scholarly journals Racializing Homophobia: Tracing Sexual Political Discourse within Europe’s “Refugee Crisis” in Berlin

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (Summer) ◽  
pp. 46-58
Author(s):  
Marlene Soulier
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Identity ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
National Identities ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
German Nation ◽  
A Site ◽  
Refugees And Asylum Seekers

Discourses relating to gender and sexualities have long been a tool for the perpetuation of racialized “othering” and have contributed to the strengthening of national identities and boundaries as they reproduce binary constructions of “us” and “them.” As the German nation-state reinvents itself as multicultural, tolerant, and sexually liberated, these discourses serve to mark the racialized body as a site of backwardness, sexism, and homophobia, and thus justify its segregation and exclusion exemplified in the restrictive practices of housing, mobility restrictions, and deportation of asylum seekers and migrants. This paper aims to trace the unfolding of discourses in and between some dominant organizational structures in Berlin that advocate for LGBT refugees and asylum seekers. It argues that the claim for citizenship of some formerly excluded sexual others is contingent on the promotion of a very specific notion of sexual identity and participation in the orientalisation/ethnicisation of homophobia.

Inclusion and exclusion—We and the Other. Response to Vamik Volkan’s Key-note Lecture

2018 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Mies
Keyword(s):  
Point Of View ◽  
The Other ◽  
Western World ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Collective Identities ◽  
Specific Group ◽  
Norbert Elias ◽  
German Nation ◽  
History Of

This response is focused on the following question: What may be the specific group analytic point of view on phenomena as the resurgence of nationalism in the western world, the so-called refugee crisis and the confrontation with Islamism and Islamist terror? The guideline of this response will be the idea of the ‘group of individuals’, which Norbert Elias characterized as his main contribution to group analytic theory. The response will emphasize the significance of the Other for the formation of personal and collective identities. It will argue that we face the Other, not only outside our own group, but also inside, and that xenophobia goes hand in hand with the denial of real differences and conflicts inside one’s own group. Finally, the history of the German nation-state is discussed as an exemplary case.

scholarly journals Between City and Nation of Sanctuary: Examining the Political Geographies of Asylum and Hospitality in Wales

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Franz Bernhardt
Keyword(s):  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Archival Material ◽  
Territorial Unit ◽  
State Administration ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Refugees And Asylum Seekers ◽  
First Time ◽  
Critical Literature

In response to what has been called the European ‘refugee crisis’ in 2015, the Welsh Government committed that Wales should become the world’s first Nation of Sanctuary through building a culture of welcome and hospitality. This was an interesting moment given that Wales does not have direct responsibility for British borders. Considering the urban origins of the sanctuary movement, this was also the first-time a (devolved) state administration adopted this vocabulary to frame their relation to refugees and asylum seekers. What might it mean, in practice and in theory, for Wales to declare itself a ‘Nation of Sanctuary’? What are the theoretical and political imaginaries of sanctuary, national identity and hospitality at work in this context? What are their historical precedents? And how do they relate to political responses to the crisis across the UK and Europe? This thesis examines what the idea of a Welsh Nation of Sanctuary means, what it does, and how the discourses and narratives of a ‘Nation of Sanctuary’ provide new ways of revisiting the metaphor of hospitality, and its role in sovereign framings of migration. While the critical literature on migration and the sanctuary movement explored the limits of hospitality as a framing response to the exclusionary politics of asylum, this thesis argues that this national sanctuary discourse is also used to challenge a sovereign nation-state on the expectations of what it entails to ‘be a host’ to refugees and asylum seekers. Drawing on semi-structured interviews, archival material and documents from the Welsh and British government, this thesis argues that this new national sanctuary framing creates a second othering. Here, a subnational or devolved territorial unit creates national self-imaginaries through a politics of differentiation against the sovereign nation-state, with regards to the exclusionary politics of asylum.

Norwegian Asylum Policy and Response to the 2015 Refugee Crisis

2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 391-406
Author(s):  
Sumbul Parveen
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Total Population ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Asylum Policy

In recent years, Norway has emerged as an important destination of asylum for refugees. During the refugee crisis of 2015, Norway, with a total population of slightly above 5 million, received more than 31,000 applications for asylum. This was close to the total number of asylum seekers it had received in the last three years. This article discusses Norway’s history as an asylum destination as well as policies for the protection and integration of refugees. It focuses on how the refugee crisis of 2015 unfolded in Norway. The domestic political discourse and the response of civil society organizations are analysed. The article also looks at the changes introduced in the asylum policy and the role of the European Union in determining Norway’s response to the crisis.

