ePapers Repository

Moving beyond ‘refugeeness’: problematising the ‘refugee community organisation’

Piacentini, Teresa (2012) Moving beyond ‘refugeeness’: problematising the ‘refugee community organisation’. Working Paper. University of Birmingham, Birmingham.

[img]
Preview
PDF
WP85_Moving_beyond_%E2%80%98refugeeness%E2%80%99_%2D_Piacentini,_Aug_2012.pdf
685Kb

URL of Published Version: http://www.tsrc.ac.uk/Research/BelowtheRadarBtR/Movingbeyondrefugeeness/tabid/943/Default.aspx

Abstract

This paper explores processes of change and development within asylum seeker and refugee-led associations in Glasgow. I argue that adopting a life-cycle approach to association emergence and continuity (Werbner 1991a: 15) provides a more rounded and sophisticated understanding of not only the factors giving rise to such groups, but also of processes of change within groups. By problematising the ‘refugee community organisation’ label, I suggest that the focus on ‘refugeeness’ fails to attend to internal diversity, specifically relating to changing and differentiated immigration status within such associations. Exploring an externally constructed fictive unity using Werbner’s framework provides one way to challenge these effects. Rather than see this framework as made up of linear stages, I argue that groups move through and between stages of associative empowerment, ideological convergence and mobilisation simultaneously and that features differentiating stages may be co-present. This paper is relevant for policy-makers, practitioners and third sector organisations and can aid thinking about how to move beyond labels in approaching broader questions, practices and experiences of ‘settlement’, integration, belonging and social cohesion.

Type of Work:Monograph (Working Paper)
School/Faculty:Colleges (2008 onwards) > College of Social Sciences
Department:Third Sector Research Centre
References:

Amas, N. and Price, J. (2008) Strengthening the Voice of Refugee Community Organisations within London’s Second-tier Voluntary Sector: Barriers and opportunities. London: City University, (ICAR) Information Centre about Asylum and Refugees.
Breton, R. (1964) ‘Institutional completeness of ethnic communities and the personal relationships of immigrants’. American Journal of Sociology, 70, pp. 193-205.
British Red Cross and the Refugee Survival Trust (2009) 21 Days Later: Destitution and the asylum system. http://stillhumanstillhere.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/21_days_later_jan_2009.pdf (accessed 12 July 2011).
British Red Cross and the Refugee Survival Trust (2011) 21 Months Later: Destitution and the asylum system. http://www.rst.org.uk/pdfs/21ML%202011%20(final).pdf (accessed 12 July 2011).
Carter, M. and El-Hassam, A. A. (2003) Between NASS and a hard place: Refugee housing and community development in Yorkshire and Humberside: A feasibility study. Housing Associations’ Charitable Trust (HACT). http://www.icar.org.uk/3060/research-directory/between-nass-and-a-hard-place.html (accessed 11 July 2011).
Gold, S. J. (1992) Refugee Communities: a comparative field study. London: Sage.
Griffiths, D. (1999) ‘Somali and Kurdish Refugees in London: Diaspora, Identity, and Power’. PhD Thesis. University of Warwick.
Griffiths, D., Sigona, N. and Zetter, R. (2004) ‘Integration and dispersal in the UK’. Forced Migration Review, 23, pp. 27-29.
Griffiths, D., Sigona, N. and Zetter, R. (2005) Refugee Community Organisations and Dispersal: Networks, Resources and Social Capital. Bristol: Policy Press.
Home Office (2004) Integration Matters, a national strategy for refugee integration. Home Office: London.
Home Office UK Border Agency (2009) Moving on together: Government’s recommitment to supporting refugees. Home Office: London.
Hopkins, G. (2005) ‘Gains, Losses and Changes: Resettlement of Somali Women Refugees in London and Toronto’. PhD Thesis. University of Sussex.
ICAR (2007) Asylum Support and Destitution, Information Centre about Asylum and Refugees. London: ICAR.
ICAR http://www.icar.org.uk/95/key-issues/the-history-of-resettlement-in-the-united-kingdom.html (accessed 11 February 2011).
Joly, D. (1996) Haven or Hell? Asylum Policies and Refugees in Europe. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
Jones, P. (2010) ‘Refugee Community Organisations working in partnership: The quest for recognition’. PhD Thesis, University of Birmingham.
Kelly, L. (2003) ‘Bosnian refugees in Britain: questioning community’. Sociology. 37 (1), pp. 51-68.

