scholarly journals Myth and Reality in Irregular Migration from Myanmar

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Ko Ko Si Thu

<p>Migration studies is an interdisciplinary study within a broader field of development studies due to its association with debates about development and underdevelopment. Irregular migration is one of the most significant topics in migration studies and its complex nature has attracted many scholars from around the world. Most literature on irregular migration has focused on its illegality and the situation of irregular migrants in the destination country and therefore, much of the previous literature on irregular migration only presents the process as a dangerous and abusive phenomenon for irregular migrants, and depicts brokers and agents as evil and exploitative. Public perception and policy discussions are dominated by myths, rather than facts, about debts and danger. These established myths often overshadow the reality about the impacts of irregular migration as experienced by actual migrants and their local communities. These confused interpretations of irregular migration highlight a need for further research.  This thesis examines a case of cross-border irregular migration from Myanmar to Thailand in order to explore the impacts of irregular migration in a wider field. Its main purpose is to investigate the processes and impacts of irregular migration on families left behind in sending areas. This is achieved by employing a qualitative case study approach to gain deeper understanding of the topic in the local context, using two data collection methods: participant observation and semi-structured interviews. The study hypothesizes that irregular migration in the Myanmar context conforms less to the “evil” image, than to the patterns of conventional labour migration described by the “New Economics of Labour Migration” theory. The main research questions posed to achieve these aims were: What are the processes of irregular migration? What are its impacts on families left behind? How are these impacts different from the impacts resulting from legal migration?  The study draws two main conclusions. First, human smuggling operations in this study’s context are based on the personal contacts, and therefore irregular migration is often accomplished with the help of friends, relatives or siblings of the migrants themselves and not by hostile, exploitative smugglers. Secondly, departing from the traditional notion that irregular migration is harmful, the findings from this study suggest that the social and economic impacts resulting from irregular migration are surprisingly similar to the impacts of conventional international migration in many respects.</p>

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Ko Ko Si Thu

<p>Migration studies is an interdisciplinary study within a broader field of development studies due to its association with debates about development and underdevelopment. Irregular migration is one of the most significant topics in migration studies and its complex nature has attracted many scholars from around the world. Most literature on irregular migration has focused on its illegality and the situation of irregular migrants in the destination country and therefore, much of the previous literature on irregular migration only presents the process as a dangerous and abusive phenomenon for irregular migrants, and depicts brokers and agents as evil and exploitative. Public perception and policy discussions are dominated by myths, rather than facts, about debts and danger. These established myths often overshadow the reality about the impacts of irregular migration as experienced by actual migrants and their local communities. These confused interpretations of irregular migration highlight a need for further research.  This thesis examines a case of cross-border irregular migration from Myanmar to Thailand in order to explore the impacts of irregular migration in a wider field. Its main purpose is to investigate the processes and impacts of irregular migration on families left behind in sending areas. This is achieved by employing a qualitative case study approach to gain deeper understanding of the topic in the local context, using two data collection methods: participant observation and semi-structured interviews. The study hypothesizes that irregular migration in the Myanmar context conforms less to the “evil” image, than to the patterns of conventional labour migration described by the “New Economics of Labour Migration” theory. The main research questions posed to achieve these aims were: What are the processes of irregular migration? What are its impacts on families left behind? How are these impacts different from the impacts resulting from legal migration?  The study draws two main conclusions. First, human smuggling operations in this study’s context are based on the personal contacts, and therefore irregular migration is often accomplished with the help of friends, relatives or siblings of the migrants themselves and not by hostile, exploitative smugglers. Secondly, departing from the traditional notion that irregular migration is harmful, the findings from this study suggest that the social and economic impacts resulting from irregular migration are surprisingly similar to the impacts of conventional international migration in many respects.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 499-509
Author(s):  
Ágnes Erőss ◽  
Monika Mária Váradi ◽  
Doris Wastl-Walter

