UNHCR and the Afghan Refugees in the Early 1980s: Between Humanitarian Action and Cold War Politics

This article examines the UNHCR operation in Pakistan duringthe Soviet occupation of Afghanistan as a case study for thetension between UNHCR's strictly humanitarian mandate and thediverging interests of states. After situating the Afghan refugeecrisis in the broader historical context of the Cold War, itanalyses a number of documents from the UNHCR archives witha focus on the humanitarian principles that guide UNHCR's workon the one hand, and the influence of states and their political,economic, or military objectives on the UNHCR's operation onthe other. It concludes that UNHCR was aware of the negativeimpact of states’ policies and actions on the humanitariannature of its operation. However, due to the power differencebetween UNHCR and its members states as well as states hostingits operations, UNHCR had to accept these negative effects inorder to assure minimum assistance and protection for the Afghanrefugees in need.     

Some International Protection Issues Arising During the 1970s and 1980s with Particular Reference to the Role of the UNHCR Executive Committee

Following a brief historical summary regarding the origins ofthe UNHCR of Executive Committee (ExCom) and its concern withinternational protection matters this article describes theaction of ExCom in regard to International Protection duringthe 1970s and 1980s. During this period efforts were undertakenby UNHCR not only to address current protection problems butalso to ensure that the principles of international protectionwere clarified, rendered more articulate and, when necessary,further developed. In carrying out these tasks UNHCR was greatlyassisted by ExCom, whose Conclusions on international protectionprovided an important conceptual framework for UNHCR's action.The article concludes that it would not be correct to regardthe action of the international community in adopting the UnitedNations refugee instruments and in establishing the Office ofUNHCR as primarily related to the "Cold War". Rather it wascomparable to the action taken by the international communityunder the League of Nations to address the humanitarian needsof successive groups of refugees prior to the Second World War.     

The Evolution of Humanitarian Action

A brief review of overall trends in humanitarian action followingthe end of the Cold War is followed by examination of UNHCR'sevolution from a narrowly focused, non-operational organizationto one with a wide field presence and whose concerns are notlimited to refugees. Three changes are highlighted: the increasein the range of UNHCR's interlocutors; the shift from neverquestioning causes to an explicit concern with them; and theimpact of the field presence. The conclusion suggests that humanitarianaction that is not accompanied by political action to addresscauses may eventually face insurmountable problems, and thatwhile UNHCR will continue operate in unstable environments andfor mixed caseloads, its unique responsibility for refugeesmust override wider interests and concerns.     

UNHCR Operations in Pakistan in the Early 1980s

The aim of this article is to describe the largest and longestoperation carried out by the UNHCR in providing protection andassistance to refugees from April 1979, when the Governmentof Pakistan requested UNHCR to urgently help deal with the risinginflux of Afghan asylum-seekers. This refugee crisis was butone consequence of the engagement of the superpowers in thisstrategically significant part of the world. The analysis focuseson three main factors: the magnitude of the refugee crisis,the complexity of the logistics, and the nature of the securitysituation. The challenge facing the Government of Pakistan,as well as the international community, was an enormous one.UNHCR, in addition to its mandated protection role, assumedthe overall coordination of the international relief effort,including the mobilization of resources, as well as being responsiblefor the international procurement of relief supplies, materialand equipment. This task was complicated by the security situationand the fact that local population was outnumbered by the refugeeswith whom it had to share already meagre resources.     

Orderly Departure from Vietnam: Cold War Anomaly or Humanitarian Innovation?

In May 1979, UNHCR and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam signeda Memorandum of Understanding establishing a program for legalemigration from Vietnam, known as the Orderly Departure Program,or ODP. The ODP was intended to make it possible for personswishing to leave Vietnam to do so in a safe and orderly manner,rather than having to join the ranks of the Vietnamese boatpeople. It is the only time UNHCR has extended its assistanceon a large scale to help persons to leave their country of origin.Well over half a million people emigrated from Vietnam underthe auspices of the program. The existence of the ODP made itpossible for the international community to reach consensuson how to tackle problems relating to Vietnamese refugees andasylum-seekers at two major conferences, once in 1979 and anotherin 1987. This article explores the origins of the program inthe context of the Cold War and the aftermath of the Americanwithdrawal from Vietnam, attitudes within UNHCR to the program,and the contribution the ODP made to resolving the Vietnameserefugee crisis.     