Hypocritical Inhospitality: The Global Refugee Crisis in the Light of History

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke Glanville
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
European Union ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Union Member ◽  
The United States ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Member States ◽  
Refugees And Asylum Seekers ◽  
European Union Member States

AbstractOne of the justifications offered by European imperial powers for the violent conquest, subjection, and, often, slaughter of indigenous peoples in past centuries was those peoples’ violation of a duty of hospitality. Today, many of these same powers—including European Union member states and former settler colonies such as the United States and Australia—take increasingly extreme measures to avoid granting hospitality to refugees and asylum seekers. Put plainly, whereas the powerful once demanded hospitality from the vulnerable, they now deny it to them. This essay examines this hypocritical inhospitality of former centers of empire and former settler colonies and concludes that, given that certain states accrued vast wealth and territory from the European colonial project, which they justified in part by appeals to a duty of hospitality, these states are bound now to extend hospitality to vulnerable outsiders not simply as a matter of charity, but as justice and restitution for grave historical wrongs.

Emerging Frameworks for Engaging Precarity and “Otherness” in Greek Contemporary Dance Performances

2019 ◽  
Vol 51 (01) ◽  
pp. 20-31
Author(s):  
Natalie Zervou
Keyword(s):  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Vulnerable Populations ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Contemporary Dance ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Immigrants And Refugees ◽  
European Refugee Crisis ◽  
Methodological Approaches ◽  
Professional Dancers ◽  
Refugees And Asylum Seekers

At the dawn of the European refugee crisis, and in the middle of the ongoing sociopolitical and financial crisis in Greece, Greek choreographers started creating dance works that engaged immigrants and refugees. In most such initiatives, improvisation became the tool for bridging the disparity between the professional dancers and the “untrained” participants, who were often the vulnerable populations of refugees and asylum seekers. In this essay, I question the ethics and aesthetics of these methodological approaches utilized for staging encounters between natives and migrants through dance. In particular, I consider the significance of improvisation as potentially perpetuating hierarchical inequalities in the framework of Western concert dance, while I also highlight the ways that such artistic endeavors end up presenting immigrants and refugees as “Others.”

scholarly journals Negara Maritim Indonesia, Migrasi Tidak Teratur, dan Hak Pengungsi Lintas Batas

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (02) ◽  
pp. 48
Author(s):  
Nurul Azizah Zayzda ◽  
Sri Wijayanti
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
International System ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Irregular Migration ◽  
Main Route ◽  
Transit Country ◽  
Humanitarian Crises ◽  
Refugees And Asylum Seekers ◽  
Asylum Seekers And Refugees

AbstrakMakalah ini membahas kebijakan Indonesia sebagai sebuah negara maritim dalam menghadapi persoalan migrasi tidak teratur, khususnya disini yang berdampak pada pencari suaka dan pengungsi lintas batas. Isu migrasi tidak teratur masih merupakan persoalan yang dihadapi oleh negara maritim yang memiliki akses terbuka berupa laut yang menjadi jalur utama perjalanan migran menuju negara tujuan. Sebagai negara yang terletak di jalur pelayaran utama dunia, di tengah tengah benua Australia dan Asia, Indonesia seringkali dihadapkan pada persoalan ini dimana Indonesia menjadi jalur atau negara transit pengungsi dan pencari suaka yang kebanyakan datang dari wilayah Timur Tengah dan Asia Selatan. Menurut data UNHCR, saat ini terdapat sekitar 13 ribu pengungsi dan pencari suaka di Indonesia, dan jumlah ini meningkat dari tahun-tahun sebelumnya. Indonesia sebagai negara maritim memiliki prinsip bahwa kepulauan dan kelautan Indonesia merupakan satuan pertahanan dan keamanan Indonesia (Zen, 2000, dikutip dari Geomagz, 2016). Namun penting untuk lebih jauh melihat bagaimana prinsip ini memandang hak asasi manusia dalam isu krisis kemanusiaan seperti pengungsi lintas batas dan pencari suaka. Makalah ini bertujuan untuk menjelaskan bagaimana karakter kemaritiman yang diambil Indonesia berpengaruh terhadap cara Indonesia menyikapi pengungsi lintas batas yang melakukan perjalanan dengan penyelundupan manusia. Makalah ini dibatasi lebih lanjut kepada bentuk kerjasama internasional untuk menangani penyelundupalajan manusia yang diinisiasi oleh atau melibatkan Indonesia. Dari sini kemudian ditarik kesimpulan mengenai hambatan pemenuhan hak pengungsi lintas batas dalam sistem internasional yang berdasarkan kedaulatan negara-bangsa.Kata-kata kunci: negara maritim, penyelundupan manusia, hak-hak pengungsi lintas batas, pencari suaka. AbstractThis paper discusses the policy of Indonesia as a maritime country in addressing the issue of irregular migration, especially that impact on asylum seekers and refugees. The issue of irregular migration is still faced by maritime nations that have open access in the form of sea which became the main route of migrant journey to the destination country. As a country located in the world's major shipping lanes, in the middle of the continent of Australia and Asia, Indonesia is often faced with this problem given that Indonesia is a transit country of refugees and asylum seekers mostly from the Middle East and South Asia. According to data from UNHCR, there are currently about 13 thousand refugees and asylum seekers in Indonesia, and this number increased from previous years. Indonesia as a maritime country has a principle that Indonesia is an archipelago while maritime is part of its defense and security unit (Zen, 2000, cited from Geomagz, 2016). However it is important to further see how this principle oversees the issue of human rights in humanitarian crises such as refugees and asylum seekers.This paper aims to explain how the maritime character of Indonesia affects its ways to address refugee travel with people smuggling. This paper is further limited to the forms of international cooperation to tackle human smuggling initiated by or involving Indonesia. The obstacles to meet the refugee rights in the international system that is based on the sovereignty of the nation-state is then concluded.

