BOGDAN MUSIAL AND THE QUESTION OF JEWISH RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE POGROMS IN LVIV IN THE SUMMER OF 1941

This paper demonstrates that the rescue operations that saved thousands of Jewish lives during the Holocaust were in part the result of coordination and cooperation between the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) and the American Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), via a network of local relief organisations in Europe and worldwide. A landmark decision in building this network was the creation in 1927 of a new agency – HICEM, an abbreviation of the names of three resettlement organisations: HIAS, an American organisation with its headquarters in New York; the Paris‐based Jewish Colonisation Association, and Emigdirect, based in Berlin. During the Nazi period, as Jews were gradually pushed out of German social and economic life, HICEM was able to connect dozens of local Jewish committees throughout the world and bring thousands of Jewish refugees to safe havens in the United States, South and Central America, the Far East and Australia. The study also shows that, despite tension between HIAS and the JDC, both organisations stood firm in their mission of rescuing Jewish refugees.     

A Comparison of the Integration Experiences of Two African Immigrant Populations in a Rural Community

Abstract

Most U.S. migration research compares very distinct groups, such as Mexicans and Asians, and virtually ignores the small, but growing number of African immigrants. In contrast, this study describes and compares the integration experiences of two Black, East African refugee populations in a small town in the Midwestern United States. We demonstrate that Muslim Somalis and Christians from southern Sudan encounter similar structural obstacles to social and economic integration, but that their religious affiliations lead to sharply different opportunities and cultural strategies. This paper ends with a discussion of the implications of these findings for social work practice and the potential role of social workers as cultural brokers between new immigrant groups and the general public.     

Descriptive Analysis of the Individual Migratory Pathways According to Environmental Typologies

This study tests the influence of environmental changes on migration in Burkina Faso. It describes individual migratory pathways in the 1960–1999 period in Burkina Faso, using environmental typologies of origins and destinations based on rainfall variations and land degradation. The study links data from a national longitudinal (retrospective) survey with fine resolution rainfall data and land degradation data. Results suggest that environmental factors influence, but in different ways, both the probability to out-migrate and the selection of a destination once the migration decision has been made. Migration seems to be more influenced by a slow-acting process such as land degradation than by episodic events such as droughts.     

‘Really really different different’: rurality,regional schools and refugees

Abstract

This article explores the dynamics of difference-making in a regional Australian town. Despite Australia’s high levels of cultural diversity, many rural and regional areas remain predominantly ‘white’ spaces, presided over by people of Anglo-Celtic ancestry but with small populations of indigenous Australians. Over the past decade, however, a growing number of regional centres have become home to refugees from a range of African, Middle Eastern and South-East Asian countries. This study draws on interview, observational and documentary data to shed light on the experiences of people in one such town, focusing on schools as sites of everyday social contact and significant mediators of identity formation and settlement outcomes. A key aim of the article is to illuminate the ways in which constructions of rurality and of difference intersect with local histories and resources to shape relations between the original, ‘old’ and newest settlers.     

Syrian refugees in Turkey: pathways to precarity,differential inclusion,and negotiated citizenship rights

This article addresses the question of how to understand the relation among precarity, differential inclusion, and citizenship status with regard to Syrian refugees in Turkey. Turkey has become host to over 2.7 million Syrian refugees who live in government-run refugee camps and urban centres. Drawing on critical citizenship and migration studies literature, the paper emphasises the Turkish government’s central legal and policy frameworks that provide Syrians with some citizenship rights while simultaneously regulating their status and situating them in a position of limbo. Syrians are not only making claims to citizenship rights but they are also negotiating their access to social services, humanitarian assistance, and employment in different ways. The analysis stresses that Syrian refugees in Turkey continue to be part of the multiple pathways to precarity, differential inclusion, and negotiated citizenship rights.     

Official standards and local knowledge in asylum procedures: decision-making in Germany’s asylum system

ABSTRACT

The role of public officials in asylum procedures is generally a critical concern in scholarly and political debates. Focusing on the asylum system in Germany, this paper seeks to understand asylum procedures with regard to officially claimed standards and the still varying practices of decision-making. It draws on the findings of a qualitative study based on a multi-method design and carried out in the asylum administration. Based on a sociology of knowledge approach, the paper shows that administrative practices are largely a matter of how decision-makers on the ground interpret legal and political regulations. We demonstrate that decision-makers utilise shifting strategies to handle official claims and cope with local settings in their daily work, from defining the applicant to reaching decisions about asylum requests. The administration of asylum applications is discussed as a field that uses and (re-)produces both authorised and informal knowledge. Caseworkers develop a pragmatic knowledge of how to deal with the discrepancies between official standards and local working conditions. However, it is the asylum institution that provides the context in which they navigate the pitfalls and challenges of the asylum procedure.     

Religious Microaggressions: A Case Study of Muslim Americans

ABSTRACT

The increasing population of Muslims in America faces challenges not uncommon to other faith and immigrant communities. One particular challenge is Muslim experiences of various forms of discrimination, prejudice, anti-Muslim bigotry, and microaggressions, especially in post-9/11 America. While microaggressions have been discussed in the social sciences literature, religious microaggressions have not been clearly addressed in the social work literature. This article aims to fill this gap in the literature by examining the connections among racial microaggressions, the racialization of religion, and ultimately religious microaggressions. The article concludes by presenting implications for social work policy, practice, and education in the area of religious microaggressions.     

From ‘Asylum-Seeker’ to ‘British Artist’: How Refugee Artists are Redefining British Art

This essay takes a case-study approach to examine how culture may be transferred from immigrant cultures to a so-called host culture. Considering the work of three visual artists who came to the UK as refugees but who are now considered ‘British artists’, it examines the effect this curatorial definition may have on gallery viewers. The author proposes that looking at work that previously might have been viewed as ‘exotic’ or ‘foreign’ but that is now classed as British forces viewers to reassess and renegotiate their understanding of the nature of ‘Britishness’ and indeed of place-Britain. Drawing on the ideas of Edouard Glissant and also of contemporary geographers about the nature of place, the study proposes that place-Britain, like all places, is in a constant and never ending state of production. The work of artists from refugee populations, shown now as ‘British art’, becomes a dynamic part of this process and a means by which new elements are transferred and added to an ever-changing British cultural fabric     

Acculturating into the Canadian society: a case of Karen refugees

This exploratory study examined acculturation strategies of Karen refugees who resettled in London, Ontario, Canada after initially being displaced from their villages in Burma and subsequently settled in refugee camps on the Thailand–Burma border. Developing and utilising Karen acculturation measure, the study found that Karen refugees had diverse orientations regarding customs and values, social relations, and leisure activities. The analysis grouped acculturation strategies of these individuals into three segments: segregation, integration, and assimilation. Karens adopting assimilation strategy overwhelmingly endorsed Canadian values and customs and engaged in social relations and leisure activities with members of Canadian society. While open to change and willing to experiment with new leisure activities and social relations, Karens in the integration strategy cluster preserved their values and customs. Karens adopting segregation strategies clung to their old ways of life, values, and practices.     

近年来关于抗战时期难民研究的综述

近年来，学界关于抗战时期难民的研究，无论是宏观的整体描述，还是微观的个案研究，都取得了一定的成果；但就总体而言，其在研究深度、研究区域以及研究视角等方面，仍有待加强。