The free movement of the Roma minority has become questioned within the European Union. This study seeks to understand why this question has reached disproportionally importance in comparison to the number of Roma migrants within the union, and to understand the great attention given to the question. Based on the Copenhagen’s school of securitization, the purpose of this study is to show how this magnification of the question occurs due to the framing of the Roma migrants as a security problem. Focusing on the speech act of the securitization theory, this paper contains a study of political actor’s statements concerning Roma migrants. Using a framing methodology combined with the conditions for a successful securitization, speeches and statements are analyzed to determine how the Roma migrants are framed as societal threats in politics of France, Sweden and the European Commission. The result of the study show that a securitization has taken place in French politics, similar signs of the beginning of the securitizing process can be found in the Swedish political discourse. The Commission’s speech act concern the member states treatment of the Roma migrants, and especially the questioning of their right to free movement.

The United States Department of Homeland Security reported 354, 982 deportation events in 2010. This number has fallen short, though not by much, of the 400,000 deportations per year “goal” cited by DHS. Though many have begun research on the subsequent repercussions of this well oiled deportation regime, not many have asked questions about the effects south of the border. Those questions are the subject of the pilot research study on which this thesis is based. This document is the narration of the findings and occurrences while conducting fieldwork in Jalisco, Mexico, the goal of which, was to inform on the social impacts of deportations from the U.S. to Mexico on three levels, the individual, the familial and the institutional. The particularities of this thesis stem from the perspective taken by the author. Finding the author’s very own return to Mexico as an educated Xicana, an important part of the story she would set out to find about deportees , their families, and the reality they face upon experiencing a deportation event, this thesis is heavily concentrated on the experiences of the author and the narrations of the interviewees. Discovering her own epistemological and methodological postures on social science research while in the field, the author discusses the importance of these shifts to the future of her work and that of social science research. Taking on the pivotal questions on the effects of a social phenomenon , namely deportation, from a sociological perspective was the intention of the author, yet it was those questions and the process of attempting to gain insight on those inquiries that incited questions about the forms of knowledge production, the results and usefulness of social science research as tools for activism and social change and legitimacy of the subaltern voice within the academe. While the author does draw on her own experiences and that of interviewees to discuss the situation lived in Mexico by deportees, the base of much of the analysis also lies in data-driven questions and conclusions. / text

published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Over the last decade, a significant number of overseas Chinese including Hong Kong emigrants have returned to Hong Kong. Many returnees, especially those who learnt Chinese as a heritage language, often encounter various language difficulties upon their return mainly due to their incompletely acquired version of the Chinese language. However, there is little research on the Chinese language learning and teaching for this special community, which is inherently different from native Chinese learners or second-language learners. This work explores various pioneering ways to develop returnees’ greater fluency in the Chinese language and especially to improve their practical literacy skills. We intend to evaluate and further develop their awareness of the orthographic principles operating in Chinese characters. We believe that this is a key step to help Chinese returnees quickly integrate themselves to the local society. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

The history of the United States in the mid-twentieth century is, in significant measure, a history of internal migration. Between 1930 and 1970, as national quota laws kept the nation's foreign-born population at record low levels, the attention of journalists, lawmakers, jurists, social workers, civil rights activists, and the broader public turned to internal migration. The rapid pace of urbanization and the industrialization of agriculture made internal migration a pressing national question and a flashpoint in American politics. Migration was implicated in many of the seminal events of the era: from the Dust Bowl Migration to the Second Great Migration, the New Deal to the Great Society, the Bonus Army to the Watts Riots. Historians have largely overlooked this period of intense interest in internal migration and they have entirely neglected its significance. This dissertation offers the first historical appraisal of the law and politics of internal migration in the mid-twentieth century. Drawing on a broad source base—including federal and state court casefiles, the records of Congress and presidential administrations, personal and organizational papers, and contemporary published accounts—it explains how the debates over migration took shape and what their long-term effects were for policy and polity. During this period, a community of migrant advocates recommended fundamental reforms to social welfare and labor market policies. These social workers, legislators, public welfare officials, social scientists, and lawyers often faced indifference and resistance from lawmakers and the general public. They were not able to accomplish all that they hoped. But they convinced Congress and the Supreme Court to reform central pillars of the welfare state and redefine citizenship. At the beginning of the period, migrants, like all Americans, were defined by law and custom as local citizens, and local laws determined whether they could receive benefits or even move from one place to the next. By the end of the period, migrant advocates had convinced policymakers that the federal government bore some responsibility for migrants and that migrants, as national citizens, were entitled to the same rights and privileges as long-time residents. The contemporary welfare state and conception of national citizenship emerged out of these debates over internal migration. / History

