Diaspora Business / The Diaspora and Business Project

Diaspora Business The Diaspora and Business Project Wednesday 15th July - Friday 17th July 2015 Mansfield College, Oxford, United Kingdom Call for Presentations: Diasporas' role in world economy is increasingly becoming vital as the number of people living and working away from their places of birth is on the rise. Diasporas use their networks in both the home and host countries and mostly become visible, and sometimes invisible, as they influence living conditions in a world of globalised plural cultures. The economic, political, cultural, social, historical, literary works, the media, amongst others, often influence livable spaces and places. Some of the ways Diasporas play an influencing role are in diverse areas such as health, wellbeing, livelihoods in home and host countries, the emotional and psychological aspects of individuals and groups in society through business activities, international investments, conducting international business, production and marketing. These Diaspora businesses also influence the viability of numerous new developments, ventures, and act as bridge-builders in many aspects of human activity, including sponsorship of concerts and sports events, through their economic and financial contributions. The complexities involved in understanding Diaspora Businesses requires an international, interdisciplinary approach as the topic needs to reflect on numerous perspectives, such as international business, economy, sociology, public administration, history, ethnology, sports, the arts, linguistics, developmental aid, just to name a few, for creating much needed understanding of this ever growing phenomenon and its dynamism. In the contemporary globalizing world it is essential to understand many aspects of Diaspora businesses inclduing: - Concept, importance and the inherent dilemmas posed by the activities of Diaspora Businesses, - The socio-cultural mechanisms underpinning these activities, - The different types of Diaspora entrepreneurship, - The organisational structures of Diaspora businesses, - The numerous influences and contributions to changes in societies including the political machineries of all echelons of government, and - Subsequent challenges for managing diversity of businesses and the government policies related to the existence of formal and informal Diaspora businesses. This inaugural meeting calls for proposals on the following topics: 1. Conceptual Understanding of the Nature and Types of Diaspora Businesses: - Demographic implications and Diaspora Businesses - Business activities and behaviour - Social and economic mechanisms 2. Networks and Roles: - Facilitators and enablers of change in business ethics and transactions - Global trade and flows in goods, resources, and tourism - Influences on development in host and home countries - Relationships between local and Diaspora businesses - Clusters, Ethnic related businesses and emerging economies and societies - Liabilities and Assets of foreignness and competition and cooperation between foreign and local businesses 3. Positive and Negative Effects and Connotations: - Creation, competition and influence of social, cultural, religious activities - Enhancing and hindering economic development and sustainability - Supporting and preventing social harmony, social entrepreneurialism and social mobilty - Irregularities and discontinuities due to Diaspora Businesses - Effects on sustainable livelihoods - Criminality, Smuggling, counterfeit, money laundering, and trafficking - Ownership, location advantages - Roles of host and home countries for managing diversity of populations 4. Socio-Cultural Influences: - Liabilities of being an outsider, assets of being an insider and social capital - Social, cultural, and psychological competences - Cooperation, understanding, communication and language - Mobility, family and life planning - Enforced relocation 5. Organisational Frames: - Family, corporations, and other forms of business organizations - Born International, born global, transnational - Joint ventures, foreign direct investments - E-commerce and electronic transactions - Network organisations including chambers of commerce 6. Management of Resources and Policy Making: - Diasporas as resources and knowledge repositories - Obstacles, limitations, regulatory frameworks including protocols for human trafficking and refugee populations - Prosperity, Resiliencies and Sustainability - Management challenges and governance structures - Policy making at local, national, regional, international level The Steering Group welcomes the submission of proposals for short workshops, practitioner-based activities, performances, and pre-formed panels. We particularly welcome short film screenings; photographic essays; installations; interactive talks and alternative presentation styles that encourage engagement. What to Send: Proposals will also be considered on any related theme. 300 word proposals should be submitted by Friday 13th March 2015. If a proposal is accepted for the conference, a full draft paper of no more than 3000 words should be submitted by Friday 22nd May 2015. Proposals should be submitted simultaneously to both Organising Chairs; proposals may be in Word or RTF formats with the following information and in this order: a) author(s), b) affiliation as you would like it to appear in programme, c) email address, d) title of proposal, e) body of proposal, f) up to 10 keywords. E-mails should be entitled: D and B1 Proposal Submission All abstracts will be at least double blind peer reviewed. Please use plain text (Times Roman 12) and abstain from using any special formatting, characters or emphasis (such as bold, italics or underline). We acknowledge receipt and answer to all proposals submitted. If you do not receive a reply from us in a week you should assume we did not receive your proposal; it might be lost in cyberspace! We suggest, then, to look for an alternative electronic route or resend. Organising Chairs: Rob Fisher and Ram Vemuri: diasbus1@inter-disciplinary.net Maria Elo: maria.elo@utu.fi The aim of the conference is to bring together people from different areas and interests to share ideas and explore various discussions which are innovative and exciting.All proposals accepted for and presented at the conference must be in English and will be eligible for publication in an ISBN eBook. Selected proposals may be developed for publication in a themed hard copy volume(s). All publications from the conference will require editors, to be chosen from interested delegates from the conference. Inter-Disciplinary.Net believes it is a mark of personal courtesy and professional respect to your colleagues that all delegates should attend for the full duration of the meeting. If you are unable to make this commitment, please do not submit an abstract for presentation. For further details of the conference, please visit: http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/at-the-interface/diversity-recognition/diaspora-business/call-for-presentations/ Please note: Inter-Disciplinary.Net is a not-for-profit network and we are not in a position to be able to assist with conference travel or subsistence.