Lindsay, K., Gillespie, M. and Dobbie, L. (2010) Refugees’ Experiences and Views of Poverty in Scotland Scottish Poverty Information Unit.
_experience_poverty_in_scotland.pdf (accessed 11 July 2011).
Lukes, S. (2009) The potential of migrant and refugee community organisations to influence policy. Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Mayblin, L. and Soteri-Proctor A. (2011) The black minority ethnic third sector: a resource paper. Third Sector Research Centre, Working Paper 58.
Phillimore, J. and Goodson, L. (2010) ‘Failing to adapt: institutional barriers to RCOs engagement in transformation of social welfare’. Social Policy and Society. 9 (1) pp. 181-192.
Piacentini, T. (2008) ‘Contesting identities in exile: an exploration of collective self-understanding and solidarity in Refugee Community Organisations in Glasgow’. eSharp Issue 11 (Spring 2008): Social Engagement, Empowerment and Change (http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/esharp/issues/11/) (accessed 20 February 2011).
Portes, A. and Rumbaut, R. G. (1990) Immigrant America: A Portrait. California: University California Press.
Portes, A. and Zhou, M. (1993) ‘The New Second Generation: Segmented Assimilation and its Variants among Post-1965 Immigrant Youth’. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences. 535, pp. 74-96.
Rainbird, S. (2011) ‘Asylum seeker ‘vulnerability’: the official explanation of service providers and the emotive responses of asylum seekers’. Community Development Journal (Advance Access. Published/accessed 28 June 2011).
Rex, J. (1973) Race, colonialism and the city. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Rex, J. and Tomlinson, S. (1979) Colonial migrants in a British city. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Rex, J., Joly, D. and Wilpert, C. (1987) Immigrant associations in Europe. Aldershot: Gower.
Robinson, V. (1999) ‘The Development of Policies for the Resettlement of Refugees in the UK, 1945-1991’ in V. Robinson (ed.) Migration and Public Policy. Cheltenham: Elgar.
Robinson, V. (2003) ‘An evidence base for future policy: reviewing UK resettlement policy’ in V. Gelsthorpe, and L. Herlitz (eds.) Listening to the Evidence: the Future of UK Resettlement. Home Office RDS Conference Proceedings: London: HMSO, pp. 3-17.
Robinson, V. and Coleman, C. (2000) ‘Lessons learned? A critical review of the government programme to resettle Bosnian quota refugees in the United Kingdom’. International Migration Review. 34 (4), pp. 1217-1244.
Salinas, M., Pritchard, D. and Kibedi, A. (1987) Refugee Based Organizations: Their Function and Importance for the Refugee in Britain. Refugee Issues, Working Paper on Refugees, 3 (4). Oxford and London: Refugee Studies Programme and British Refugee Council.
Sivanandan, A. (1985) ‘RAT and the degradation of black struggle’. Race & Class. 26 (4), pp. 1-33.
Sivanandan, A. (1990) Communities of Resistance, writings on black struggles for socialism. London, New York: Verso.
Temple, B. and Moran, R. (2005) Learning to Live Together, Developing communities with dispersed refugee people seeking asylum. Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Thomas, W. and Znaneicki, F. (1918-20) (1958) The Polish peasant in Europe and America (2nd Edition). New York: Dover; London: Constable.
Wahlbeck, O. (1997) ‘Kurdish Refugee Communities: the Diaspora in Finland and England’. PhD Thesis, University of Warwick.
Wahlbeck, O. (1998) ‘Community work and exile politics: Kurdish refugee associations in London’. Journal of Refugee Studies. 1 (3), pp. 215-230.
Werbner, P. (1991a) ‘Introduction II’ in P. Werbner and M. Anwar (eds) Black and Ethnic Leaderships: The Cultural Dimensions of Political Action. London: Routledge, pp. 15-37.
Werbner, P. (1991b) ‘The fiction of unity in ethnic politics: aspects of representation and the state among British Pakistanis’ in P. Werbner and M. Anwar (eds) Black and Ethnic Leaderships: The Cultural Dimensions of Political Action. London: Routledge, pp. 113-145.
Werbner, P. and Anwar, M. (eds) (1991) Black and Ethnic Leaderships: The Cultural Dimensions of Political Action. London: Routledge.
Wren, K. (2007) ‘Supporting Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Glasgow: the Role of Multi-agency Networks’. Journal of Refugee Studies. 20 (3), pp. 391-413.
Zetter, R. and Pearl, M. (2000) ‘The minority within the minority: refugee community based organisations in the UK and the impact of restrictionism’. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. 26 (4), pp. 675-698.
Zetter, R., Griffiths, D. and Sigona, N. (2005) ‘Social capital or social exclusion? The impact of asylum seeker dispersal on UK refugee community organisations’. Community Development Journal. 40 (2), pp. 169-81.

Date:18 June 2012
Series/Collection Name:TSRC Working Paper Series
Keywords:RCOs; refugeeness; community life-cycle; community groups; sustainability; settlement and integration.
Subjects:H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Related URLs:
URLURL Type
http://tsrc.ac.ukOrganisation
Funders:Economic and Social Research Council, Office for Civil Society, Barrow Cadbury Trust
Copyright Holders:Third Sector Research Centre
ID Code:1782

Export Reference As : ASCII + BibTeX + Dublin Core + EndNote + HTML + METS + MODS + OpenURL Object + Reference Manager + Refer + RefWorks
Share this item :
QR Code for this page

Repository Staff Only: item control page