How do migrants from Mexico to the U.S., including those who return permanently to Mexico and those who engage in cross-border communication from the U.S., contribute to changes in the political attitudes and behavior of Mexicans living in Mexico? Individuals who return to Mexico after experiencing U.S. democracy directly are less likely to influence change among their non-migrant co-nationals than are migrants who remain in the U.S. This holds even though the former can share their experiences face-to-face, while the latter must transmit them from a distance and across the border. Non-migrants' propensity to learn foreign political practices and beliefs from migrants is conditioned by their ambivalent attitudes towards the U.S. These attitudes condition both migrants' willingness to share the forms of civic engagement they learned up north and non-migrants' receptivity. Non-migrants are more receptive to migrants who remain in the U.S. than to returnees because they have a higher esteem for them and because the long-distance ties that bind non-migrants to migrants abroad, as opposed to those back home, are stronger. Both types of migrants have an interest in sharing their new beliefs and behaviors with non-migrants; but while returnees struggle to accept adaptations of American-style practices to the Mexican context, this produces little inconvenience for migrants abroad. The anti-American attitudes returnees find in Mexico also dampen their efforts to introduce change. I employ statistical regressions, Qualitative Comparative Analysis and process tracing to evaluate two data sources: (1) a large-n database that draws from an original survey administered on a nationwide sample of Mexican citizens living in Mexico; and, (2) scores of interviews with migrants and the people in Mexico with whom they communicate. The statistical results indicate the outcomes that migrant-led international diffusion produces. The qualitative analysis explains the mechanisms that drive or constrain diffusion. The project applies theories of international diffusion to change occurring among individuals at the level of mass publics. It highlights the importance of intersubjective beliefs about the sources of foreign innovations--including both people and countries--in shaping diffusion processes. / text

Migrants from the Global South, coming to Sweden predominantly since the 1980s, have become a major focus of public discussions about immigration. The fears of and resentments toward the migrant ‘other’ appear to have shifted from European migrants to migrants of the Global South. Numerous studies (and official reports) showing the marginalisation of these migrants confirm their spotlight position. The aim of this thesis is to describe and explain the kind of challenges which African migrants face in their local Swedish context and to find out if they undergo any significant transformations affecting their identities and/or ways of life. This objective was pursued through a field study of African migrants from Cameroon and Somalia living in the city of Malmö. The empirical material consisted of semi-structured interviews with individuals and groups and participant observations at migrant cultural associations. The analysis utilised two main theoretical frameworks: theory of conflict transformation and theories of discrimination (racism). The choice of the former was made to illuminate the agency of migrants by highlighting their capacity to act in their own interests within the host society. A major strength of this approach is that it draws attention to the (re)actions of both ‘natives’ and migrants towards each other. Theories of discrimination address the important issue of unequal power relations working against migrants, which tend to be neglected in conflict theory. The advantage of using these different theoretical approaches is that they complement each other and thus strengthen the theoretical discussion in the thesis. Analysis of the empirical material indicated that established practices in major institutions, as well as individual actions at the micro level of society, contribute to the marginalisation of migrants. A major finding was that both migrants and ‘natives’ are involved in practices that produce experiences of marginalisation and discrimination for the former. Actions that produced conflicts, material deprivation and exclusion were identified with both migrants and ‘natives’. However, actions by ‘natives’ had a more negative impact than those by migrants. This was seen as the result of the fact that ‘natives’ have greater influence in society because of their relative position of power. Finally, the thesis showed that migrants perceive the challenges confronting them in Sweden in different ways, due to the specific experiences they face in Sweden but also by reason of their experiences in their countries of origins and their different migration histories. Some of them saw the practices that produced their marginalisation as infringements on their basic rights and responded by actively fighting back. Others were  less critical of similar practices and did little or nothing about them. Important differences between migrants were also noted in relation to their transformations in Sweden affecting important aspects of their lives: their identities, power relations among them and between them and the host society, gender relations, and their ways of dealing with the challenges with which they were confronted. These differences were seen as a result of the heterogeneity of the migrants under study, who nevertheless are often homogenised as the African ‘other’. This heterogeneity consisted of hierarchical gender relations, varying access to material resources, and membership in exclusive networks of belonging based on particularistic  national and regional identities.

