Winter School, University of Tübingen, 17–21 March 2014
The entanglement of patterns of mobility and diversity of populations with state institutions and policies has recently stimulated increased academic attention. Within different theoretical traditions, this nexus has been conceptualized as “social engineering” (K. Popper), “biopolitics” (M. Foucault) and “scientification of the social” (L. Raphael). Closely connected to this phenomenon is the thesis of a “distant affinity” (W. Schivelbusch) of different political regimes of population and diversity management which can be traced back to the 19th century and continues to affect the present. The winter school “Population Management – State, Mobility and Diversity”, that will take place at the University of Tübingen from the 17–21 March, 2014, provides a forum for younger scholars to present and discuss their recent research projects. The concept of “population management” is meant to facilitate comparative perspectives on a broad spectrum of state practices and institutions dealing with mobility and diversity including their historical developments, legal foundations, ethical legitimations, administrative and technical implementations, transfers of knowledge, marketing, and societal impact. In this context it is considered to be particularly relevant to compare and discuss different forms of regulation and deregulation, securitization, biopolitics, as well as the relationship between intended and unintended consequences of state interventions into society. Following these perspectives and issues, the winter school will open up a field of intersection between different disciplines in the humanities and the social sciences and will allow for interdisciplinary exchange and learning. Contributions from anthropology, cultural studies, history, sociology, and political sciences are particularly invited. The historical focus of the winter school will be on the 19th, 20th, and 21st century. The target groups are doctoral students, postdocs and advanced master students who want to present, discuss, and develop their academic work. Contributions to the following fields of research are welcome:
(a) Forced migration: e.g. expulsion, deportation, resettlement, evacuation.
(b) Colonialism: e.g. colonialisation and decolonialisation, missionary work, institutional racism.
(c) Borders, passports, registration: e.g. border regimes, citizenship, asylum law, freedom of
movement.
(d) Camps and regimes of residence: e.g. reception camps, prison camps, internment camps,
concentration camps, quarantine.
(e) Humanitarianism and welfare: e.g. humanitarian interventions, care and pension policies,
social welfare, donation campaigns, social housing projects.
(f) Hygiene: e.g. health policies, eugenics, vaccination, epidemic, and disease control.
(g) Natality: e.g. demography, fertility, family, and birth policies.
(h) Recruitment and employment: e.g. labor market policies, regimes of labor migration, forced
labor, slavery, army recruitment.
(i) Ethnic and religious minorities: e.g. homogenization and diversity policies, integration,
assimilation, affirmative action, multiculturalism.
Key lectures in the framework of the winter school will be held by Laura Lee Downs (European University Institute, Florenz/École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris), Nicholas de Genova (King’s College, London) and Svasti Trubeta (University of the Aegean, Mytilene). The working sessions of the winter school will be tutored and moderated by internationally experienced researchers with different disciplinary backgrounds. They include Carl Bethke (Tübingen), Mathias Beer (Tübingen), Johannes Großmann (Tübingen), Thomas Etzemüller (Oldenburg), You Jae Lee (Tübingen), Silke Mende (Tübingen), Boris Nieswand (Tübingen), Christian Promitzer (Graz), and Darshan Vigneswaran (Amsterdam).
The symbolic registration fee of 30 € includes accommodation in Tübingen, a reader, and an excursion to Stuttgart. In exceptional and justified cases the fees can be waived. Traveling costs and food must be covered by the participants.
Applications, including an abstract of 500 words and a CV, can be sent by email to Johannes Grossmann (johannes.grossmann@uni‐tuebingen.de) by the 15.11.2013.
