Regina Bendix

Preliminary abstract: The 2017 SIEF Congress approaches the pressing, worldwide concern for adequate ways of living in an era of political, economic, and environmental turmoil. All have occasioned home loss and flight, not least in the direction of Europe. Rather than displacement and mobility, the congress concentrates on the challenges, from material to ideological, posed by masses of people seeking to make temporary or permanent homes in new places. Under this framework of dwelling, the congress theme draws together urgent topics in the ethnographic disciplines: free and forced migration, social integration, urban transformation, heritage and heritage loss. Bringing these research programs into conversation with old and new work on craft and creativity, the congress seeks to energize crisis-driven thinking by opening up areas of cultural potential. The congress will shed light on the ways in which individuals and collectivities tackle their intertwined dilemmas, at every level from everyday practice to policy debate. With a member base distributed across Europe and a growing network of attendees from other continents, SIEF is well placed to address the global contexts of local dwelling. Opening with an artistic intervention and closing with a summary debate, the congress also features daily plenaries in which a leading international scholar addresses one of the three subthemes. The proposal process is designed to foster international conversations within each parallel panel, poster session, practice-based workshop, and audio-visual screening exploring the overall theme. Keynote addresses will be live streamed to expand the congress audience. Excursions will explore innovative dwelling practices in a region that is experimenting with both rural revitalization and refugee resettlement. The 2017 SIEF Congress seeks to make a strong demonstration of what anthropological and ethnological research bring to the table as intractable social problems are addressed.