Calls for papers

 

International Journal of Migration and Border Studies

 

Special Issue on: "Comparative Migration Law: Methods, Debates and New Frontiers"

Guest Editors:
Assoc. Prof. Daniel Ghezelbash, Macquarie University, Australia
Dr. Kevin Fredy Hinterberger, Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour, Austria
Vice-Director Lukas Heckendorn Urscheler, Swiss Institute of Comparative Law, Switzerland
Dr. Carole Viennet, Swiss Institute of Comparative Law, Switzerland

This special issue examines the purpose and methods of comparison in migration law. With contributions from academics working across a number of interrelated fields, including migration law, refugee law, comparative law, and migration studies. We aim to identify key contemporary debates and chart a program for future research.

Cross-jurisdictional comparisons are a common feature of migration and refugee law scholarship.1 However, to date, there has been very little introspection as to the purpose and methods behind the comparison. Moreover, comparative migration law scholarship has largely evolved in isolation from mainstream comparative law. Part of the contribution of this special issue will be to bridge that gap and explore the degree to which the contemporary debates in comparative law are relevant to the migration context.

The goal of the mapping exercise and reflection on the future is to provide insights as to how a deeper comparative scholarship may provide solutions for migrants themselves or the authorities applying migration law. Comparative approaches have been associated with holistic, whole-of-society perception of the legal discipline and the interpretation of norms. The challenge will be to understand if a comparative methodology for migration law can help to bring about an empirical turn to the discipline of migration law, as the international cooperation framework of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) and Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) have been calling for.

The Guest Editors will be inviting substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the Comparative Migration Law: Methodological Challenges and Future Horizons for review and potential publication, but are also inviting other experts to submit articles for this call.

Subject Coverage
Suitable topics include, but are not limited, to the following:

• Comparative migration law
• Comparative refugee law
• Methodology of comparative migration law
• Approaches to comparative migration law
• Relationship between comparative migration law and mainstream comparative law
• Legal transplants of refugee and migration laws
• Critical approaches to comparative migration law
• Interdisciplinary approaches to comparative migration laws
• Critiques of comparative migration law
• Global migration law as an alternative to comparative migration law

Notes for Prospective Authors

Submitted papers should not have been previously published nor be currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. (N.B. Conference papers may only be submitted if the paper has been completely re-written and if appropriate written permissions have been obtained from any copyright holders of the original paper).

All papers are refereed through a peer review process.

All papers must be submitted online. To submit a paper, please read our Submitting articles page.

Important Dates

Manuscripts due by: 1 June, 2021

Notification to authors: 1 August, 2021

Final versions due by: 1 October, 2021