SYMPOSIUM: Invisible Difference: Interrogating �frictionless� migration Symposium

Mobility brings with it the likelihood of interactions between people who are culturally and physically different. This is particularly the case as people move across national borders, often to countries geographically and culturally distant from their own. Research on the notion of ‘visible difference’ indicates that some groups – those perceived to be more similar to the host country population – have less difficulty with incorporation and are more successful in building families and communities. Groups that are more conspicuously different – phenotypically and culturally – are likely to experience exclusion and to find integration more of a challenge. However, it must also be acknowledged that the question of who is more or less similar or ‘other’ changes over time and depends on historical and political context. This symposium explores the construction of visibility and invisibility of migrants, and the effects of such constructions on integration and settlement.

Before the Symposium there will be a Master class for postgraduates on 22 April 2014 focusing on policy applications with invited speakers Dr Majella Kilkey, University of Sheffield, and Professor Louise Ackers, University of Salford.

Online registration for the Symposium and the Master class is now open. Further information about the events is available online: http://www.arts.uwa.edu.au/research/clusters/MoB/events