Call for Papers
Nonprofits, Public Policy, and Migration Crises
Guest Editors:
- Anna Domaradzka, University of Warsaw
- Shawn Flanigan, San Diego State University
- Tania Haddad, American University of Beirut
Nonprofit Policy Forum invites papers for a special issue on Nonprofits, Public Policy, and Migration Crises. Crises of migration draw attention in many parts of the world, but are overlooked with dire consequences in others. Since the beginning of the Russian War in Ukraine in February 2022, over 11 million people have left Ukraine, and 7 million are internally displaced (UNHCR, August 2022). Images of Afghans clinging to planes evacuating Kabul prior to the Taliban’s takeover in August 2021 were only the most recent event in one of the largest protracted refugee situations in the world (UNHCR 2022). Eleven years after the onset of the Syrian civil war, 13 million Syrians still live as refugees or are internally displaced, the majority living in extreme poverty (UNHCR 2022). Migrant arrests on the Mexico-U.S. border exceeded 2 million for the first time in 2022 (Washington Post, 2022), with migrants fleeing not only repressive government regimes but natural disasters, poverty and food scarcity, and high levels of crime and gang violence. While migration crises driven by climate change, poverty and crime may receive less media coverage than those driven by war, the human toll is devastating. Yet crises of migration are not always viewed sympathetically, and in many countries around the world migration has become a controversial political issue and a rallying point for voters and political movements.
Nonprofits, NGOs, and other civil society actors participate in and are affected by migration crises in a variety of ways. For example, nonprofits advocate for and against public policy related to migration at national, international, and sometimes local levels; participate in policymaking and governance collaborations related to migration policy and services for migrants; and work with communities to implement initiatives responding to migration crises, or to implement services for migrants. This special issue explores the relationship between nonprofits (or NGOs or other civil society actors), public policy, and migration crises. We use the term “migration crises” here to capture situations of vulnerable migration that include refugees and internally displaced persons, but might also include other individuals who do not technically qualify for refugee status but are migrating at risk and in vulnerable circumstances. Questions to be addressed in this special issue may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- What roles do nonprofits or other civil society actors play in policymaking or governance schemes related to migration, particularly migration crises? For example, what is the role of nonprofits in advocating directly to policymakers or engaging voters and others to be active in supporting or opposing migration initiatives? How does the role of civil society vary around the world, or what are the global dimensions of refugee governance?
- What is the role of foundations in funding initiatives that support or oppose migration? And how do foundation and other funding priorities affect the ability of nonprofits to respond and adapt to migration crises?
- How do policies governing the nonprofit sector affect organizations’ abilities to respond and adapt to migration crises?
- What are the roles of nonprofit organizations and/or other civil society actors vis-a-vis the state in migration crises, (perhaps especially in situations where the state itself may have had a role in precipitating the crisis?)
- How do nonprofits working in migration crises balance advocacy and service delivery?
- What are the humanitarian and social justice implications of nonprofits’ advocacy, governance, or implementation activities?
- As nonprofits engage in policy advocacy, what is the relationship between strategy and context? What strategies might work in particularly challenging or intractable political contexts?
- What is the impact of migration crises (e.g. mass emigration) on nonprofits themselves?
The special issue will be comprised primarily of research articles, and may include one or more research note, policy brief, commentary, case study, interview, or book review. Instructions for submissions are available on the NPF website: https://www.degruyter.com/journal/key/npf/html?lang=en
Timeline:
- 8/15/2023: Deadline for full papers (prior abstract submission not required) to be submitted for peer review via NPF’S online submission portal. Please indicate that your submission is intended for the Migration Crises SI.
For any questions, please contact:
Shawn Flanigan, San Diego State University, shawn.flanigan@sdsu.edu
