Migration and Mobilities Research Network at Edinburgh Napier University is hosting a one-day in-person conference, on Thursday, June 19, 2025 in Edinburgh as part of Refugee Week.

This year’s topic is: (Re)Mapping Mobility: Migration, Thresholds, and the Politics of (Dis)Placement.

In an era of increasing political polarisation, economic instability, and shifting geopolitical landscapes, the experience of migration is increasingly marked by liminality. Many people who have experienced migration find themselves in a state of being ‘in-between’ – neither fully embedded into their new environments nor entirely tethered to the places they left behind. From bureaucratic delays that prolong the legalistic limbos of denied (legal) recognition, to physical, affective and psychological states of being stuck, the thresholds of migration have become sites of negotiation, tension, and contestation.

This conference seeks to explore contemporary experiences of (voluntary and forced) mobility and migration with a focus on those who navigate precarious and transitional spaces – those waiting, those being pushed, and those existing in liminal conditions of uncertainty. How do different actors – states, institutions, communities, and migrants themselves – define and manage these states of flux? How does mobility intersect with broader structures of governance, global inequalities, and cultural reconfigurations? How are narratives of ‘home’ and ‘arrival’ disrupted by prolonged states of impermanence?

The event is free to attend, and includes a keynote by Professor Julia O’Connell Davidson (University of Bristol) and a screening of participatory documentary films exploring the experiences.

Full conference programme will be published in early June.

Registration is required via the event link: https://www.migrationmobilities.com/mmrn-annual-conference-2025