Displacement, Belonging, and Migrant Agency in the Face of Power

This book centres the voices and agency of migrants by refocusing attention on the diversity and complexity of human mobility when seen from the perspective of people on the move; in doing so, the volume disrupts the binary logics of migrant/refugee, push/pull, and places of origin/destination that have informed the bulk of migration research. Drawn from a range of disciplines and methodologies, this anthology links disparate theories, approaches, and geographical foci to better understand the spectrum of the migratory experience from the viewpoint of migrants themselves. The book explores the causes and consequences of human displacement at different scales (both individual and community-level) and across different time points (from antiquity to the present) and geographies (not just the Global North but also the Global South). Transnational scholars across a range of knowledge cultures advance a broader global discourse on mobility and migration that centres on the direct experiences and narratives of migrants themselves. Both interdisciplinary and accessible, this book will be useful for scholars and students in Migration Studies, Global Studies, Sociology, Geography, and Anthropology. This book centres the voices and agency of migrants by refocusing attention on the diversity and complexity of human mobility when seen from the perspective of people on the move; thus the volume disrupts the binary logics of migrant/refugee, push/pull, and places of origin/destination that has informed the bulk of migration research. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Dedication 6 Table of Contents 8 List of illustrations 11 Editors 12 List of contributors 13 Acknowledgments 20 Chapter 1: Displacement, belonging, and migrant agency in the face of power: Challenging paradigms in migration studies 22 Migrants’ representation 23 Challenging migration paradigms 24 Push / pull 24 Forced / voluntary 25 Places of origin / destination 26 Regimes of belonging 27 Drivers of displacement 33 Re-creating home away from home 38 Sentimentalizing home and communities of belonging 38 Community as home 40 Where is home? Here, there, or nowhere? 42 Gender, sexuality, age, and belonging 44 Gender 44 Children 46 Sexuality 47 Researching people with trauma: a critique 49 Notes 51 References 51 Part I: Regimes of belonging 60 Chapter 2: Out of place in antiquity 62 Introduction 62 Shaping place through asylum in the ancient Greek polis 64 The tragedies of power and hospitality 65 Late antique place, status, mobility, and the captive body 68 The great redeemer—Bishop Caesarius of Arles 70 Conclusion 72 Notes 73 References 77 Chapter 3: Reimagining “refugee” protection: Beyond improving the status quo 83 Introduction 83 Setting the stage 86 Unpacking the global compacts 88 Legal orientalism meets refugee studies 91 Adat: A silver lining ? 92 Thinking beyond international law and state-led protection 93 Conclusion 94 References 95 Chapter 4: Governance of migration in South Asia: The need for a decolonial approach 99 Introduction 99 Colonial legacy in South Asia 100 Evicted people 102 The rejected Rohingya 103 Partitioned lives 105 Inadequacies of (post)colonial approaches 106 Conclusion: examining the “global” in global compacts 108 References 109 Chapter 5: Lives on the move: Experiences of exclusion, vulnerability, and resilience of Venezuelan forced migrants in Peru 113 Introduction 113 On voices, narratives, and qualitative research 115 On exclusion, vulnerability, and resilience 115 Uprooting, danger, and resilience 116 Socioeconomic exclusion and resilience 119 Sexual discrimination, assault, and resilience 121 Covid-19 and resilience 121 Conclusion 124 Notes 124 References 125 Part II: Drivers of displacement 128 Chapter 6: War and forced migration in medieval Iberia (1085–1266): Between al-Andalus and the feudal world 130 Introduction 130 Feudal conquest of al-Andalus: stay or emigrate 131 The emigrants 133 al-Andalus: lost paradise and homeland 135 Conclusions 139 References 140 Chapter 7: Migration and modern slavery: Perspectives in Africa to Europe migration 144 Introduction 144 Narratives of international migration and modern slavery 147 International migration: experiences in modern-day slavery 149 Information technologies, social media, international migration, and modern slavery 150 Conclusion 153 References 154 Chapter 8: The anxious integration of former enclave or “new” citizens in North Bengal, India 157 Introduction 157 Enclave dwellers and their im/mobility 159 Belonging and the choice of citizenship 166 Conclusion 170 References 170 Chapter 9: Climate and non-climatic stressors, internal migration, and belonging in Ghana 174 Introduction 174 North–south migration in Ghana: The role of colonial marginalization and contemporary socioecological stressors 176 The migration process, initial integration, and fulfilling aspirations 178 Economic exploitation and the politics of belonging 180 Conclusion 183 Acknowledgments 183 References 184 Chapter 10: Henancun in Beijing, a parallel society in the making 187 Introduction 187 Rural-to-urban migration in China 188 Never belonged 190 An identity divided 193 A formal businessman in recycling 193 A celery controversy 194 Connect to disconnect 194 Belonging under construction 196 Constructing a migrant community in Henancun 196 Working and living with a migrant schedule 197 Nurturing an exclusive migrant space 198 Building a better “home” 199 Conclusion 200 Notes 201 References 201 Part III: Re-creating home away from home 204 Chapter 11: Uprooted: living between two worlds—German postwar refugee: Narratives on displacement and exile 206 Introduction 206 German refugees