Cluj-Napoca, Romania
4-5 November 2025
Deadline for applications – 15 August 2025
Workshop organizers:
Prof. Mihaela Nedelcu, University of Neuchâtel, nccr-on the move
Prof. Viorela Telegdi-Csetri, CASTLE, University Babes-Bolyai
The ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine has triggered one of the largest waves of forced displacement in Europe since World War II, leding to a massive transnational dispersal of families, sometimes skattered across several countries. Ukrainian forced migrants, who are predominantly women and children, are leaving behind family members for whom they have cared, and they face multiple challenges in maintaining meaningful relationships and solidarity across borders. This has brought new forms of interdependence to the fore, revealing the complex relational mechanisms through which forced migrants and their relatives, whether left behind or living in other countries, act together to cope with the challenging reality of everyday life in contexts of displacement and war.
This two-day workshop, jointly organised by the Centre for the Study of Transnational Families at the University of Babes-Bolyai and the Institute of Sociology at the University of Neuchâtel within the framework of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research – The Migration-Mobility Nexus, proposes to explore transnational family processes within forced displacement from a relational perspective and through the lens of co-agency. In other words, it aims to analyze and discuss family life within forced migration as a process that is co-constructed, negotiated, and enacted together with others, and thus understand how migrants and non-migrants, those who leave and those who stay, actively shape one anothers’ lives, identities, and futures across time and borders, while embedded within various relational and sociopolitical contexts.
Contributions to this workshop are expected to focus on the following themes:
1. Transnational family reconfigurations: How do family relationships transform during times of war and forced displacement? How does the dispersal of family members and the resulting losses and conflicts transform the family network? Which family ties are lost, strengthened or (re)created in the context of forced migration? How does this affect the ability of family members to cope with challenging situations in their current living environment and across borders?
2. Family interdependencies, intergenerational relationships, and solidarity networks: How do intergenerational relationships evolve in the context of forced separation and the dismantling of well-established solidarity networks? How do they transform gender roles and expectations, especially when forced migrants are mainly women? What challenges arise from exchanging family support in contexts of forced migration? What role do informal and institutional support play?
3. Childcare and Children’s Well-Being: What kind of safety net do forced migrants establish to support their children’s overall well-being in challenging circumstances? How are children’s needs regarding schooling, childcare and physical and mental health met when formal structures are lacking or unstable? How do childcare arrangements evolve in a context of forced migration to ensure children’s emotional, physical and cognitive well-being? What informal strategies, community-based solutions or cultural practices emerge to safeguard and promote children’s development and resilience?
4. Social Protection, Institutions and the Role of the Family: Which institutional responses address the consequences of forced family displacement and the (re)configuration of transnational family support networks? What challenges do family policies in both origin and host countries face in responding to the complex, cross
border needs of displaced families? In what ways does the family act as a primary agent of social protection, providing emotional, material and caregiving support, when formal systems are insufficient or inaccessible? How do informal, family-based mechanisms complement or substitute institutional efforts in crisis settings?
We welcome contributions from researchers in various disciplines, such as sociology, anthropology, migration studies, political science, education, psychology and gender studies. We will allocate a dedicated panel/time slot for presenting ongoing doctoral research and we strongly encourage PhD students to contribute. In addition, a roundtable will be organized with practitioners who are directly involved in providing assistance to refugees, namely activists, educators, public servants and NGO staff.
Please submit your paper’ title and abstract (up to 300 words) to Mihaela Nedelcu ([email protected]) and Viorela Telegdi ([email protected]) before 15 August 2025. Selected participants will be informed by 1 September 2025. A selection of papers presented to the workshop will be invited for publication in a peer-reviewed edited volume/special issue published by a reputable academic press.
