International Seminar on Youth Migration and Transitions to Adulthood in Developing Countries
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 8-10 December 2010

Seminar organized by the IUSSP Scientific Panel on Adolescent Life Course in Developing Countries, the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE) and the Centre for Demographic Urban and Environmental Studies (CEDUA) of El Colegio de México.

CALL FOR PAPERS

Deadline for submission of abstract extended to: 7 June 2010

Migration and adolescence is an area that has been little studied in regard to transitions to adulthood, in part due to difficulties in obtaining adequate data on the intersection of these topics. Migration has long been examined from the economic point of view, often with a focus on labour migration that tends to emphasize the role of men. Migration, however, also affects the lives of a large number of adolescents, both boys and girls, in low income countries. The migration of children and youth has long occurred as part of a collective family strategy for schooling and apprenticeships, and in some parts of the world, as fosterage. In countries where early marriage patterns predominate, girls have often migrated at young ages to join their promised husband’s family. Seasonal labour migration of young unmarried men is common in many parts of the world, and short and medium term labour migration is also becoming more frequent for young women. Important changes in the contemporary world have moreover altered existing migration patterns at both the local and national/international levels. Globalisation, mass media, the internet and higher levels of schooling in developing countries have combined to alter young people’s expectations and attitudes, reducing the influence of traditional society and plausibly leading to larger and more diversified flows of migration during adolescence and young adulthood. On the other hand, the evolving international context (e.g., restrictions placed on immigration by developed countries) and local situations (e.g., the sustained economic recession in African countries that has limited the absorptive capacity of some labour markets) have constrained some migration flows.

The seminar will focus on the evolving patterns and processes of youth migration, their consequences for the various transitions to adulthood of adolescents of developing countries, their interrelations with youth sexual and reproductive behaviours, and on their possible influences on empowerment and gender differences. The study of adolescent migration differs from that of adults in terms of motivations and expectations, the decision-making process that often involves parents and the broader family, and also by the fact that young people may have a poorer comprehension of the likely consequences and possible risks of their actions. This seminar aims to better understand the potentially hugely important interrelations between migration and transitions to adulthood. Adolescence is already a stressful period of life for many young people, entailing many transitions that set the stage for their adult lives and an increased independence from parents. Migration adds another layer of complexity onto the conditions of entry to adulthood, in terms of a changing social and physical environment, often reduced oversight and guidance of kin and communities with respect to young people’s behaviours, and resulting changes in their attitudes, aspirations and behaviours. Escaping family control and being faced with a new environment can offer young migrants new opportunities, an enhanced freedom from traditions and norms, and the possibility to affirm their own identities and establish new ways of behaving. On the other hand, this new environment is also a source of vulnerability, often with less family and social support, a greater likelihood of abuse (sexual, psychological…), and the possibility of young people experimenting with and developing risky behaviours (unsafe sex, drugs…).

A list of topics that we would like to cover in the seminar is shown below.
Note that the focus of this seminar is on any type of migration experienced by young people, both internal and international.

 1) Determinants of adolescent migration

 2) Migration: empowerment or vulnerability

Youth migration creates new opportunities but also brings with it greater vulnerability; this is often especially the case when young people migrate without their families.

-	To what extent do young people perceive their migration and the distance from direct family oversight to be an empowering experience – one that allows them to develop their autonomy of action and to affirm their own personalities?
-	How do families attempt to maintain their control over their offspring during the migration, and how successful are they in this?
-	How do young people manage their return to their family home (return migration), and are there sustained differences in their behaviours and those of their parents?
-	What vulnerabilities do young migrants experience, including health, violence, and economic deprivation that may force them into prostitution or abusive relationships?

3) Impact of migration on transitions to adulthood

What are the impacts of different types of migration for young women’s and men’s:

-	Changing patterns of sexual behaviour, partnership, marriage, family formation behaviours and contraceptive use? For example, is migration an alternative to early marriage for young women, and does it lead to their greater say in partner choice and to greater power within union?
-	Schooling, work and the longer-term economic autonomy of young men and women (including return migrants)? Inversely, how often does youth migration lead to economic deprivation and poverty in both the short and longer terms?
-	Health outcomes including reproductive health (poor outcomes such as STI’s and HIV/AIDS, unsafe abortions, violence; or improved outcomes through greater exposure to sources of information and better access to services leading to increase in preventive behaviours and receipt of treatment)?
-	To what extent can one attribute different outcomes observed for migrant and non-migrant youth to real effects of mobility and of new social and familial environments, rather than caused by migrant selectivity?

