350
Migration and Sexuality
Language: English
There is nothing new in the interest for the transformation of intimate norms and practices during migration. A century ago, the Chicago School had already highlighted the role of spatial mobility in shaping changes in sexual norms and behaviors. Even Kinsey, in his pioneering work, duly stressed migration experiences as potentially significant for explaining sexual behavior.
Still, a sustained dialogue between sociologists of migration and sociologists of sexuality is largely missing. Scholars working in one of these fields often ignore substantial findings identified by the other. Only in recent years, a seminal stream of literature has been slowly emerging. We are still, however, far from having an adequate understanding of the issue.
The session will follow the regular session format. It will offer a forum for sociologists doing empirical work on the connections between sexual behavior and migration experiences. The ideal paperwill deal with analytically well-defined changes in sexual life broadly defined - as changes in sexual identities, norms, networks of sociability, meaning, practices or behavior - brought about by migration. Studies able to explore migration-related changes in both the immigrant and the native population will be particularly appreciated.