending on the amount of selected materials and resources available will be publishing one or more thematic books.