LSA 2019 in Washington DC

30 May 2019, by Internetredaktion

Photo: LSA

This year Helene Heuser participated at the annual conference of the LSA in Washinton DC at the sessions "Transatlantic Perspectives on Local Migration Governance" and "Relational Approaches to Law and Migration Governance".

Transatlantic Perspectives on Local Migration Governance

As national governments have cracked down on immigration, there has been a parallel increase in diverging local approaches on both sides of the Atlantic. Yet, the welcoming of newcomers into European towns is rarely compared to the 'sanctuary cities' movement in the US. This panel highlights the relational and unbounded character of migration governance as it (re-)examines the possibility and analytical value of such transatlantic comparisons. What social, political and legal arguments drive the 'decoupling' of municipal from restrictive national policies in both settings? What kinds of local strategies have proven most successful in this regard? What role do (networks of) mayors, city councils and civil society play in this context? How do local actions and policies relate to supposedly 'superordinate' legal frameworks and discourses?

Chair: Moritz Baumgärtel, Utrecht University
Discussant: Martha Davis, Northeastern University School of Law

Presentations
City on Guard: Situating Athens into the Global Refugee Crisis, Berna Turam, Northeastern University
Exclusive Inclusiveness? Access and Participation in Transnational City Networks in the Area of Migrant Reception and Integration, Moritz Baumgärtel, Utrecht University, Elif Durmus, Utrecht University (University College Roosevelt)
Sanctuary Values: How Normatively Substantive Sources of Law Can Generate Litigation Over Sanctuary That Confronts, Rather Than Avoids, the Substantive Policy Debate, Christopher Lasch, University of Denver Sturm College of Law
Strategies of Legitimization Developed by the Local Actors in the Mediterranean Refugee Crisis: The Cases of Palermo and Barcelona
Presenter, Alexandra López-Lorente, University of Barcelona, Luz Muñoz, University of Barcelona, David Moya, University of Barcelona

Legal Scales II: While local authorities are claiming a more proactive role in refugee reception and integration,
critics are increasingly arguing against pastoral visions of local migration governance and in favour
of relational conceptualizations of 'multiscalar' power hierarchies. This panel explores this claim
from the angle of legal regulation, which has so far been absent from the discussion. In how far are
power relations shaped by legal frameworks? What do contestations regarding the interpretation
and application of norms tell us about scalar dimensions of migration governance? In turn, how can
a multiscalar perspective on migration and cities inform discussions about legal frameworks and
jurisdictions? In situating practices of local migration governance, what insights are to be gained
from theories of legal pluralism and critical legal studies?

Chair: Jeff Handmaker, International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University
Discussant: Judith Resnik, Yale Law School