Selection of Documents from UNHCR Archives

The "UNHCR and the Global Cold War" project endeavored to describe,preserve and catalog the original records created by UNHCR fieldand headquarters operations between 1971 and 1984. The aim wasto facilitate the production and dissemination of this UN Agency'sinstitutional memory by making these tools available to UNHCRstaff and external researchers. In the same spirit, the researchteam has selected a few documents that exemplify the richnessof the "UNHCR Fonds 11 Series 2, Classified Subject Files 1971–1984".The first document is a mission report written by Sergio Vieirade Mello when he acted as UNHCR Regional Representative in SouthAmerica. It is a good example of the kind of long and detailedmemorandum one can find in the UNHCR Archives. The followingdocuments on Afghan refugees, the "Toscani Report" and DisplacedSalvadorans illustrate the articles written by the team of researchersfrom the Graduate Institute of International and DevelopmentStudies. Finally, the last document on the Orderly DepartureProgramme from Vietnam provides additional information on thisvery specific aspect of UNHCR activities during the 1970s and1980s and thus illustrates Judith Kumin's article.     

The Politics of Refugee Protection

This article looks back to the 1920s, and tries to tease outthe politics of refugee protection as it evolved in the practiceof States and international organizations in a period of growingideological divide. The question addressed is whether the politicsof protection at any particular moment are humanitarian or whetherthey serve primarily other purposes, in which the refugee ismerely instrumental. It is unrealistic to imagine that the problemof refugees can ever be entirely non-political. What the historyof the 1920–55 period confirms is the continued vitalityof self-interest as a motivating factor in the responses ofStates to refugee flows. The international refugee regime thatemerged in the late 1940s and early 1950s defined refugees throughthe politics of denunciation in a persecution-oriented definitionthat continues to limit and confuse, not only at the internationaloperations level, but also in national asylum procedures. Inthis context, the article concludes that the art for UNHCR isnot to allow solutions or assistance to have priority over protection.For if it cannot provide protection, it will be judged a failureand accountable, and not merely excused because it tried hardin difficult political circumstances.     

Welcoming Diversity? Symbolic Boundaries and the Politics of Normativity in Kansas City’s LGBTQ Communities

ABSTRACT

Using document analysis and ethnographic field work, this article examines the debate within the LGBTQ community of Kansas City over the decision to hold its Pride festival in the Power and Light District (P&L), a renewed downtown area with a controversial dress code. Despite the developers’ and city’s goals of creating a cosmopolitan urban space that welcomed diverse populations, the P&L acquired a reputation as an anti-Black, anti-queer space due to its dress code and redevelopment history. I argue that the debate surrounding this controversy reveals limits to notions of diversity and diverging approaches to sexual politics within the LGBTQ community that are normally obscured by political actors within the movement but that work to create symbolic boundaries that exclude “non-respectable” members of the LGBTQ population. Recovering queer perspectives allows us to imagine a more capacious definition of diversity and inclusion, both within the LGBTQ movement and in urban space.     

Shaping LGBTQ Identities: Western Media Representations and LGBTQ People’s Perceptions in Rural Spain

A growing academic discussion has focused on how, in a globalized world, LGBTQ identities are shaped and influenced by different and international actors, such as the media. This article analyzes how LGBTQ people from a rural region of a Western country—Spain—feel toward their representations on TV series from English-speaking countries. Employing a qualitative approach, this research aims to depict whether the academic conceptualizations to analyze these identity conformation processes are accurate. In addition, it explores how dominating media representations are being adapted in a region that, although within the West, can serve a context of a very different nature. The results found that a major rejection of the TV series representations among participants can suggest both an inaccuracy of the conceptualizations used by some scholars to understand LGBTQ flows and a problematic LGBTQ representation in media products that goes beyond regions and spaces.     

