Diss. Stockholm : Univ., 2007.

The loss of human capital that is the result of repatriate turnover has plagued multi-national companies' expatriate programs for decades. In striving to avoid this outcome, many are today sending their employees on so-called short-term expatriate assignments for which the long term effects are unknown. This study attempts to remedy this using quantitative methods and the latest developments in Identity Theory, but falls short due to difficulties in gaining access to respondents.

This dissertation examines the repatriation of Nigerian mental patients during Nigeria’s colonial period. In so doing, it explores how racist and paternalistic definitions of the “African mind” developed in the colonial context implicitly influenced psychiatric and governmental officials’ opinions about whether or not Nigerian mental patients should be repatriated when they became mentally ill abroad. When analyzing files of repatriation cases, a distinct pattern emerges: psychiatric and governmental authorities nearly always justified the repatriation of Nigerian mental patients from what they considered “modern” countries with white majority populations such as the United Kingdom or the United States. Nigerian mental patients in these countries were almost always repatriated. The same types of authorities, however, never argued for the repatriation of Nigerians from what they regarded as “primitive” African colonies. Mental patients within Africa, including Muslim pilgrims on the journey to Mecca, were almost never repatriated to Nigeria. The examination of such a wide range of mentally-ill Nigerian migrants from across the globe allows for a new perspective on the power of colonial psychiatry to emerge. Whereas scholarly works on mental illness in colonial Africa thus far have focused overwhelmingly on the effect that definitions of the “African mind” had on Africans within the colonial setting, specifically the colonial mental asylum, this dissertation analyzes how these same definitions affected the terms under which Nigerian migrants lived beyond the asylum setting and throughout the world. The result was a global construction of mental illness that followed colonial subjects wherever they went. This dissertation therefore integrates the fields of African history and global history by focusing on a subject group that was transnational in nature. In so doing, it illustrates the broad parameters within which the psychiatric knowledge and state power influenced each other at an international level and expands the discourse of African resistance to racialized psychiatry to the global arena in ways that previous works have not discussed. / text

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

Repatriering av samiska föremål, mänskliga kvarlevor samt immateriellt kulturarv är en fråga som inte har något enkelt svar.Samtidigt är det en fråga som gång på gång uppkommer inom museisammanhang. Västerbottens museum är ett länsmuseumsom har utarbetat en repatrieringspolicy av samiskt kulturarv för att kunna bemöta denna fråga.Syftet med detta examensarbete är att undersöka hur diskursen ser ut kring repatrieringspolicyn inom museet, problem ochmöjligheter. Undersökningen baseras på en djupintervju med anställda på Västerbottens museum och en representant ur museetssamiska referensgrupp.Under intervjun kommer ett antal teman fram som handlar om kontext samt identitet. Både från museets sida och från densamiska representanten anses det positivt med en repatrieringspolicy. Det handlar om en önskan om samverkan och attinvolvera samer vars kulturarv har samlats in och tolkats utifrån ett västerländskt sätt att se på kulturarv. / Repatriation of sami objects, human remains and intangible heritage is an issue which doesn't seem to have an easy answer.Although this is an issue that time and time again arise in the context of museums. The county museumVästerbottens museumhave created a policy regarding repatriation of sami heritage, to converge this issue.The aim of this examination paper is to study the discourse within the museum regarding the repatriation policy, problems andpossibilities. The study is based on an in-depth interview with the staff of Västerbottens museum and a representative of themuseums sami reference group.During the interview, a couple of themes where pinpointed that dealt with context and identity. It was acknowledged by boththe museum and the sami representantative that a repatriation policy is a good thing. It recognises a wish to co-operate andinvolve the sami people, whose culture have been collected and interpreted by a western point of view.

