Migration, State and Policies: Dynamics of Migrant Movements and Organizations and Government Responses
RESEARCH CALL FOR TEAMS
Platform “Migration and human mobility”
Registration closes: October 30, 2023
State-centered thinking frames migration as a problem. Its presence is marked by “incompleteness and is a fallible and culpable presence in itself, as if it were a criminal act that disturbs the national order” (Sayad, 2010). This top-down view of migrants has led to a distinction between “nationals” and “non-nationals,” with the latter seen as a threat that deepens—or causes—various economic, social, cultural, political, or security problems.
While migration policy studies have gained momentum in the region over the past decade, within the field of human mobility studies in Latin America and the Caribbean, many questions require deeper analysis. For example, what role does the United States play in the migration governance agenda of Central America and the Caribbean? How does the political orientation of governments relate to the direction of the migration policies they implement? How is border securitization conceived in the countries of the region? Why do governments, regardless of their ideological and political configuration, struggle to incorporate a rights-based approach to migration? What are the main existing migration policies and regulatory frameworks? What influence do international organizations, multilateral spaces, or regional agreements have on national migration policies? Is it feasible to envision a regional citizenship? What initiatives and practices have migrant organizations undertaken within the framework of the so-called "migrant struggles"?
While South America has made progress since the beginning of the 21st century in incorporating a rights-based approach into both legal frameworks on migration and multilateral spaces such as Mercosur, the Andean Community (CAN), and UNASUR, in Central America and the insular Caribbean, within SICA and CARICOM, the discussion has continued to focus more on migration, development, and remittances, with the latter having a greater weight relative to GDP. For example, in the countries of the so-called Northern Triangle of Central America, remittances represented an average of 22% of GDP, and the Dominican Republic was the third country in Latin America and the Caribbean, behind only Mexico and Guatemala, that received the most remittances in 2022. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, remittances represented approximately 37% of Haiti's GDP, the highest percentage compared to the aforementioned countries.
In this context, discussions have focused on whether remittances effectively alleviate poverty and help close inequality gaps, or whether they are an injection of capital from transnational families that has benefited not only households but also the macroeconomy of these countries.
It is worth noting that the COVID-19 pandemic only deepened and complicated the various aspects of migration in the region. Border closures, for example, led to a significant tightening of security policies. Furthermore, the rights and living conditions of migrants deteriorated due to the pandemic's impact on the labor market and healthcare systems, among other areas.
These aspects demand multidimensional and interdisciplinary interventions, among which academic contributions (generating evidence, analysis and proposals) are of great importance for addressing human mobility from a regional perspective.
Another line of debate concerns transit policies. Currently, many migrants from the region, to reach their final destination, primarily the United States, must cross through several countries. In some, they do so with documentation; in others, without papers and through irregular crossings. Central America today is not only a place of origin but also a transit point for migrants, where the so-called Darién Gap on the Colombia-Panama border has become prominent as the new entry point for thousands of migrants traveling south to north. However, further research is needed, not only on this point but on all migration flows through Central America, with particular attention to border areas.
Related to the previous point, another line of debate concerns the inclusion/exclusion policies for people in situations of mobility. While this region is primarily characterized as a zone of origin, there are also significant intraregional movements, such as the historical migration of Haitians to the Dominican Republic, Nicaraguans to Costa Rica, Guatemalans and Hondurans to Mexico and Belize, and, more recently, Colombians and Venezuelans to Panama, to name a few of the most important. In this regard, it is necessary to expand research on how the states of Central America and the insular Caribbean act in practice to respect or violate the access to health, education, work, social security, housing, and other services for intraregional migrants. That is, to investigate the effects of public policy on the daily lives of migrants and their migration strategies. At this level, it is also important to examine the policies implemented at the local, national, and subnational levels.
Thus, Central America and the insular Caribbean must be understood as a region with historical flows to the United States, a transit region, and also with increasing intraregional flows.