Giving Peace a Chance: Displacement and Rule of Law During Peacebuilding

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees(UNHCR) works increasingly in societies where conflict or humanrights violations of massive proportions have very much relativizedthe notion of rule of law. These are situations in which thebasic components of the machinery of protection and justicesimply do not exist, or where they do exist, have lost theirlegitimacy. In terms of practical outcomes for their persecuted,attacked, or terrorized populations, the relevance of rule oflaw has to be painfully reconstructed, institution by institution,law by law, and capacity by capacity. UNHCR contributes to thiseffort, because it can make the difference between solutionsor protracted exile for refugees, and if refugee issues go unresolved,the prospects for real and lasting peace are much diminished.The article gives a brief overview of recent developments inthis area, examines the challenges the UNHCR faces, stressesthe importance of prioritizing the reestablishment of the ruleof law, and outlines some lessons learned. Particular challengesinclude competing justice systems, the tensions between "topdown" and "bottom up" approaches, and the issues of land rightsand the fight against impunity.     

How (not) to “Hollaback”: towards a transnational debate on the “Red Zora” and militant tactics in the feminist struggle against gender-based violence

Abstract

The Red Zora was formed in the mid-1970s as a subgroup within the militant leftist network Revolutionary Cells. Like other militant leftist groups in West Germany, the Red Zora deemed the use of physical force against property, and in some cases people, to be a necessary part of national and international political interventions. But the group had a radical feminist philosophy. Between 1977 and 1995, the Red Zora carried out dozens of attacks with an explicitly feminist agenda. This paper gives a brief overview of the activities of the Red Zora and of feminist responses to the group. Against the background of Germany’s fascist past and political violence in the FRG, feminist activists in Germany were understandably reluctant to discuss ideas and activities that could associate the women’s movement with left-wing “terrorism.” This article shows that “Hollaback!,” #aufschrei and other recent campaigns by feminist activists in Germany have reinforced rather than challenged the feminist silence on the Red Zora. While German feminists have only begun to document the history of the group, activists in other countries show that one does not have to agree with the tactics of the Red Zora to productively engage with the activities of this group.     

Provisorien als Dauereinrichtung. Zur Wahl organisierter Unterkünfte für Asylsuchende durch die öffentliche Hand

Reporting some central results of an Austrian regional study this paper deals with the selection of accommodations for asylum seekers made by the public authorities. One of the main characteristics of this selection is the permanent use of buildings which are thought to be used only as temporary arrangements. Despite the fact that most asylum seekers have to live under these conditions for many years their stay is typically presented in the form of a temporary anomaly - a confusing phenomenon on the edge of society. The article discusses the authorities’ point of view as well as the experiences of the affected municipalities and outlines some important consequences.     

The maternity experiences of women seeking asylum in high-income countries: a meta-ethnography

ProblemThe maternity care experiences and perinatal outcomes of women seeking asylum in high-income countries (HICs) are poorer than the general population of pregnant women in that HIC. There is a paucity of literature on the maternity experiences of women seeking asylum in HICs.BackgroundThere is an increasing number of women seeking asylum in HICs due to escalating violence and human rights abuses. Asylum-seeking women are a distinct group whom are likely to have different needs to refugees or migrants as a result of their undocumented status.AimThis literature review aimed to explore the emotional, physical and health information needs of women seeking asylum in the perinatal period in HICs, to provide insights to better address their maternity needs.MethodA meta-ethnography described by Noblit and Hare, was applied to analyse the studies, to reflect the voices of women seeking asylum, hosted in HICs in their perinatal period.FindingsEight studies were included in the review. The overarching theme was ‘just having to survive.’ Four sub-themes were revealed which highlighted the vulnerability of asylum-seeking women. They included: ‘I was never sure if I had understood’, ‘feeling ignored and alone’, ‘ongoing dislocation and recurrent relocation’ and ‘knowing there’s someone who cares for you’.DiscussionImproved maternity care for women seeking asylum requires culturally appropriate respectful maternity care and supportive strategies such as consistent access to language services.ConclusionIt is recommended that future research is targeted to explore the maternity experience of women seeking asylum in HICs, such as Australia.     