In post-Socialist countries, cross-border labour migration has become a common individual and family livelihood strategy. The paper is based on the analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted with two ethnic Hungarian women whose lives have been significantly reshaped by cross-border migration. Focusing on the interplay of gender and cross-border migration, our aim is to reveal how gender roles and boundaries are reinforced and repositioned by labour migration in the post-socialist context where both the socialist dual-earner model and conventional ideas of family and gender roles simultaneously prevail. We found that cross-border migration challenged these women to pursue diverse strategies to balance their roles of breadwinner, wife, and mother responsible for reproductive work. Nevertheless, the boundaries between female and male work or status were neither discursively nor in practice transgressed. Thus, the effect of cross-border migration on altering gender boundaries in post-socialist peripheries is limited.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1589
Author(s):  
Juan Sánchez-Fernández ◽  
Luis-Alberto Casado-Aranda ◽  
Ana-Belén Bastidas-Manzano

The limitations of self-report techniques (i.e., questionnaires or surveys) in measuring consumer response to advertising stimuli have necessitated more objective and accurate tools from the fields of neuroscience and psychology for the study of consumer behavior, resulting in the creation of consumer neuroscience. This recent marketing sub-field stems from a wide range of disciplines and applies multiple types of techniques to diverse advertising subdomains (e.g., advertising constructs, media elements, or prediction strategies). Due to its complex nature and continuous growth, this area of research calls for a clear understanding of its evolution, current scope, and potential domains in the field of advertising. Thus, this current research is among the first to apply a bibliometric approach to clarify the main research streams analyzing advertising persuasion using neuroimaging. Particularly, this paper combines a comprehensive review with performance analysis tools of 203 papers published between 1986 and 2019 in outlets indexed by the ISI Web of Science database. Our findings describe the research tools, journals, and themes that are worth considering in future research. The current study also provides an agenda for future research and therefore constitutes a starting point for advertising academics and professionals intending to use neuroimaging techniques.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Sutton ◽  
Julian Bion ◽  
Russell Mannion ◽  
Janet Willars ◽  
Elizabeth Shaw ◽  
...  

Abstract Background National standards are commonly used as an improvement strategy in healthcare, but organisations may respond in diverse and sometimes negative ways to external quality demands. This paper describes how a sample of NHS hospital trusts in England responded to the introduction of national standards for 7-day services (7DS), from an organisational behaviour perspective. Methods We conducted 43 semi-structured interviews with executive/director level and clinical staff, in eight NHS trusts that varied in size, location, and levels of specialist staffing at weekends. We explored approaches to implementing standards locally, and the impact of organisational culture and local context on organisational response. Results Senior staff in the majority of trusts described a focus on hitting targets and achieving compliance with the standards. Compliance-based responses were associated with a hierarchical organisational culture and focus on external performance. In a minority of trusts senior staff described mobilising commitment-based strategies. In these trusts senior staff reframed the external standards in terms of organisational values, and used co-operative strategies for achieving change. Trusts that took a commitment-based approach tended to be described as having a developmental organisational culture and a history of higher performance across the board. Audit data on 7DS showed improvement against standards for most trusts, but commitment-focused trusts were less likely to demonstrate improvements on the 7DS audit. The ability of trusts to respond to external standards was limited when they were under pressure due to a history of overall poor performance or resource limitations. Conclusions National standards and audit for service-level improvement generate different types of response in different local settings. Approaches to driving improvement nationally need to be accompanied by resources and tailored support for improvement, taking into account local context and organisational culture.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Hartley ◽  