For decades UNHCR and refugee hosting governments have been looking for strategies to deal with the problem of mass exodus. Depending on the nature of the problem, various approaches have been exercised to address the problem of the displaced people. Recently, there has been a remarkable alteration of approaches in the way the international political community and refugee-hosting governments deal with forced migrants. Returning refugees to their "homes" has been the most favoured approach. Though voluntary repatriation as an "ideal" solution to the refugee problem has been exercised since the 1970s, it is with the end of the post-cold war era, circa 1991, that it came to be seen as the most desirable and preferred approach towards ending the plight of exilees (Winter, 1994: 159; Rogers, 1992:1112; Toft, n.d:3). For a number of reasons, the 1990s have added more colour towards adopting this approach as the most preferred "durable solution." To give more colour to voluntary repatriation as the best alternative strategy to refugee problems, the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, has gone so far as to declare the 1992 to be "the first year in a decade of repatriation." Since then, repatriation as a desirable approach and a viable solution to the world refugee problem has gained much prominence in the UN arena, refugee hosting countries and refugee generating countries (Allen, 1996; Chimni, 1999; Barnet, 2001)' This study discusses the issue of organised voluntary repatriation in a newly-born tiny African county, Eritrea. In brief, it examines the overall process of socio-economic rehabilitation, repatriation and re-integration of refugee returnees in selected returnee resettlement sites located in the Western lowlands of Eritrea. The study is descriptive-cumanalytic in its nature and has employed a triangulation approach in its data collection (namely, open- and semi-structured interview, focus group discussion and archival documents). The aim of the analysis is to understand refugee repatriation processes by exploring how participative the returnees were in the decision-making process of reintegration that enormously impacts in their lives back at 'home.' Post-repatriation social relationships between repatriates and 'stayees/locals' as well as returnees' economic conditions are also scrupulously examined. By so doing, the study attempts to address the 'research gap' in refugee studies by shedding light regarding the complicated nature of refugee repatriation endeavour as a 'durable solution.' In investigating the socio-economic condition of Eritrean refugee returnees, the study looks at the dynamics of power-relations and variations in interests among various stakeholders (particularly between the returnees, the government of the refugees' origin and UNHCR) within the repatriation process. It asserts how home- and hosting governments as well as UNHCR operate as "technologies of power," that dictate the behaviour of their "clients." Eventually, the thesis calls for 'working with' rather than 'working for' or 'working to' the end-beneficiaries of the repatriation project that have great deal of impact in the livelihood of refugee returnees as end-beneficiaries of repatriation programs. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2004.

Conserving biodiversity is suggested to be one of the most important challenges being faced by the global community. The field of conservation biology has been developed to examine the threats that drive species to low abundance, the dynamics of species in low abundance and the methods to rebuild abundance. Typically, assessing these issues requires substantial data inputs; however we are often faced with situations where little information exists. In this thesis, I addressed several key conservation priorities in the endangered Atlantic Whitefish (Coregonus huntsmani), a data poor species, which has been restricted to one watershed for most of the past century. Using molecular genetic markers Atlantic Whitefish were determined to be a distinct and basal species within the genus. Population size was suggested to be low and the incidence of inbreeding high as genetic effective population size was among the lowest of any fish species examined and genetic diversity was 2-6 times lower than regional congeners. Through laboratory experiments environmental threats to the persistence of Atlantic Whitefish were examined. Overall, Atlantic Whitefish were tolerant to a broad range of environmental conditions and were capable of surviving in harsher environments than many other regional species. Furthermore, their persistence in current habitats will likely not be influenced by the assessed environmental conditions. As part of this work, a suite of methods and metrics to compare thermal sensitivity across a range of finfish species were assessed. In order to inform recovery efforts, I developed simulation models to evaluate habitat suitability for translocation of Atlantic Whitefish. As part of this work, I examined the role of incorporating variability in species response, environment and / or life history into simulations. The results showed that the inclusion of multiple sources of variability altered the perception of optimal habitats; however, several watersheds offered suitable translocation habitats. Throughout this thesis I explored novel tools to address some of the key issues facing conservation programs of data poor species. This work is not only applicable to the conservation of Atlantic Whitefish, but also outlines some of the potential tools useful in addressing conservation priorities in other species.