Within this framework, CLACSO promotes the development of Platforms for Social Dialogue (PDS), conceived as spaces for work, exchange, and multi-stakeholder and multidimensional proposals. Likewise, the CLACSO network has also fostered spaces and initiatives for the participatory and collaborative production of knowledge on these topics, through previous research calls, Working Groups, training programs, and publications.
Based on the analysis carried out, the Research Call for teams is launchedMigration, State and Policies: Dynamics of Migrant Movements and Organizations and Government Responses”, with an emphasis on Central America and the insular Caribbean. This is part of the PDS Migration and Human Mobility and promotes the application of research teams made up of academics from diverse disciplines, backgrounds and experiences, together with activists and leaders of social movements (especially migrants), as well as people with work and activities related to the topic.
The objective of this Call is to understand primarily the role of States in the formulation and implementation of policies, programs and actions, as well as their effects on the migrant population; as well as the initiatives of migrant organizations and social actors, prioritizing comparative analyses, to focus on one or more of the following aspects, among others:
- The characteristics of migration policies implemented by different governments in response to the increase in migration movements.
- The place of remittances in international, national and local dynamics.
- The leading role of migrant social organizations and non-governmental organizations, especially in their strategies for transit through Central America.
- The role of countries in the global north, international organizations, or regional multilateral spaces in the approach to and implementation of migration policies at the national level.
- The analysis of legal frameworks and regularization policies for people in situations of human mobility, especially temporary permits, visas or naturalizations and the disputes over the rights that this entails.
- Border migration policies and binational or subregional control mechanisms surrounding migration transit.
- Discourses, public policies and bureaucratic practices surrounding the inclusion/exclusion of migrants.
- The proposals and experiences of policies with a rights-based approach and recognition of migrants implemented at the local, national or regional level.
CONTEST RULES
- At least one applicant must be a researcher with accredited ties to one of the CLACSO network's Member Centers. The information provided on the application form is considered a sworn statement. If the project is selected, a letter of support signed by the highest authority of the member center with which the proposal is linked must be submitted.
- Group applications are welcome (teams of 3 to 6 members). While not a strict requirement, priority will be given to applications from teams in Central America and the insular Caribbean.
- Team composition must respect gender parity and each team must select one member as the project registration manager. Teams must consist of established researchers—those with a master's degree, doctorate, or equivalent qualification and a proven academic track record—and researchers in training—those currently pursuing a master's or doctoral degree or holding an undergraduate degree. Teams are expected to be intergenerational, integrating researchers with diverse backgrounds and experiences.
- On the other hand, teams may include activists or leaders from social movements and public policy decision-makers. While this is not a requirement, it will be positively considered in the evaluation of applications.
- Likewise, proposals may be made up of people from different countries, promoting exchange and regional dialogue as a practice of intervention in the issues focused on in this Call.
- Each researcher may only participate with one proposal in this Call.
- If the project is awarded and any travel is necessary, the winners will have to cover the costs of medical insurance or similar expenses themselves.
Up to 6 projects will be supported.
The amount of support will consist of U$D 6.000 (six thousand US dollars or its equivalent in local currency) for each selected proposal.
The proposed research will be carried out over a maximum period of 10 (ten) months. Funding will be disbursed in installments via bank transfers made to the recipients. Up to 60% of the funds received by each project may be used to organize or support in-person meetings of the research team.
The selected teams will work with the support of tutors assigned by CLACSO who will follow the process of their research and results.
CLACSO will publish the final products in print and/or digital media, giving them wide publicity and dissemination through the means it deems appropriate. If necessary, researchers will be asked to make the adaptations and adjustments required so that the resulting research can be published in various formats.
The authors will transfer the original publication rights of their works, given that CLACSO adheres to and defends the principles of open science and open access to knowledge, so that the resulting work is easy to find, accessible, interoperable, and reusable. Subsequently, these works may be published in any other medium, always citing this Call for Papers. Researchers must inform CLACSO of the subsequent publication of the works resulting from their research.
- The member centers to which the applicants are linked must not have any outstanding debts in the payment of membership fees corresponding to the year 2022.