The not-so-concrete Jungle: material precarity in the Calais refugee camp

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 393-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oli Mould
Keyword(s):  
Sense Of Place ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Refugee Camp ◽  
Violent Conflict ◽  
Collective Actions ◽  
History Of ◽  
Participative Methods ◽  
A Site ◽  
Refugees And Asylum Seekers

On the outskirts of Calais, the refugee camp known as ‘the Jungle’ was recently demolished, the final violent act in a long history of enforced precarity. In recent years, the camp had massively increased in inhabitants, and through the collective actions of these inhabitants, along with the volunteers that helped there, the Jungle inculcated what Doreen Massey would have described as a ‘progressive sense of place’, in that it espoused cultural and social richness, but also violent conflict. Richness in that the camp was a site where home is constantly made by the refugees and asylum seekers with help from the volunteers, but also of conflict because it was under constant attack from the authorities and prefecture of the site, culminating in its eventual demolition. They enacted domicidal and home ‘un-making’ practices, which meant that the inhabitants had to continually (re)make their notions of home. This home-making/un-making/re-making cycle was played out most readily via its materiality which was highly precarious. Through ethnographic and participative methods conducted as a volunteer, I posit that the Jungle was, and arguably still is, a site with material precarity embedded throughout, making it a ‘progressive’ place that mixed hope and despair, richness and conflict, home-making and un-making.

The refugee crisis and fear

2004 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 321-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Gale
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Media Representations ◽  
Central Issue ◽  
Election Campaign ◽  
Media Discourse ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Boat People ◽  
Refugees And Asylum Seekers

Representations of asylum seekers, commonly referred to as ‘boat people’, became a central issue during the 2001 election campaign amidst claims that Australia was at risk of a flood of refugees. This article explores the intersection between populist politics and media discourse through analysis of media representations of refugees and asylum seekers.

Introduction to the Special Issue Pluralism in Emergenc(i)es in the Middle East and North Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 162-173
Author(s):  
Kristin Soraya Batmanghelichi ◽  
A. George Bajalia ◽  
Sami Al-Daghistani
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
International Development ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Capital Mobility ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
State Of Emergency ◽  
Disciplinary Boundaries ◽  
Refugees And Asylum Seekers

AbstractThe issue “Pluralisms in Emergenc(i)es” is a result of a two-conference series that took place in Amman and Tunis, in December 2017 and October 2018, respectively. Taking these two locations as historical epicenters of human, commodity, and capital mobility, in two connected regions, these conferences set out to interrogate the historical, social, and religious underpinnings of the migrant and refugee crisis in order to position this moment as a state of emergence, rather than a state of emergency. The focus of the essays included here explores pluralism as it has emerged in response to contemporary global crises, and asks a number of questions: What are the variations in how “pluralism” is understood, and how does it function in a time of crisis? What are the material and immaterial modes through which pluralism takes shape? Moreover, how does it change through the circulation of people - as migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers – and capital – whether under the auspices of international development funds, religious aid, or new labor markets? By crossing disciplinary boundaries, this special issue enters into a fundamental discussion about how “pluralism” is conceived across sites and offers new vistas for its conceptualization in North Africa and the Middle East.

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