Events

CALL FOR PROPOSALS DEADLINE: 8 MAY 2026

Multidirectional migration brings attention to how simultaneity and interconnections characterise emigration, immigration and/or re-migration flows, rather than studying them as compartmentalised migration trends (Ho, 2019; Abdelhady and Norocel, 2023; Zhou, 2024). The approach of multidirectional migration emphasises how migration links multiple sites trans-territorially through not only individual migrants’ journeys but also global events. As migrants navigate inclusion and difference across nation-states, they carve out ongoing trajectories that shape citizenship, belonging and personhood (e.g. Ong, 1999; Ley and Kobayashi, 2005; Waters, 2006). Their multidirectional movements are framed not simply as economically motivated but as deeply tied to aspirations, transnational householding, social reproduction, and political belonging (e.g. Liao, 2020; De Silva, 2023; Zani, 2025; Barabantseva, 2026). Contemporary migration could involve multiple hubs, loops, and detours. Taking multidirectional migration as a vantage point challenges approaches that analyse migration through systems theory, traditional “sending/destination” categories or as one-directional and sequential movements (Schapendonk and Steel, 2014; Bal et al, 2020).

Multidirectional migration starting from or taking place in Asia manifests through overlapping regional corridors, serial labour flows, and transitions within trans-territorial circuits. A country may simultaneously function as an origin, destination, and transit hub, and in this context, its social cohesion is shaped by the interplay of simultaneous inflows, outflows, and return movements. Or different countries in a regional corridor or trans-territorial circuit can take on the role of origin, destination or transit hubs as migrants make pit-stops during criss-crossing journeys over the life-course.

Treating migration as a one-off event (or a single decision) no longer fits in such scenarios; instead, decisions and identities unfold over time and across several sites. Migrants who undertake multidirectional migrations navigate migration regimes, nationality laws and cultural differences in ways that chart multi-jurisdictional “citizenship constellations” (Bauböck, 2010) which connect individuals by legal membership or lived ties to multiple nation-states.

This workshop aims to unpack the architecture of directionality in migration studies by foregrounding the non‑linear, multi‑sited, and provisional nature of contemporary cross-border movements. We welcome papers that critically interrogate vocabularies of directionality in migration studies—and their underlying temporal assumptions such as by:

• Investigating the role of states in shaping diaspora mobilisation and/or immigration controls and national identity politics as they intersect in migration hubs, regional corridors or trans-territorial circuits
• Foregrounding the multiple belongings, transnational sojourning and citizenship constellations which migrants experience and states seek to manage during multidirectional migrations
• Examining the intersectionality of migration with class, race, gender and nationhood in intimate and cultural domains during multidirectional migrations

Capturing multi‑directional flows requires tracking people and their ties across different locations and time periods, which strains traditional single‑case, single‑site fieldwork and census‑based sampling. We are also open towards papers that foreground innovative methodological interventions for studying multidirectional migrations.

Enquiries can be sent to Prof Elaine Ho (elaine.ho@nus.edu.sg) and Prof Elena Barabantseva (e.v.barabantseva@manchester.ac.uk).

References

– Abdelhady, D., Norocel, O.C., 2023. Re-Envisioning immigrant integration: Toward multidirectional conceptual flows. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies 21, 119–131.
– Bal, C.S., Palmer, W., 2020. Indonesia and circular labor migration: Governance, remittances and multi-directional flows. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal 29, 3–11.
– Barabantseva, E., 2026. Post-Soviet Brides in the China Dream: Migration, Marriage and Geopolitics Across Borders. Cambridge University Press.
– De Silva, M., 2023. Pragmatic Transnationalism: Sri Lankan-British Retired Migrants’ Negotiations of Transnational Citizenship and (Un)Belonging. The Professional Geographer 75, 155–163.
– Ley, D., Kobayashi, A., 2005. Back to Hong Kong: return migration or transnational sojourn? Global Networks 5, 111–127.
– Liao, K.A.S., 2019. Mobile practices and the production of professionals on the move: Filipino highly skilled migrants in Singapore. Geoforum 106, 214–222.
– Ho, E.L.E., 2019. Citizens in Motion: Emigration, Immigration and Re-migration Across China’s Borders. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California.
– Schapendonk, J., Steel, G., 2014. Following migrant trajectories: The im/mobility of Sub-Saharan Africans en- route to the European Union. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 104, 262–270.
– Waters, J.L., 2005. Transnational family strategies and education in the contemporary Chinese diaspora. Global Networks 5, 359–377.
– Zhou, T., 2024. The multidirectional diaspora: Writing Chinese migration history in a time of global racial reckoning. Historical Journal. 67, 178–186.
– Zani, B., 2025. Bumps, hits and hurdles: multidirectional citizenship pathways across the Taiwan Strait. Ethnic and Racial Studies 48, 2935–2952.

SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS

Paper proposals should include a title, an abstract (maximum 300 words), and a brief personal biography (about 150 words) for submission by 8 May 2026. Additionally, please include a statement confirming that your proposed paper has not been published or committed elsewhere, and that you are willing to revise the version of your paper presented at the workshop for potential inclusion in an edited volume. Please submit your proposal using the form available on the website.

Authors of selected proposals will be notified in early June 2026. Presenters will be required to submit a draft of their papers (4,000-6,000 words) by 30 October 2026. These papers will be distributed to fellow speakers and chairpersons prior to the workshop and do not need to be fully polished.

This workshop will be held in person. Full or partial airfare funding will be offered to overseas participants, as well as three nights of accommodation in Singapore. Please indicate your need for funding support in the proposal form.

WORKSHOP CONVENORS

Prof Elaine Lynn-Ee HO
Asia Research Institute & Department of Geography, National University of Singapore

Prof Elena BARABANTSEVA
Department of Politics, The University of Manchester