Call for papers – Fez Agenda for Border Studies II International Conference – Fez, Morocco | 18-21 May 2026
The Fez Border Studies Conference II: Interdisciplinary Dialogues on Borders, Walls, and Security
Conference to be held by the University Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah of Fez (Laboratory of Legal and Political Studies, Morocco), with the University of Quebec at Montreal (Chaire Raoul-Dandurand, Canada) and INALCO (France), in collaboration with Arizona State University (School of Transborder Studies, USA), South Asia University (India).
While the literature on borders and border walls has grown significantly in the past decades, much of this scholarship remains centred and produced in and on the Global North, while international co-authored publications continue to be the exception rather than the rule. This event aims to substantially rethink the acceleration of border fortification and its impact by decentering the analysis mainly produced in the North. In an era marked by resurgent nationalism, supply chain disruptions, hypersecuritization, polycrisis building on health (in)security and climate change, borders reclaim centrality and intensify their role as key political features and spatial technologies. This call seeks to shift the lens, focusing on how deglobalization processes —real or imagined—are transforming border regimes, bordering practices, migration governance, and wall-building projects worldwide. It emphasizes the importance of the global South and non-Western/or Native perspectives and gender inclusivity in rethinking borders as imposed colonial constructs and as lived, contested, and relational spaces. Alternative knowledge systems challenge the very premises of territorial sovereignty, national boundaries, and fixed border regimes, offering alternative frameworks for understanding land, mobility, and political belonging.
This conference builds on the foundations of the 2024 conference, entitled “Towards a New Agenda in Border Studies”, where participants articulated the Fez Agenda for Border Studies. This second edition seeks to advance that agenda, interrogating borders and walls through interdisciplinary, transnational, and alternative perspectives. It will offer a unique and unprecedented space for in-depth discussions around the renewal of border wall studies, aiming at fostering the establishment of an inclusive, innovative and multidisciplinary research network. The particular objective of this conference is to push forward our new agenda of border and border wall studies that can benefit the border studies community as a whole. It is also about helping to forge closer links between researchers from distinct geographical areas that tend to coexist but rarely cross paths, actively supporting and fostering co-theorization and co-production of knowledge and exploring effective collaborative practices.
Organizers/Scientific Committee:
Said Saddiki, USMBA, Morocco
Elisabeth Vallet, CMRSJ & UQAM, Canada
Irasema Coronado ASU, USA
Dhananjay Tripathi SAU, India
Damien Simonneau INALCO, France
Kenneth Madsen OSU, USA
Badr Elkhaldi USMBA, Morocco
Gabrielle Gagnon UQAM, Canada
Hamdy Hassan CU, Egypt
Reece Jones UHM, USA
Meryem Lakhdar, USMBA
Deadline for abstract submission: Oct.15, 2025
Proposal: Please include the following information (300 words)
· Name of authors/contributors
· Institutional affiliations, titles
· Email address
· Title of the paper
· Abstract: Subject, empirical frame, analytical approach, theme
Conference Dates and Deadlines:
- Oct.15, 2025: deadline for submitting abstracts and proposals
- Nov. 30, 2025: proposal selection and notification sent to presenters
- March 10, 2026: submission of papers to discussants
- May 18-21, 2026: In-Person conference to be held in Fez, Morocco
- April 2026. Remote panels (limited availability)
Send your proposals via email in Word format to the organizers at: bordersandwalls@Gmail.com
Languages: Proposals can be submitted in English, French, or Arabic. The conference will be held in English, French, and Arabic.
Fields: Political Science, Geography, Anthropology, Sociology, Law, Economics, Art, Design, Biology, Environmental studies, Area Studies, Gender studies, Zoology, Medical studies (this list is intended to be suggestive rather than inclusive).
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