Sexuality and Migration: Contemporary Themes and Ways Forward
Welcome to a conference that examines the intersections of migration and sexuality through scholarly presentations and dialogues with professionals working with migrants on themes of gender, sexuality, and sexual health in Sweden. Arranged at Linnaeus University on 7-9 December, 2022.
Migrant intimacies are becoming increasingly visible in the scholarly and political debate on migration, internationally. Echoing Mai and King’s invitation (2009) for an “emotional” and “sexual” turn in migration studies, scholarship has growingly addressed the role that love and desire play in the choice of getting on the move, and in the ways migration and mobility occur. Affects, inevitably interwoven with material needs and aspirations, shape migratory circuits; transactional sex sustains transnational mobilities; the economies of sex trafficking interweave with local moral economies and dreams of social mobility.
At the same time, sexualities are the backdrop to discussing identity and belonging in progressive or - more often - conservative ways in several countries. Migrants’ sexualities are often framed as problematic in the debate on multicultural vs. assimilationist policies: Sweden is a case in point. There is a concern that gender relations and sexual practices and discourses within migrant communities will interfere with so-called integration: self-regulation and pedagogical interventions thus interact in forming the desirable sexuality of the good citizen. Migratory journeys, finally, exert a toll on individuals’ sexual health: migrants may lack information about, and access to, health services, while the health sector may be unprepared to decenter long-ingrained discourses on the body, gender and sexuality.
The event will examine these themes through scholarly presentations, and in dialogue with practitioners and professionals working with migrants on themes of gender, sexuality and sexual health, with a focus on Sweden. The format will invite for methodological and epistemological cross-fertilization, and transdisciplinary dialogue.
No fee for the conference
Participation is free upon pre-registration.
Conference Programme
Wednesday 7 December
10.00-12.00 Registration
Open area “Mentre”, Building M
11.30–12.15 Opening of the conference and lunch
Open area “Mentre”, Building M
12.30 – 14.00 LGBTQIA experiences and positionalities (I)
Introducing and chair: Thomas Wimark, Uppsala University
M-1053, Building M
14.00-14.30 Coffee, Open area “Mentre”, Building M
14.30- 16.30 Sexual health and access to public health
Introducing and chair: Mazen Baroudi, Umeå University
N-1017, Building N
16.30-17.00 Coffee and snacks, Open area “Mentre”, Building M
17.00 –18.00 Keynote: Christian Groes, Roskilde University
“Södra”, Building M
18.00 –19.00 Mingling, Open area “Mentre”, Building M
19.00 – 20.30 Film screening: “Travel” (2015)
by Nicola Mai, University of Leicester, who will introduce and discuss.
“Weber”, Building K
Thursday 8 December
9.00-11.00 Sex and Transaction
Introducing and chair: Niina Vuolajarvi, London School of Economics
“Weber”, Building K
11.00 –11.30 Coffee, ”Glaset”, Building K
11.30– 13.00 LGBTQIA experiences and positionalities (II)
Introducing and chair: Thomas Wimark, Uppsala University
"Weber", Building K
13.00 –14.00 Lunch, ”Glaset”, Building K
14.00-15.30 Learning intimacies – schools and beyond
Introducing and chairs: Anna Bredström & Eva Bolander, Linköping University
"Weber", Building K
15.30-16.00 Coffee, ”Glaset”, Building K
16.00 -17.30 Roundtable for scholars and practitioners (in Swedish): Migration, kärlek och sexuell hälsa i forskning och praktik
”Weber”, Building K
Friday 9 December
9.00-10.30 Colonial regimes and postcolonial perspectives
Introducing and chair: Diana Mulinari, Lund University
"Weber", Building K
10.30-11.00 Coffee break
“Glaset”, Building K
11.00-12.30 The complexities of “honor”
Introducing and chair: Pernilla Ouis, Malmö University
"Weber", Building K
12.40-13.15 Sexuality in Civic Orientation
Kristine Køhler Mortensen, Copenhagen University
"Weber", Building K
13.15-14.00 Lunch
“Glaset”, Building K
14.00-15.00 Sexuality, migration and participatory methods
Introducing and chair: Christopher High, Linnaeus University
"Weber", Building K
15.00-15.30 Final greetings and ways forward
"Weber", Building K
15.30-17.30 Workshop for practitioners (in mixed Swedish and English): “Let’s talk differently”: Om att öppna rum för dialog genom deltagande media/ “Let’s talk differently": Opening spaces for dialogue with participatory media. With Chris High, Linnaeus University
K1050, Building K
Keynote lecture
The keynote will be given (in English) by Christian Groes, anthropologist, Associate Professor at Roskilde University, who works on migration, gender and sexuality.
