Resisting the Dehumanization of Refugees

Refugees face distinct challenges and are often subject to dehumanization by politicians, media, and the public. In this context, Resisting the Dehumanization of Refugees provides urgent insights and policy relevant perspectives to improve refugees’ social well-being and integration. Taking a transdisciplinary approach, scholars from the social sciences, arts, and humanities, alongside practitioners and refugees, explore what it means to experience dehumanization. They consider how refugees’ experiences of dehumanization inform both epistemological and practical approaches to humanizing (or re-humanizing) refugees before, during, and after resettlement. By addressing these important issues, contributors marshall rich and multidimensional responses that draw upon our shared humanity and reveal new possibilities for change. 

“This is a thorough and thoughtful exploration of the figure of ‘the refugee’ and the way in which that concept can be dehumanizing, particularly when invoked by powerful actors in settler colonial societies. While acknowledging the damage dehumanization can do, this volume goes beyond that observation, combining the voices of scholars, advocates, and people who self-identify as refugees to offer a variety of reflections on the ways in which dehumanization can be resisted, including through the power of artistic expression.”

—Rebecca Hamlin, professor, Department of Political Science and Legal Studies, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

“This book offers a hard-nosed look at systems and institutions that dehumanize people—via public policy, political and media discourses, schools and universities—and it shows how resistance and change are possible, not just through political action or civic engagement, but also through the arts. The variety of topics, and the diverse sources of knowledge and lived experience that are highlighted, provide a wonderfully unique and richly textured tapestry from which to consider human dignity and forced migration.”

—Irene Bloemraad, Class of 1951 Professor of Sociology, UC Berkeley

“Resisting the Dehumanization of Refugees calls on policy makers to transform their outdated approach of managing and containing undesirable migrants. Instead, the authors urge us to recognize their humanity, voice, and myriad contributions to Canada. The chapters, many of which are written by authors with lived experience of migration, offer both tough critiques and practical solutions. Interdisciplinary, comparative and with a wide range of topics, from resisting dehumanizing through music to a critique of the unrealized potential of building anti-racist learning projects in higher education in Germany, the volume challenges us all to re-commit to building a more inclusive and humane Canada.”

—Dagmar Soennecken, School of Public Policy and Administration, York University

About the Editors

Yasmeen Abu-Laban is a professor and Canada Research Chair in the Department of Political Science at the University of Alberta. Michael Frishkopf is a professor of Ethnomusicology and the director of the Canadian Centre for Ethnomusicology at the University of Alberta, and adjunct professor, Faculty of Communication and Cultural Studies, University for Development Studies, Ghana. Reza Hasmath is a professor in political science at the University of Alberta. Anna Kirova is a professor in the Faculty of Education, University of Alberta.

With contributions by Jeffrey M. Ayres, Abigail B. Bakan, Jalal Barzanji, Pallabi Bhattacharyya, Fariborz Birjandian, Chiedza Chikawa-Araga, Jim Gurnett, Encarnación Gutiérrez Rodríguez, Louise Harrington, Benjamin Ho, Jwamer Jalal, Solomon Kay-Reid, Nariya Khasanova, Thomas Mapfumo, Labe Songose, Dana Waissi, and Lori Wilkinson.

Table of Contents

1. Acknowledgements
2. Introduction
   Yasmeen Abu-Laban, Michael Frishkopf, Reza Hasmath, and Anna Kirova
3. 1. Theoretical Perspectives on Dehumanization and Resisting It
   Yasmeen Abu­Laban, Michael Frishkopf, Reza Hasmath, and Anna Kirova
4. Part I The Role of Immigration Policies and the Media in the Dehumanization of Refugees
   1. 2. Dehumanizing or Humanizing Refugees? A Comparative Assessment of Canada, the United States, and Australia
      Yasmeen Abu­Laban
   2. 3. Migrant and Refugee Precarity as a Double Movement: A Case Study of Dehumanization and Humanization in the Canada­US Borderlands
      Jeffrey M. Ayres
   3. 4. Resisting Dehumanization Through Resettlement Based on Full Refugee Experiences
      Fariborz Birjandian
   4. 5. Conflating Migration, Terrorism, and Islam: Mediations of Syrian Refugees in Canadian Print Media Following the 2015 Paris Attacks
      Nariya Khasanova
5. Part II The Role of Educational Institutions and Programs in the (De)humanization of Refugees
   1. 6. A New School and New Life: Understanding the Experiences of Yazidi Families with Children
      Pallabi Bhattacharyya, Labe Songose, and Lori Wilkinson
   2. 7. “Where Are You From?”: A Personal Perspective on the Struggles of Youth Living Between Two Cultures
      Jwamer Jalal
   3. 8. Precarious Inclusion: Refugees in Higher Education in Germany
      Encarnación Gutiérrez Rodríguez
   4. 9. (Not) Meeting the Needs of Refugee Students: Toward a Framework for the Humanization of Education
      Anna Kirova
6. Part III Countering Dehumanization: State Apologies and New Approaches
   1. 10. When the State Says “Sorry”: Jewish Refugees to Canada and the Politics of Apology
      Abigail B. Bakan
   2. 11. State Apologies and the Rehumanization of Refugee, Indigenous, and Ethnic Minority Groups
      Reza Hasmath, Benjamin Ho, and Solomon Kay­Reid
   3. 12. Home, Hope, and a Human Approach to Displacement
      Jim Gurnett
7. Part IV Enacting (Re)humanization: Refugee Agency and the Arts
   1. 13. A Life of Many Homes: Reflections of a Writer in Exile
      Jalal Barzanji
   2. 14. Locating Kurdish Cultural Identity in Canada
      Louise Harrington and Dana Waissi
   3. 15. How Can Music Ameliorate Displacement, Disconnection, and Dehumanization?
      Michael Frishkopf
   4. 16. Music, Weapon of Change, Weapon of Peace: Thomas Mapfumo, Chimurenga, and the Power of Music in Exile
      Thomas Mapfumo, Chiedza Chikawa, and Michael Frishkopf
   5. 17. Music Enacting (Re)humanization: Concert Introduction, Program, and Link
      Michael Frishkopf
8. Contributors
9. Index

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). It may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes, provided that the original author is credited.