My thesis research centres on the question, how have refugee policy formation and ground level implementation impacted the conditions and experiences of displaced Burmese in Thailand from 1988 to 2008? I examine the effects of the production of subject categories through Thai national laws and practices, a bilateral agreement, and the United Nations Convention on the Status of Refugees, in order to uncover how official policies are used to manage refugees. This study addresses questions regarding policy formation and implementation toward Burmese who have fled political oppression in Burma (Myanmar) and identifies issues related to the recognition of difference and the allocation of rights in the cultural contexts of migration and integration of minority populations. The formulation and implementation of refugee policies has global implications since policy solutions in general are developed from a perspective that ignores the emergence and significance of displacement.

My thesis research centres on the question, how have refugee policy formation and ground level implementation impacted the conditions and experiences of displaced Burmese in Thailand from 1988 to 2008? I examine the effects of the production of subject categories through Thai national laws and practices, a bilateral agreement, and the United Nations Convention on the Status of Refugees, in order to uncover how official policies are used to manage refugees. This study addresses questions regarding policy formation and implementation toward Burmese who have fled political oppression in Burma (Myanmar) and identifies issues related to the recognition of difference and the allocation of rights in the cultural contexts of migration and integration of minority populations. The formulation and implementation of refugee policies has global implications since policy solutions in general are developed from a perspective that ignores the emergence and significance of displacement.

Tautiškumo, etniškumo, tautinio identiteto klausimų nagrinėjimas pasaulinėje mokslo plotmėje nėra naujas dalykas. Šie klausimai jau keletą dešimtmečių aktyviai tyrinėjami užsienyje (A. Smith, B. Anderson, M. Castells, J. C. Phinney, H. Tajfel, J. W. Berry, X. Chryssochou ir kt.) - ypač tose šalyse, kuriose gausi gyventojų tautinė įvairovė (Jungtinėse Amerikos Valstijose, Kanadoje, Australijoje, Didžiojoje Britanijoje ir kitur. Tautinės tapatybės klausimais, priverstinai pamirštais nuo pirmosios Lietuvos Respublikos laikų, prieš keliolika metų labiau susidomėta ir Lietuvoje - tautinį, etninį ar nacionalinį (individualų ar kolektyvinį) identitetą įvairiais aspektais yra tyrinėję: V. Leonavičius, D. Antininė, V. Liubinienė, R. Trimakas, A. Valantiejus, P. Subačius, V. Legkauskas, R. Grigas, I. Trinkūnienė, S. Kraniauskienė, V. J. Černius, V. Čiubrinskas ir kt. Daugelis autorių, kalbėdami apie tautinį identitetą, sutaria, kad jam išryškėti, atsiskleisti, keistis palankiausios sąlygos susidaro individui (ar tautinei grupei) atsidūrus multikultūriškame kontekste. Vienas pagrindinių šio darbo tikslų – ištirti, kaip konstruojamas lietuvių tautinis identitetas emigracijoje, koks yra jo turinys, kaip jis yra veikiamas vietinės kultūros. Taipogi aktualu sužinoti, ar stebima lietuvių tautinė saviugda išeivijoje. Šiame magistro darbe, remiantis Lietuvos ir užsienio moksline literatūra, analizuojamas tautiškumo / tautinio identiteto sąvokos turinys, tautiškumo ugdymo (saviugdos)... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Research of questions of nationality, ethnicity and national identity is not new within world’s scholar area. It has been in the field of attention of numerous foreign academics - A. Smith, B. Anderson, M. Castells, J. C. Phinney, H. Tajfel, J. W. Berry, X. Chryssochou and many others – especially in the countries with wide ethnic variety of population (the USA, Canada, Australia, the Great Britain, etc.). Questions of national identity were forcibly forgotten in Lithuania during the years of Soviet occupation (2nd half of XX century), but local academics regained interest in them after Lithuania became independent again in 1990. Since the national identity (individual and collective) has been analysed in various aspects by V. Leonavičius, D. Antininė, V. Liubinienė, R. Trimakas, A. Valantiejus, P. Subačius, V. Legkauskas, R. Grigas, I. Trinkūnienė, V. J. Černius, S. Kraniauskienė, V. Čiubrinskas, etc. Most of the authors agree, that national identity is best exposed when an individual (or a social group) is placed in a culturaly heterogenous context. One of the core ideas of this Master’s thesis is a research of Lithuanian emigrants’ national identity: what is the content of migrants’ identity how is it constructed and how does local cultural environment affect it. Another important issue is to find out if Lithuanian migrants tend to practice national self-education (if they consciously seek to maintain the features of national identity). Considering previously done... [to full text]