Robert D. J. Smith ◽  
Adam Kokotovich ◽  
Chris Opesen ◽  
Tibebu Habtewold ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The African Union’s High-Level Panel on Emerging Technologies identified gene drive mosquitoes as a priority technology for malaria elimination. The first field trials are expected in 5–10 years in Uganda, Mali or Burkina Faso. In preparation, regional and international actors are developing risk governance guidelines which will delineate the framework for identifying and evaluating risks. Scientists and bioethicists have called for African stakeholder involvement in these developments, arguing the knowledge and perspectives of those people living in malaria-afflicted countries is currently missing. However, few African stakeholders have been involved to date, leaving a knowledge gap about the local social-cultural as well as ecological context in which gene drive mosquitoes will be tested and deployed. This study investigates and analyses Ugandan stakeholders’ hopes and concerns about gene drive mosquitoes for malaria control and explores the new directions needed for risk governance. Methods This qualitative study draws on 19 in-depth semi-structured interviews with Ugandan stakeholders in 2019. It explores their hopes for the technology and the risks they believed pertinent. Coding began at a workshop and continued through thematic analysis. Results Participants’ hopes and concerns for gene drive mosquitoes to address malaria fell into three themes: (1) ability of gene drive mosquitoes to prevent malaria infection; (2) impacts of gene drive testing and deployment; and, (3) governance. Stakeholder hopes fell almost exclusively into the first theme while concerns were spread across all three. The study demonstrates that local stakeholders are able and willing to contribute relevant and important knowledge to the development of risk frameworks. Conclusions International processes can provide high-level guidelines, but risk decision-making must be grounded in the local context if it is to be robust, meaningful and legitimate. Decisions about whether or not to release gene drive mosquitoes as part of a malaria control programme will need to consider the assessment of both the risks and the benefits of gene drive mosquitoes within a particular social, political, ecological, and technological context. Just as with risks, benefits—and importantly, the conditions that are necessary to realize them—must be identified and debated in Uganda and its neighbouring countries.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anh Ly ◽  
Roger Zemek ◽  
Bruce Wright ◽  
Jennifer Zwicker ◽  
Kathryn Schneider ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Multiple evidence-based clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) exist to guide the management of concussion in children, but few have been translated into clinical pathways (CP), which operationalize guidelines into accessible and actionable algorithms that can be more readily implemented by health care providers. This study aimed to identify the clinical behaviours, attitudinal factors, and environmental contexts that potentially influence the implementation of a clinical pathway for pediatric concussion. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted from October 2017 to January 2018 with 42 emergency department clinicians (17 physicians, 25 nurses) at five urban emergency departments in Alberta, Canada. A Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF)-informed interview guide contained open-ended questions intended to gather feedback on the proposed pathway developed for the study, as well as factors that could potentially influence its implementation. Results The original 14 domains of the TDF were collapsed into 6 clusters based on significant overlap between domains in the issues discussed by clinicians: 1) knowledge, skills, and practice; 2) professional roles and identity; 3) attitudes, beliefs, and motivations; 4) goals and priorities; 5) local context and resources; and 6) engagement and collaboration. The 6 clusters identified in the interviews each reflect 2–4 predominant topics that can be condensed into six overarching themes regarding clinicians’ views on the implementation of a concussion CP: 1) standardization in the midst of evolving research; 2) clarifying and communicating goals; 3) knowledge dissemination and alignment of information; 4) a team-oriented approach; 5) site engagement; and 6) streamlining clinical processes. Conclusion Application of a comprehensive, evidence-based, and theory-driven framework in conjunction with an inductive thematic analysis approach enabled six themes to emerge as to how to successfullly implement a concussion CP.