- Completed research projects will not be accepted. Proposals may be linked to ongoing research processes, but the final works must be original and unpublished products and developed within the period established by the call for proposals.
- Members of the Steering Committee or officials of the CLACSO Executive Secretariat may not participate.
- Proposals from researchers who are currently recipients of fellowships or grants under other research calls, scholarships, or essays organized by CLACSO will not be accepted. Applications from researchers who have been selected in a CLACSO research call will be accepted, provided that the recipient has fulfilled all obligations in a timely manner.
- Texts written in the four languages commonly used in Latin America and the Caribbean (Spanish, English, Portuguese and French) will be accepted, depending on the country of origin of the proposal.
- In the first stage, the submitted proposals will be reviewed for their formal and administrative aspects to ensure their compliance with the competition rules. Proposals that do not meet the established requirements will be rejected.
- Applications that pass to the next stage will be evaluated by an International Committee composed of experts who will assess the quality and relevance of the proposals, which will be submitted under a pseudonym.
- The Call may be declared void or a smaller number of projects may be selected, if the proposals submitted do not meet the required quality and consistency.
- Situations not covered in this document will be resolved by the convening institution.
- The ruling will be irrevocable and unappealable.
- The research projects will develop their work plan between December 2023 and September 2024. This plan will be implemented under the facilitation of tutors assigned by CLACSO.
- The progress and final reports submitted by the researchers will be evaluated by the tutors.
- The final products to be delivered will be at least three:
- Research papers should be between 12.000 and 15.000 words in length (excluding appendices and bibliography), written in Times New Roman 12-point font, single-spaced. This is an approximate guideline, and CLACSO reserves the right to make adjustments or exceptions if deemed necessary. Furthermore, once submitted, CLACSO may request adjustments and revisions from researchers to ensure the final research papers meet institutional publication criteria. The text structure is flexible, adhering to academic writing conventions and CLACSO's editorial guidelines, as well as APA style and gender considerations.
- Action Guidelines (ALG) document, containing input, proposals, and recommendations for public policies and social intervention on the topics investigated. The format of these AGGs will be communicated in due course.
- A training proposal for public policy agents or members of social organizations that can be implemented and expresses the main findings of the research carried out.
The objective of these three products (which are a minimum requirement for compliance with the objectives of the Call) will be to promote social, multi-actor and multi-sectoral dialogues on the topics addressed by each team.
The three established products may be complemented with audiovisual materials or pieces intended for social networks.
All results must be communicated in writing, but the production of other formats and languages to communicate and make them visible will also be promoted, such as: audiovisuals, materials for social networks and booklets or booklets with tools for action.
It is mandatory that the submission be made through the online registration system provided by CLACSO. Printed submissions and submissions sent by email will not be accepted. It is recommended to access the online system to review the registration form.
- Access the CLACSO website orgThe online registration system will be available from September xxx, 2023.
- Register in the CLACSO Single Registration System (SUIC). The generated username and password will be required each time you wish to access the system to consult, modify, add, or submit information for this or any other CLACSO activity. Applicants who are part of collective proposals must open a single form This will include all researchers on the team. One of the authors must also be designated as responsible for the registration. This same person will receive the corresponding monetary award if the proposal is selected by the Jury.
- Identify the proposal by indicating its title and the pseudonym of the applicant(s). Applications with pseudonyms that correspond to the applicant's first and/or last name will not be accepted. Once the corresponding fields are completed, the system will enable the uploading of the following data.
- Applicants must indicate on the form their affiliation with a Member Center belonging to the CLACSO network. Consult the database of member centers at: org.ar/clacso/centros_miembros_clacso/inicio.php.
- Complete the form personal and academic data and attach the curriculum vitae in free format; the digital copy of the identity document, passport or ID card; the digital copy of the highest academic degree obtained (or proof of degree in process) and the photograph.
- The proposal must be filled out on the form that appears once the personal and academic data has been completed.
Once registration is closed, the system will produce an electronic certificate of receipt that will serve as proof of application.
