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1 International conference Identities and (trans)nationalisms in mixed families : transmission, agency and social constraints Al Akhawayn University, Ifrane, Maroc October 17-19, 2018 Josiane Le Gall, Catherine Therrien, Karine Geoffrion SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE Josiane Le Gall, Université de Montréal, CIUSSS, Canada Catherine Therrien, Al Akhawayn University of Ifrane, Maroc Karine Geoffrion, Carleton University, Canada Hakima Fassi Fihri, Université Internationale de Rabat, Maroc Deirdre Meintel, Université de Montréal, Canada Anne Untereiner, Département Recherche de la CNAF, Paris, France Anne Lavanchy, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland, Suisse Minelle Mahtani, University of Toronto, Canada CALL FOR PAPERS Mixed couples and families do not constitute a new phenomenon. However, due to the intensity of recent migration flows, the rapid developments in transport and communication technologies and the processes of globalization and transnationalism, opportunities and occurrences of transnational relationships and marriages have multiplied, involving individuals from a wide range of backgrounds. Couples and families worldwide increasingly defy national, cultural, linguistic and religious homogamous norms and boundaries, leading to an “internationalization of intimacy” (Beck et Beck-Gernsheim, 2014). Hence the number of mixed couples and people with mixed ancestries has augmented significantly and has contributed to the development of kinship related transnational networks and specific forms of mobility practices across national borders, in Western and non-Western countries alike. The scholarly interest on mixed families is growing. However, this field of study is still limited in its scope and in the geographic areas covered by researchers. Indeed, the vast majority of studies are grounded in European and North American contexts (“mixed-race studies”), which contributed to creating a Western-centric perspective of mixed families. Few studies have explored the experience of mixed families and mixed individuals outside of Western urban

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International conference Identities and (trans)nationalisms in mixed families :

transmission, agency and social constraints

Al Akhawayn University, Ifrane, Maroc October 17-19, 2018

Josiane Le Gall, Catherine Therrien, Karine Geoffrion

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE

Josiane Le Gall, Université de Montréal, CIUSSS, Canada Catherine Therrien, Al Akhawayn University of Ifrane, Maroc Karine Geoffrion, Carleton University, Canada Hakima Fassi Fihri, Université Internationale de Rabat, Maroc Deirdre Meintel, Université de Montréal, Canada Anne Untereiner, Département Recherche de la CNAF, Paris, France Anne Lavanchy, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland, Suisse Minelle Mahtani, University of Toronto, Canada

CALL FOR PAPERS

Mixed couples and families do not constitute a new phenomenon. However, due to the intensity of recent migration flows, the rapid developments in transport and communication technologies and the processes of globalization and transnationalism, opportunities and occurrences of transnational relationships and marriages have multiplied, involving individuals from a wide range of backgrounds. Couples and families worldwide increasingly defy national, cultural, linguistic and religious homogamous norms and boundaries, leading to an “internationalization of intimacy” (Beck et Beck-Gernsheim, 2014). Hence the number of mixed couples and people with mixed ancestries has augmented significantly and has contributed to the development of kinship related transnational networks and specific forms of mobility practices across national borders, in Western and non-Western countries alike. The scholarly interest on mixed families is growing. However, this field of study is still limited in its scope and in the geographic areas covered by researchers. Indeed, the vast majority of studies are grounded in European and North American contexts (“mixed-race studies”), which contributed to creating a Western-centric perspective of mixed families. Few studies have explored the experience of mixed families and mixed individuals outside of Western urban

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centers and, even though the phenomenon is not limited to such places, dynamics that pertain to contexts of the Global South have been neglected. Hence, it is important to initiate a reflection on the various types of mixedness—whether they are ethnic, religious, linguistic, etc.—that exist in non-Western contexts; in order to have a better understanding of how mixedness operates in diverse national settings; as well as how dynamics of mixedness are articulated at the global level. Mixedness here refers to the multiple identity markers—spoken languages, religious beliefs and practices, ethnic and racial affiliations, culinary traditions and other cultural rituals, nationalities, etc.—that shape the diversity that makes-up “mixed” couples and families. For the purpose of this conference, we will focus on two main aspects of mixedness: 1) identity projects and transmission practices of parents of mixed children and; 2) The identity construction process of children of mixed couples: what they retain from their socialization (their agency) and other social factors that enhance or constrain the development of specific forms of belonging and identifications. This international conference contributes to the state of knowledge on mixed families by fostering a discussion between scholars whose recent and original work explore a wide range of cases worldwide. Using a comparative lens, the conference intends to highlight the diversity of mixed parents’ identity projects and of mixed individuals’ identity configurations in various national contexts and in relation to various social factors such as—but not limited to—class, gender, age, community, social representations, living and schooling environments, name, family dynamics and socialization, the extended family and family networks, transnational networks, the (im)migration experience of parents, physical appearance and national settings. It focuses on the various elements that may influence the identity projects of mixed parents toward their children, the choices made by mixed children and the articulations between transmission and agency, the social perceptions of the various types of family mixedness, and the lived experience of racism and discrimination. We also propose to further explore transnational dynamics that often constitute the everyday reality of many mixed families. In brief, the objective of this conference is to illustrate and compare a wide range of mixed family studies across the globe and to engage with various scholarly perspectives on transnational identity dynamics raised by family mixedness in both Western and non-Western settings. We welcome papers that fall into one of the three following themes: 1. Transmission and identity construction in mixed families: Which identity markers do parents wish to transmit to their children? What are the appropriation, detachment and self-invention mechanisms involved in the process of identity construction? How do children of mixed couples react to the choices made by their parents? Do they accept them? Integrate them? Reject them? Transform them? Which roles play the extended family and transnational networks in the process of transmission and identity construction? How do local, regional, national and global contexts impact transmission and identity construction? Do mixed families living in localities of the Global South experience specific identity construction dynamics?

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2. Identity, identifications and belonging: Do children of mixed couples identify more with the group of origin of one of their parents? Which one? Do they identify as “mixed”? Do they create new affiliations and identifications? Which dynamics affect their identity, identifications and belonging? Which forms of transnational mobility do they develop if any? Do questions of multiple citizenships affect the identity and sense of belonging of mixed individuals? How do mixed individuals negotiate or position themselves within the frame of unequal North-South power relations? Finally, which roles play their personal family situation in the affiliation process—whether they grew up in a single parent home, in a family where one parent was an immigrant, with divorced parents, with parents living in two different countries, as a “war-child”, etc.? 3. Experiences of discrimination (whether positive or negative) and processes of racialization: How are mixed individuals being perceived in the society where they grew up? Are they being stigmatized, accepted, admired, ignored? Are they being recognized by the states in which they were born or grew up, and identify with? What are the identification categories used by those states? What are the impacts of formal identification categories on the lived experience of mixed individuals? How do they contribute to shaping their identity? And how do power relations related to Western imperialism and post colonialism affect the everyday life of mixed families and individuals? The conference will be held at the Al Akhawayn University (AUI) located in Ifrane, Morocco. The main language of the conference will be English, but abstracts submitted in French will also be considered. Abstracts (300 words maximum) must be accompanied by a short bio-bibliographic notice of the author and should be sent to all three members of the Organizing Committee at the following email addresses: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Deadline to submit an abstract: March 30, 2018 A limited number of mobility scholarships will be made available to participants whose contribution has been accepted for presentation. A justification will be required in due time. N.B. A book (in English) composed of a selection of papers presented at the conference will be published subsequently.