4) Gender, generation and migration

-	How do migration patterns differ for young men and women, and does there seem to be a convergence or sustainable differences in behaviours by gender over time and in different parts of the globe?
-	Do parents treat sons and daughters differently in terms of their openness to migration and in their efforts to maintain control over them from a distance or in the new environment?
-	To what extent does youth migration (especially to urban areas) allow for the emergence of a “youth culture” that is less influenced by traditional social control and the weight of local cultures, leading perhaps to less pronounced gender roles, more equal power relations and changing behaviours?

 

5) Migration: demographic, social consequences and policies

-	In areas of substantial youth outmigration, what are the effects on the local age structure and sex imbalances, and are there important short-term or enduring effects on demographic behaviours?
-	What are the effects of youth outmigration on local social organization? How does their return to their place of origin affect their position in society?
-	What are some successful interventions (policy or programs) directed towards this potentially highly vulnerable group to mitigate or prevent poor outcomes?

 6) Integration of youth of migrant families into a new society

Immigrant youth can find themselves caught between two identities: that of their parents and pasts, and that of their new friends and the host society.

-	How does their situation influence their socialization, their relationship with their parents, and behavioural outcomes – the other dimensions of their transition to adulthood?
-	How do migrant youth deal with this? What are factors that predispose them to remaining apart from the new society in their place of destination, versus becoming an integral part of it?  What are the greatest stresses for them with respect to their families and the host society?
-	What aspects of the integration process underlie sustainability or change in values, attitudes and behaviours (fertility, marriage, reproductive health and sexual risk taking, leaving the family home, etc.)?

This International Seminar will bring together demographers, sociologists, anthropologists, economists, geographers, and scholars from the other disciplines interested in exchanges on the latest scientific knowledge on migration and transitions to adulthood. The seminar will emphasize the consequences of youth migrations, and authors are strongly encouraged to reflect on the policy implications of their findings. While most presentations will focus on migration and adolescent transitions to adulthood in developing countries, innovative research on South-North migration and issues of adolescent integration into host societies could also be proposed. Proposed papers can investigate any type of youth migration including family and non-family migration, internal migration (including rural-urban) and international migration, permanent moves, return migration and seasonal migration, etc.

Submissions
The IUSSP Scientific Panel on Adolescent Life Course in Developing Countries invites researchers in the field to submit online by 7 June 2010 a short 200-word abstract AND upload an extended abstract (2 to 4 pages, including tables) or a full paper, which must be unpublished.

To submit and fill out the online submission form, please click here:

Applicants will be notified whether their paper has been accepted by 30 June 2010. In the case of acceptance on the basis of an abstract, the completed paper must be uploaded on the IUSSP website by 1 November 2010.

The seminar will be limited to a maximum of 20 contributed papers. If the paper is co-authored, please indicate the names of co-authors at the end of the abstract. Submission should be made by the author who will attend the seminar.

While abstracts may be submitted in English, French or Spanish, the working language at the seminar will be English and final papers should be submitted and presented in English.

Possible outcomes from the seminar include publishing the papers as seminar proceedings, an edited volume or a special issue of a journal. Papers submitted should be unpublished and remain the property of the IUSSP until the committee makes a decision with regard to their possible publication.

Current funding for the seminar is limited and efforts are under way to raise additional funds. At present, we have funds to support only a very limited number of participants’ expenses at the meeting or for travel, and in allocating funds priority will be given to accepted proposals from residents of low-income countries. Applicants are encouraged to seek their own travel funding. Those who are applying for financial assistance from the IUSSP should indicate this when they submit by ticking the appropriate box on the on-line submission form when submitting their paper or abstract. Applicants will be informed of the status of their application for financial support by 31 July 2010. However, funding is contingent upon submission of a complete paper of acceptable quality by the deadline for papers.

For further information:
Please contact Fatima Juarez (fjuarez2@prodigy.net.mx and fjuarez@colmex.mx – please send to both emails) with a copy to Susheela Singh (ssingh@guttmacher.org).

IUSSP Scientific Panel on Adolescent Life Course in Developing Countries:
Chair: Fatima Juarez. 
Members: Véronique Hertrich, Shireen Jejeebhoy, Thomas LeGrand, Cynthia Lloyd and Susheela Singh.

Local Organizer: Kaizô I. Beltrão

 

IUSSP
3-5 rue Nicolas, F-75980 Paris cedex 20, France
Tel +33 1 56 06 21 73 - Fax +33 1 56 06 22 04
contact us