Registration closes: October 30, 2023
Winners will be announced on November 30, 2023.
Project implementation: between December 2023 and September 2024
Final report submission: September 30, 2024
The results will be published on the CLACSO website. The winners will be contacted by email.
Inquiries: migrationstatepoli[email protected]
Bases and forms in this link.
OPINION – Migration, State and policies: dynamics of migrant movements and organizations and government responses
The Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO) announces the results of the Call for research teams “Migration, State and policies: dynamics of migrant movements and organizations and government responses” which aims to understand mainly the place of States in the formulation and implementation of policies, programs and actions, as well as the effects of these on the migrant population; as well as the initiatives of migrant organizations and social actors, prioritizing comparative analyses.
We thank the entire research community for the positive response to this call for proposals. We received 34 Applications that, after the online technical review in accordance with the terms of reference of the call, were then evaluated by the Committee
International. This Committee considered the quality, relevance and coherence of the projects in accordance with the terms of the call.
The evaluation process was carried out by an International Committee composed of 9 expert evaluators of 6 countries: Leonardo Cavalcanti (Brazil), Alfonso Hinojosa
(Bolivia), Irene Palma (Guatemala), Camilo Rey (Colombia), Mariela Díaz (Argentina), Handerson Joseph (Brazil), Fernanda Stang (Chile), Thales Speroni Pereira Da Cruz (Brazil) and Denise Zenklusen (Argentina).
In accordance with the above, the payroll of the 6 The winning projects are as follows:
|
Research team |
CLACSO Member Center |
Country |
Title of the project |
|
Koen Voorend, Guillermo Antonio Navarro AlvaradoSilvia Elena Azofeifa Ramos, Valeria Solano Chavarría, Daniel Alvarado Abarca – Cynthia Mora Izaguirre |
Institute of Social Research – IIS/UCR – Faculty of Social Sciences – University of Costa Rica |
Costa Rica |
Rethinking the Costa Rican migration regime: More than a decade of ambiguities |
|
Diana Paola Garcés Amaya, Carolina Santos Souto de Andrade, Wooldy Edson Louidor, Juanita Zuluaga Gil, Maira Delgado Laurens |
PENSAR Institute of Social and Cultural Studies – PENSAR/PUJ – Pontifical Javeriana University |
Colombia |
Cartographies and dissident voices of the Darién: Beyond an externalized and disputed border |
|
Pablo Antonio Caraballo Correa, Dunia Eduvijes Jara Solenzar, Paula Alethia González Arellano, Blanca L. Cordero D, Norma Angelica Cuellar Díaz, Lizbeth del Carmen Guerrero Ramírez |
Postgraduate Program in Sociology – PPS/BUAP – Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities – Meritorious Autonomous University of Puebla |
Mexico |
Production of agency spaces and strategies of mobilization, resistance and struggle for the rights of migrant populations in Mexico |
|
Nadia Santillanes, Jacques Paul Ramírez Gallegos, Yetzi Rosales, Zahira Tapia, Tonatiuh González, Cristian Torres |
Latin American Strategic Center for Geopolitics – CELAG |
Ecuador |
State responses and non-institutional actors to guarantee health services: the case of Haitian intraregional migration in the Chile-Panama-Mexico migration circuit. |
|
Paolo Andre Sosa Villagarcia, Stephanie Hatsumi Gutierrez Otsu, Raisa Ferrer Pizarro |
Institute of Peruvian Studies – IEP |
Peru |
Anti-immigrant rhetoric in the elections of the Andean countries between the periods (2018-2022) |
|
Yazmín Bárbara Vázquez Ortiz, Fermín Jorge Hernández Martínez, Dalia González Delgado, Xadeni Marquez Mendez – Ricardo Domínguez Guadarrama |
Center for Hemispheric and United States Studies – CEHSEU/UH – University of Havana |
Cuba |
United States, Cuba and Mexico: migration and regional geopolitics (2018-2023) |
This ruling is irrevocable and cannot be appealed.
Buenos Aires, December 22, 2023