Film screening: Travel
Screening of “Travel”, by Nicola Mai, Professor of Criminology at University of Leicester and filmmaker who has focused on the experiences and representations of criminalised and stigmatised migrant groups. Nicola Mai will introduce the movie and lead the Q&A session. The discussion will be in English. Participation is free, but the number of participants is limited: please register here to attend (link)
Roundtable: Migration, love and sexual health in research and practice
Sexuality and sexual health are increasingly important in integration measures and policy in contemporary Sweden. But what exchange exists between professionals/ practitioners and scholars working in this field? How can the dialogue be strengthened, and what can be learned from exchanging experiences?
The roundtable invites scholars and professionals/practitioners working on themes of gender, sexuality, and sexual health to explore these issues. It also provides an opportunity to conjointly discuss current policy and practice.
Please note that the conversation is in Swedish. Participation is free, but the number of participants is limited.
Workshop: “Let’s talk differently": Opening spaces for dialogue with participatory media
This workshop will provide a taste of the methods and things to think about when using media and technology as a way of opening up spaces to talk with people about sensitive topics such as intimacy and relationships. Participatory media approaches have been used around the world as a space to engage in social learning with people on the margins of civil life: including youth, migrants, people selling sex, and many others. Film-making, photography, digital storytelling and other approaches create not just products for advocacy and learning, but a process where individuals and groups can take the time to explore the things that matter to them. The workshop will look at different ways that participatory media has been used in different context, and provide an experiential taster of how spaces for talking differently are constructed.
The workshop is hosted by Chris High (Lnu) and will be held in a mixture of Swedish and English. It is open to all that is interested in participatory methods, media production or social learning in their work. The number of participants is limited.
A mixed-language event
Please note that this is a mixed-language event. The keynote will be held in English by Christian Groes (Roskilde University). The scholarly panels will be held in English. The roundtable with scholars, practitioners and professionals will be held in Swedish. Likewise, there will be a workshop for professionals and practitioners that will mainly be held in Swedish, with possibility of mixing languages.
Organizers
The conference is hosted by Centre for Concurrences in Colonial and Postcolonial Studies (Linnaeus University) in collaboration with The Centre for Sexology and Sexuality Studies (Malmö University) and the Center of Cultural Sociology (Linnaeus University), and funded by FORTE (Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare).
Travel to and from Växjö
There are a number of different ways to travel to Växjö. You can either take the train to Växjö Central or travel by air to Växjö Småland Airport.
If you travel by train to Växjö you will reach Växjö Central located in the city centre. Travelling by train from Stockholm Central to Växjö Central takes roughly 3.5 hours.
If you instead choose to travel by air, you can choose to travel either from Bromma Stockholm Airport or Amsterdam Airport Schiphol to Växjö Småland Airport. You can also reach Växjö via flight to Copenhagen Airport/Kastrup and connecting direct train to Växjö Central (roughly 2.5 hours).
Travel in Växjö
For travel from Växjö Central or Växjö Småland Airport to Linnaeus University we recommend either bus or taxi.
By bus
When travelling by bus from Växjö Central to Linnaeus University, bus number 3, direction “Universitetet”, is the best option. However, there are also other bus routes that pass by one of the university’s bus stops or bus stops nearby, for instance, route number 1 and 5, which take you to Teleborg Centrum, some 8–10 minutes’ walk from the university’s campus.
Bus number 4 will take you from Växjö Småland Airport to Växjö Central where you can change to bus to get to Linnaeus University.
Bus tickets are purchased either on the bus with a debit card or you can download the travel app “Länstrafiken Kronoberg” and purchase your ticket in the app, which will give you a 10% discount on your ticket. You use your debit card to pay in the app.
Click here to perform a search on Länstrafiken Kronoberg:
https://www.lanstrafikenkron.se/en
By bicycle
In case you prefer a bicycle, many hotels can offer this. It takes roughly 20 minutes with a bicycle from the city centre to Linnaeus University’s campus.
By taxi
Most taxi companies start from Södra Bantorget at World Trade Center which means you can find available taxis here.
By car
There is a relative shortage of parking spaces on campus and all are subject to a charge. Parking spaces are marked on the map below.
Here you will find a map of Linnaeus University in Växjö: https://lnu.se/en/meet-linnaeus-university/contact-and-visit-us/
A sustainable event
The conference “Sexuality and Migration” is a sustainability-assured meeting in accordance with Linnaeus University’s guidelines for sustainable events. These guidelines are linked to the 17 global goals in Agenda 2030 and comprise the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, the social, and the environmental.
Learn more about Linnaeus University´s sustainable events here.