2018 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 468-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Avelardo Valdez ◽  
Kathryn M Nowotny ◽  
Qian-Wei Zhao ◽  
Alice Cepeda

AbstractThis qualitative study applied a life course framework to characterize the nature of interpersonal partner relationships of Mexican American young adult men affiliated with street gangs during their adolescence. Data come from a 15-year longitudinal mixed-method cohort study conducted in San Antonio, Texas. We analyzed semi-structured interviews conducted with a subsample (n = 40) during the course of three face-to-face sessions to explore the men’s motivations, aspirations, and goals to lead conventional lives, despite their criminal justice involvement. Specifically, we focus on the complex nature of maintaining ties to children, the navigation of complicated family structures, the processes of seeking partners with economic resources, and on partnerships with criminal and delinquent partners. We document the complex interpersonal nature of these relationships as men contend with serial incarceration and their desires and motivations to desist from criminal behavior.


Stanovnistvo ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-125
Author(s):  
Marija Brujic

Although according to some scholars, Serbia does not have great immigration potential, there is more and more research within social science?s framework about immigrants in Serbia. However, the majority of these papers focus on current ?migration crisis? and, in relation to this, asylum seekers and irregular migrants. Therefore, this paper has had manifold aims. Firstly, the paper has drawn attention to the anthropological study of foreigners who live and work in Serbia. Secondly, it has revealed some of the problems they had been confronted with in reality. Within this framework, the focus was on highly qualified female foreigners from the EU countries who came for love or/and work which is a topic that does not occupy a prominent place in anthropological research in Serbia. However, with regard to the EU-integration of Serbia and Europeanization of migratory policies, the research of personal experiences of foreigners living in Serbia could signify the gaps in migrants? integration policy and in the adaptation of migration strategies. Thus, in this research were used in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted in 2016 in Belgrade as a method of collecting data and the ?bottom-up? approach. As a result, in this paper were analyzed narratives of a German and a British woman about their everyday experiences connected with their residing and working status. Their narratives showed their struggle with Serbian bureaucracy and related to this, how they legalized their ?migratory status?. Furthermore, in the analysis of the micro context the term ?ethnography of particular? was used, an approach developed by Lila Abu-Lughod in order to, one the one hand, avoid generalization and, on the other, to focus on individual life histories, which is an approach usually used in socio-anthropological studies. In particular, the paper stresses the relevance of individual strategies used for regulation of residence of foreigners in Serbia. Both British and German woman are married to Serbs, have no children, speak The Serbian language, socialize mainly with the Serbs and live and work in Belgrade. While German woman came during Milosevic?s regime in 1999, the British woman came in 2002. Although they did not suffer from ?professional deskilling?, which is typical for female migration in general, they both had to prequalify in order to find a job in Serbia. However, they both found it was easier to regulate their residence status through family, not working, visa, especially before new legal documents concerning foreigners? status were introduced. For instance, the most important legal document adopted as part of EU-integration process are Law on Foreigners (2008), Law on Migration Management (2012) and Law on Employment and Work of Foreign Citizens (2014). Foreigners living in Serbia represent the important group as many of them either work or use their pensions in Serbia. Therefore, having in mind the importance of Europeanization of migratory strategies in Serbia within Europeanization of Serbia and EU-integration process in general and possible migration of EU nationals to Serbia, this paper discussed the importance of individual (working) migration to Serbia on a micro level.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Holly McLeod

<p>Education is good for development. This positive relationship between education and development is often stated without challenge, resulting in education being posited at the forefront of global development strategies. Yet, within the subject of Development Studies, postdevelopment theorists have questioned the very basis of ‘development’, not only its definition but also the inherent assumption that it is necessarily desirable and positive. Instead, they point to examples such as Buen Vivir and argue that we should explore different ways of conceptualising what is a good life.  The present research has sought to examine the way the Pasifika community in Wainuiomata, Aotearoa perceives and engages with education to fulfil its own vision of development. Some 30 research participants contributed their valuable time and energy to this project through semi-structured interviews, offering insight into their own educational experiences and aspirations. Through employing a methodological approach informed by the ethos of talanoa and participatory research, this research has privileged the narratives of participants, giving voice to their experiences within an academic context.  This research has identified that while the experiences of these families within Aotearoa’s education system have been frustrating and challenging, such adversity has not served to disenfranchise Pasifika families from engaging within this educational system. Rather, it has served as motivation to create better educational experiences for youth in this community today. Furthermore, the vision of development aspired toward by this community is one that draws both similarities and contrasts with mainstream conceptions of development. The existence of alternative conceptions of development supports post-development’s call for development practise to examine local context and community aspirations, and to value community knowledge and action. In examining the way this community has engaged with education to progress their own vision of development, it was found that Pasifika families in Wainuiomata are taking ownership of their own development, and are actively involved in creating better educational outcomes for their youth.</p>


PERSPEKTIF ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 20
Author(s):  
Muhammad Wahyu Effendi ◽  
Yan Hendra ◽  
Armansyah Matondang

<h1>This research is based on the social media account of Instagram @humas_pemkomedan which contains the image of Medan City Government. The purpose of this study to determine the public perception about the image of Medan City Government through social media accounts Instagram. Theories used in this study include the theoretical description of communication, perception, society, image, social media, Instagram. The research method used is qualitative descriptive method. Selection of informants here is the people of Medan City who follow social media accounts Instagram @humas_pemkomedan and informants in this study following the principle of saturation where if the data needed is still less will be done addition of informants to get new information until the data obtained reach saturation point that if from the source is the same, then the data collection through the interview is stopped. Data collection   techniques  were  conducted   by  semi-structured interviews to all informants, and the results of this study showed that where the perception of the image is described into the first two aspects through Instagram profile and the second is the content of Instagram @humas_pemkomedan consisting of 6 categories of uploads are as follows: The activities of Medan city administration, news reports on work, information and appeal, congratulations, videos, figures, then Public Perceptions About Government Image Medan City Through Social Media Account Instagram is tend to be positive.</h1>


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