after 1945 208 Living between two worlds: narratives on displacement and exile 212 Is there a successful integration? Reflections on refugees and sedentary societies 214 Conclusion 217 Note 218 References 218 Chapter 12: Palestine in exile: Blurring the boundaries and re-creating the homeland 220 Introduction 220 The origins of Palestinian exile 221 Structural statelessness and continual displacement 222 Home and exile in the Palestinian refugee camps 226 Conclusion 228 Notes 229 References 229 Chapter 13: Displacement, diaspora, and statelessness: Framing the Kurdish case 233 Introduction: dissent and displacement 233 Cases of displacements in recent history 234 Diaspora, collective action, and its discontents 236 Belonging and identity in the diaspora 238 Understanding the conundrum of statelessness 240 Conclusion 242 Notes 243 References 243 Chapter 14: What makes a place a home?: Syrian refugees’ narratives on belonging in Turkey 246 Introduction 246 The questions of home and belonging 247 Research methods 248 “Home is in our memories” 249 Home as a community 251 Home as a space of freedom 253 Home is where I earn money 254 Conclusion 256 Notes 257 References 257 Chapter 15: “This is about making family”: Creating communities of belonging in schools serving refugee-background students 259 Introduction 259 Discourse, exclusion, and (un)belonging in literature on RB students 261 Context and methods 262 Findings 263 How deficit discourse creates a culture of unbelonging 263 What communities of belonging look like 267 Conclusion 269 Notes 270 References 270 Part IV: Gender, sexuality, age, and belonging 274 Chapter 16: “I am not alone”: Rohingya women negotiating home and belonging in Bangladesh’s refugee camps 276 Introduction 276 Gender and belonging in forced migration 278 Feminist ethnographic fieldwork in the refugee camp 279 Fleeing from Myanmar, settling in the camps 280 Re-creating home, re-creating community 283 Negotiating belonging, feeling at home 285 Taleem : a sanctuary of belonging 287 Conclusion 290 References 290 Chapter 17: Journeys of belonging: Latina migrant lesbians in Long Beach, California 292 Introduction 292 Intersecting violence in the lives of the narrators 293 “And that’s where my world opened up”: gay clubs as sites of belonging 297 When the home becomes home 299 Beyond comfort: challenging violence 302 Notes 302 References 302 Chapter 18: The welfare state and women’s citizenship in Buchi Emecheta’s Second Class Citizen 305 The bonds of motherhood 308 Women’s support networks and alternative forms of belonging 314 Notes 317 References 317 Chapter 19: Navigating the regime of illegality : Experiences of migration and racialization among 1.5-generation Mexican migrant women 319 Introduction 319 Examining the literature 320 How life cycle shapes migration experiences 320 Diverse migratory experiences 322 Institutions of socialization and developing a sense of belonging 322 Methods: 1.5-generation women in two contexts 323 Pennsylvania 324 California 324 Data analysis 325 Findings of the Pennsylvania and California interview data 325 Circumstances of migration: diverse experiences leaving Mexico 326 Context of reception: Common experiences at the intersection of illegality and racialization 327 Undocumented: belonging under the regime of illegality 330 Conclusion 332 Notes 333 References 333 Part V: Challenges to migration research 336 Chapter 20: Refusal and migration research: New possibilities for feminist social science 338 Introduction 338 Refusal as a research intervention 340 Feminist social science research, trauma, and imperial entanglements 342 Refusal, trauma, and empire in research 343 Refusal in research design 345 Refusal in the field 346 Refusal in writing and publishing 346 Conclusion 347 References 349 Index 352 antiquity;,climate,stressors;,feminist,social,science;,forced,migration;,German,postwar,refugee;,human,mobility;,Latina,migrant,lesbians;,medieval,Iberia;,migrant,agency;,migration,studies;,non-climatic,stressors;,refugee,protection;,sedentary,displacement;,sexuality;,South,Asian,politics;,Syrian,refugees’,narratives;,Venezuelan,forced,migrants;,women’s,citizenship antiquity,climate stressors,feminist social science,forced migration,German postwar refugee,human mobility,Latina migrant lesbians,medieval Iberia,migrant agency,migration studies,non-climatic stressors,refugee protection,sedentary displacement,sexuality,South Asian politics,Syrian refugees’ narratives,Venezuelan forced migrants,women’s citizenship "This book centres the voices and agency of migrants by refocusing attention on the diversity and complexity of human mobility when seen from the perspective of people on the move; in doing so, the volume disrupts the binary logics of migrant/refugee, push/pull, and places of origin/destination that has informed the bulk of migration research. Drawn from a range of disciplines and methodologies, this anthology links disparate theories, approaches, and geographical foci to better understand the spectrum of the migratory experience from the viewpoint of migrants themselves. The book explores the causes and consequences of human displacement at different scales (both individual and community-level) and across different time points (from antiquity to the present) and geographies (not just the Global North but also the Global South). Transnational scholars across a range of knowledge cultures advance a broader global discourse on mobility and migration that centres on the direct experiences and narratives of migrants themselves. Both interdisciplinary and accessible, this book will be useful for scholars and students in Migration Studies, Global Studies, Sociology, Geography, and Anthropology"-- Provided by publisher.