Icons,Itinerary, and Identity: Associations of Boundary and Mobility within the Contemporary US Passport

Regulatory shifts in US border policy set in motion through implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative are concurrent with recent formal and functional changes to the US passport. This article examines these modifications interweaving themes of boundary, mobility, and identity. The study focuses on the tripartite means by which the state employs the passport: as the primary affixer of national identity; as a mediator of contact and mobility across national boundaries; and as a mode for the projection of a certain territorial discourse to its citizenry and ‘others.’ These concepts are developed through an analysis of the narrative and iconic representations contained within the new book itself; material sources from government archives; as well as discussions and interviews with US State Department functionaries closely associated with the design and distribution of the new e-passport. Through the latter examination, a view is afforded into the process by which key state documents are crafted and an inherent tension revealed within an agency charged with establishing a particular unifying ‘brand’ for the preeminent instrument of national identification, whilst dutifully acknowledging the diverse constituency of a nation that historically fashions itself as one constructed from the many. In conclusion, the study suggests that the new passport is the handiwork of a plethora of state actors and a servant of many masters, for it is not only a facilitator of mobility and a vouchsafe for the identity of the bearer, but also, a tiny but significant piece of US property, itself an agent of border maintenance and boundary construction that enables the state to lay claim to its citizenry.     

Feelings of power in a corporate society

One aspect of the well-being of individuals in society is the extent to which they feel that they have the power to affect their well-being within the society. Coleman (1973b) specifies such a feeling of power as a function of the ability to control events in those arenas of action which are of high interest to the individual. In advanced societies, control of resources has shifted into the hands of corporate actors so that those arenas of action which are of interest to corporate actors are dominatd by corporate actors rather than individual persons. The following proposition can therefore be deduced: persons interested in the arenas of action of interest to corporate actors will have lower feelings of power over their well-being than will persons predominantly interested in arenas of action of little or no interest to corporate actors. Using a national probability sample of households in the United States, this proposition is assessed both directly and after controlling for confounding influences of exogenous concepts. The proposition can be rejected as erroneous unless respondent differences in socioeconomic states are controlled. Respondent differences in major demographic characteristics do not greatly affect the proposition.     

From “can-do” girls to insecure and angry: affective dissonances in young women’s post-recessional media

Feminist scholars have begun to unpack the ways in which neoliberalism is underpinned by particular gendered affective investments: drives for perfection, confidence, and the careful observance of feeling rules mandating a pleasing balance of resilience and approachability. In this context, we are interested in mapping the cultural production of affective dissonances with neoliberal modes of thriving. We draw attention to post-recessional television made by and about young women that articulate affective dissonances with the confident subjectivities associated with neoliberal cultural mythologies of girlpower. We suggest that within recent, largely USA, television some important questioning of such mythologies is taking place through the articulation of young women’s anger, insecurity, anxiety, and misplaced confidence. Such affective dissonances may to some extent serve to problematise myths about both the accessibility and appeal of highly individualist career-oriented lifestyles idealised in cultural mythologies of powerful “can-do” girls. Our analysis aims at two-fold consideration of: first, how giving voice to young women as “suffering actors” may open space for dissonant affective positions that connect to feminist aims of social transformation; and second, consideration of the ways in which exclusionary technologies of femininity may also operate through representations of young women’s anger, insecurity, and anxiety. Through this analysis we contribute to understanding dialectical tensions in the psychic and affective life of post-feminism and feminine subjectification in the neoliberal, post-recessional socio-cultural context.     

