Special Joint Conference of the International Convention of Asia
Scholars (ICAS) and
Association for Asian Studies (AAS) ? 70 years of Asian Studies
Honolulu, Hawaii, 31 March?3 April 2011
PANEL ? *Asian border-crossing mobilities: On the road to (self)development*
Conveners:
Pál Nyíri (Free University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands): P.Nyiri@fsw.vu.nl
<mailto:P.Nyiri@fsw.vu.nl>
Noel B. Salazar (University of Leuven, Belgium): Noel.Salazar@soc.kuleuven.be
<mailto:Noel.Salazar@soc.kuleuven.be>
Discussant:
Biao Xiang (University of Oxford, UK)
Panel abstract
Various forms of geographical mobility have long been linked to
self-improvement. Today,
boundary-crossing travels in particular are widely accepted as a
desirable (not to say
normative) path towards success, be it educational or scientific
(student, faculty or
staff exchange), occupational and financial (work experience abroad),
religious
(pilgrimage), or higher social status (tourism or lifestyle
migration). Mobility is also
often framed as serving the development of the places one travels to,
or their people.
Volunteers, missionaries, investors, doctors, teachers, engineers and
?responsible
tourists? all claim to be contributing to this noble goal. While
cross-border mobilities
in Asia have been associated with self-betterment since colonial
times, mobility as the
betterment of others, traditionally a preserve of the First and the
now-defunct Second
World, is becoming an increasingly common discourse, accompanying an
expanding practice
and span of mobilities. The ranks of Asian investors, missionaries,
volunteers and
eco-minded tourists abroad are growing rapidly and adding to the ranks
of workers and
students. Sometimes, a combination of entrepreneurial zeal and
religious devotion
coalesces into a discourse of mission that appears to parallel ?the
white man?s burden?
from a century ago. This panel explores how voluntary mobility has
become linked with
various forms of self-improvement and the development of others ?
economic, social,
cultural, environmental or soteriological ? across Asian societies.
Where do the
currently dominant imaginaries of success-through-mobility and
help-through-migration
come from and which mechanisms and institutional regimes ensure their
circulation? How
are other- and self-improvement linked, and in which situations do
both come into
conflict?
Submission of abstracts:
Apart from contact details, paper proposers are asked to supply a
paper title and a
250-word abstract.
_Deadline_ for receipt of all proposals is 1 August 2010
General information on the conference:
http://www.asian-studies.org/annual-meeting/
Important:
- No individual is to be on the formal program of the conference in
more than one session
- The Program Committee will expect strict compliance with the
December 2 deadline for
participant registration
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact either of
the panel
conveners.
