Dr David Cantor awarded ESRC grant to investigate transnational responses to security and justice challenges of forced migration in Latin America
Dr David James Cantor, lecturer at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, has been awarded £210,862 as part of the prestigious ESRC Future Research Leaders scheme to embark on a new research project titled ‘Pushing the Boundaries: New Dynamics of Forced Migration and Transnational Responses in Latin America’. Research will be undertaken between October 2012 and September 2015.
New trends of increasing arrivals of ‘extra-continental’ migrants and refugees, many from conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, are raising substantive challenges of security and justice for Latin American societies. At the same time, particularly in Central America, novel patterns of gang- and drug-related generalised violence are producing extensive forced displacement. As states in the region seek to balance societal fears about terrorism and criminality against their international obligations to protect refugees and displaced persons, they explore new forms of transnational cooperation on asylum and migration issues.
Employing a multidisciplinary methodology this three-year project will investigate and influence the ways in which Latin American states utilise transnational structures and interventions to address new security and justice challenges arising from forced migration.T
The project is funded under the Future Research Leaders scheme by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) of the United Kingdom.
Notes for Editors:
1. For further information please contact Dee Burn at the School of Advanced Study at dee.burn@sas.ac.uk or +44 (0)20 7862 8670.
2. Dr David James Cantor is Lecturer in International Human Rights Law at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies and Director of the Refugee Law Initiative at the Human Rights Consortium. Dr Cantor conducts research on the practical protection of refugees and other displaced persons, particularly during situations of armed conflict. He has carried out in-depth fieldwork on displacement and armed conflict in Colombia and is a recognized specialist in this field. David has a particular interest in refugee law, human rights law and certain areas of the international law of armed conflict.
www.commonwealth.sas.ac.uk/about-us/staff/dr-david-cantor.html
3. The Refugee Law Initiative (RLI) at the Human Rights Consortium of the School of Advanced Study is the only academic centre in the UK to concentrate specifically on international refugee law. As a national focal point for leading and promoting research in this field, it works to integrate the shared interests of refugee law scholars and practitioners, stimulate collaboration between academics and non-academics, and achieve policy impact at the national and international level. The Refugee Law Initiative hosts seminars, workshops, short courses and other events to promote and facilitate cutting-edge research on the protection of refugees and other displaced persons. It leads and manages high-impact research, policy and training projects, and carries out consultancy work on refugee law and protection.
rli.sas.ac.uk
4. The School of Advanced Study at the University of London is the UK’s national centre for the facilitation and promotion of research in the humanities and social sciences. The School brings together the specialised scholarship and resources of 10 prestigious research institutes to offer academic opportunities, facilities and stimulation across a wide range of subject areas for the benefit of the national and international scholarly community. The member institutes of the School are the Institutes of Advanced Legal Studies, Classical Studies, Commonwealth Studies, English Studies, Germanic & Romance Studies, Historical Research, Musical Research, Philosophy, Study of the Americas, and The Warburg Institute. The School also hosts a cross-disciplinary centre, the Human Rights Consortium.
www.sas.ac.uk
5. The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is the UK's largest organisation for funding research on economic and social issues. It supports independent, high quality research which has an impact on business, the public sector and the third sector. The ESRC’s total budget for 2012/13 is £205 million. At any one time the ESRC supports over 4,000 researchers and postgraduate students in academic institutions and independent research institutes.
www.esrc.ac.uk