Dynamics of precarity among ‘new migrants’: exploring the worker–capital relation through mobilities and mobility power

ABSTRACT

This article conceptualises the role of mobilities within precarious working and living conditions, drawing on qualitative analysis of interviews (n = 52) and a policy seminar (n = 50) in North-East England. It focuses on refugees, asylum seekers, and Eastern European EU migrants, as policy-constructed groups that have been identified as disproportionately concentrated in precarious work. The article develops three ‘dynamics of precarity’, defined as ‘surplus’, ‘rooted’, and ‘hyper-flexible’, to conceptualise distinct ways of moving that represent significant variations in the form that precarity takes. The article concludes that understanding precarity through mobilities can identify points of connection among today’s increasingly heterogeneous working class.     

(Mobility) Fixing the Taiwanese bicycle industry: the production and economisation of cycling culture in pursuit of accumulation

ABSTRACT

There have been recent calls in mobilities literature for greater engagement with how mobility regimes are shaped and governed at different scales. In relation to cycling-related mobilities scholarship, there are very few accounts situating cycling within broader bio-political and political–economic processes. This paper seeks to address this absence, situating contemporary formations of cycling culture within processes of capital accumulation and economisation. The research is based upon a series of interviews with industry stakeholders, participant observations at cycle events and analysis of policy documents and news media in Taiwan from 2015–2017. We demonstrate that in the last 10–15 years there has been a drive to create cycling subjects in the Taiwanese cycle industry, mass events and through public bike sharing with the loosely strategised goal of projecting an image of a cycling culture that it is hoped will be advantageous to the domestic bicycle industry. We demonstrate how this emergent process of fixing works through economisation of social cycling practices, themselves reliant on processes of division, classification and subjectification. We also show how the cycling subjects and cultures thus formed constitute qualculative framings that facilitate ongoing commercial re-evaluation of Taiwanese Brand manufacturers by other actors within the industry.     

Comparing measures of poverty and relative deprivation: an example for Belgium

This paper presents three different poverty standards. A first approach takes the disposable income as an indicator of poverty. A second approach uses the Leyden approach. Finally an aggregate index of deprivation, based on the observation of consumption events, is constructed through a particular econometric procedure proposed by Desai and Shah (1988). These alternative measures are then compared on a sample composed of 6380 Belgian households. Such an analysis can be expected to provide some further insight into the problem of measuring poverty, which has been the subject of a recent controversial debate.We thank the participants of the Second Annual Meeting of the European Society for Population Economics, June 23–25, 1988, Mannheim (FRG), L. Gevers, J. Lindsey, P. Pestieau, B. Sak, K. Van den Bosch and two anonymous referees for their comments and suggestions.     

Exploring factors contributing to mistreatment of women during childbirth in West Bank,Palestine

BackgroundRespectful care during childbirth is a universal right for each woman in every health system, and mistreatment of women during childbirth is a major breach of this right.AimThis study aimed to explore the views of Palestinian women and healthcare providers regarding factors contributing to the mistreatment of women during childbirth at childbirth facilities in the West Bank, Palestine.MethodsA qualitative study was conducted in the West Bank, Palestine, from February 2019 to April 2019. In-depth interviews were conducted with six Palestinian women and five healthcare providers. Consent was obtained individually from each participant, and the interviews ranged from 40 to 50 min. Data collection was continued until thematic saturation was reached. Open-ended questions were asked during interviews. Thematic analysis was used to interpret the data collected from the interviews.ResultsFour themes were identified with regards to the women and healthcare providers’ views about factors contributing to the mistreatment of women during childbirth in the West Bank, Palestine: limitation in childbirth facilities, factors within the healthcare providers, the women themselves, and barriers within the community.DiscussionMistreatment of women during childbirth may occur due to the limitations of resources and staff in childbirth facilities. Some women also justified the mistreatment, and certain characteristics of the women were believed to be the factors for mistreatment.ConclusionAs the first known study of its kind in West Bank, the identified contributing factors especially the limitations of resources and staff are essential to provide good quality and respectful care at childbirth facilities.