Cross border relationships: Changing paradigms & psychosocial challenges

Globalization has led to movement of people and less homogeneous populations in many countries. With the largest movements of people between countries, in the last century, at the start of the 21^{st century, there were about 175 million people who were living in countries other than the country in which they were born. These movements also imply human relationships across the borders in different contexts with various cultural, psychological consequences.}

Relationships of members of migrant groups with each other, and also with the host community have important implications on the health and well-being of not just the migrant population, but also the host communities. These relationships represent the microcosm of societal and cultural integration and cohesion at the broader levels. Studies of how and how well migrants, especially youth handle migration indicate transformations in paradigms as both acculturative stress and developmental possibilities are realities experienced in the search of new worlds and new opportunities. The symposia will include such changes from Denmark, India, UK and the USA, covering theoretical, methodological issues including the ethical aspects. Themes involved in crossing the borders in the context of modernity such as will also be discussed.
In the backdrop of polarisation of populations into us and them, still there are increasing trends towards intermarriage, which challenge the idea of who belongs together and earlier taboos against such mixing. The symposia will explore dynamics of these relations - in the intimate partnerships, friendships across the borders, children of mixed parentage