Sovietinio laikotarpio Lietuvos istorijai skirtuose tyrimuose savo vietą atranda naujos arba ankščiau mažai tyrinėtos temos. Viena tokių temų – žydų tapatumas sovietų okupacijos Lietuvoje laikotarpiu – atskleidžiama ir šiame darbe. Keliamas tikslas – remiantis šaltiniais bei istoriografija probleminiu būdu išanalizuoti sovietinio laikotarpio Lietuvos žydų tapatumą bei jo santykį su repatriacijos į Izraelį procesu XX a. aštuntuoju ir devintuoju dešimtmečiais. Tokios chronologijos pasirinkimas sąlygotas būtent paskutiniaisiais SSRS gyvavimo dešimtmečiais padidėjusio iš Lietuvos bei kitų sovietinių respublikų išvykstančių žydų skaičiaus. Tokį pagausėjimą nulėmė sušvelninta Sovietų Sąjungos emigracijos politika, kuria siekta sumažinti įtampą tarp jos ir Vakarų valstybių, o ypač JAV. Suvokiant, kad Izraelio valstybė bei persikėlimas į ją nuolatiniam gyvenimui – aliyah – yra glaudžiai susiję su žydų tapatumo klausimu, darbe tam skiriamas pagrindinis dėmesys. Siekiama nustatyti, kaip Lietuvos žydų bendruomenė apibrėžė savo tautinį tapatumą paskutiniaisiais SSRS gyvavimo dešimtmečiais, kaip jis kito ir ar kito. Į žydų tautinį tapatumą mėginama žvelgti per keletą žymenų: kalbą, pačios žydų bendruomenės sudėties kaitą bei visuomenės, valdžios požiūrį į juos. Jeigu pirmieji du aspektai akcentuoja vidinius bendruomenės gyvenimo procesus, tai pastarajame išskiriamas individo ir jų grupių santykis su supančia aplinka bei jos poveikis individualaus, bendruomeninio tapatumo kaitai. Darbe... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Nowadays new or less known historical topics easily find their place in researches of Soviet Lithuanian history. One of these new topics – Jewish identity during Soviet occupation period in Lithuania – has been revealed in this research. The main goal of this research is to analyze the identity of Lithuanian Jews and its‘ relations with the process of repatriation to Israel on 8th and 9th decades of the 20th Century. This chronology was chosen because of strong increase in numbers of Jews emigrating from Soviet Union during last two decades of Soviet state existence. This increase was conditioned by subdued USSR emigration policy, as an attempt to reduce tension between Soviet Union and the West, especially United States of America. State of Israel and resettlement to this place for constant living – aliyah – are closely linked with Jewish identity topic, on which we will be concentrating the most. The aim is to determine how Lithuanian Jewish community defined their ethnical identity on the last decades of USSR existence, how did it change, if it did at all. Ethnical identity is analyzed through language, inner changes of Jewish community, society and authority attitude towards them. While the first two mentioned aspects emphasize inner processes of community life, the other one highlights the relation of individuals and their groups with surrounding environment and its‘ effect to personal or communal identity transformation. This research seeks to unpack the motives which... [to full text]

My dissertation discusses refugee rights and post-repatriation integration in South Asia in the context of debates over "citizenship." Postcolonial state-formation processes in South Asia have profoundly shaped questions of belonging and membership. As a result, official citizenship has become an important marker of group inclusion and exclusion in South Asian states. Using the literature on citizenship, I discuss the "belonging" claims of non-citizens (refugees) and argue that in practice this "belonging" extends beyond the state-centric "citizenship" view of membership. In doing so, I address two sets of interrelated questions: what factors determine whether or not refugees will be repatriated in South Asia, and why do some repatriated groups re-integrate more successfully than others in "post-peace" South Asian states? I answer these questions through a study of refugees from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh who sought asylum in India and were later repatriated to their countries of origin. The politics of postcolonial state-formation and subsequent discriminatory policies on language in Sri Lanka and non-recognition of the Jumma people in Bangladesh encouraged many citizens to flee to India as refugees. I argue, first, that India's state-centric politics of non-recognition of the two refugee groups contributed to their later repatriation. In the absence of rights and status in exile, refugees turned to "home" as a place to belong. I then analyze the post-repatriation variations in accommodation in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh as most refugees attempted to reclaim the lost identity and "citizenship" at "home" through the process of repatriation. However these countries pursued strategies of limited accommodation, which led to the minimal or partial re-integration of the two returnee-refugee groups.

In the beginning of the 1990's Swedish immigration policy, which bad been considered liberal and generous, became increasingly restrictive. A number of domestic as well as international factors led to new restrictions that particularly affected Bosnians with Croatian passports who applied for asylum. They were the first refugee group subject to new policy regulations and practices called 'temporary protection' (TUT). They also became the object of experimentation with diverse ideas concerning the development of a new immigration policy that emphasized the notion of 'repatriation' as opposed to 'integration'. This study consists of five articles that analyse these complex social processes from different methodological angles, trying to connect micro issues with macro ones, global issues with national issues, and local phenomena with practices affecting the individual. The introductory article deals with the experience of leaving one's country though the narrative of a single woman. During her period of immigration, she had been exposed to different national interests, discriminatory legislation and a variety of refugee experiences. These experiences included persecution, flight and emigration that were related to conditions of immigration, refuge and exclusion. The second article shows how the refugees coped with the labyrinth of temporality caused by the new Swedish refugee and immigration policy. This policy had been developed against the backdrop of EU harmonisation and insisted on temporary protection and repatriation. The third article is a comparative analysis of immigration processes in two different munici­palities: Malmö and Karlskrona. This article shows that such different institutional contexts create different coping strategies among refugees. For example, Malmö as a large munici­pality with a long history of immigration is different from Karlskrona, which is a smaller town without such experiences with foreigners. Also, in Malmö there was no specific refugee camp whereas there was one in Karlskrona. The fourth article deals with the impact of the Swedish welfare state's austerity policy on the reception of local refugees. As a consequence of these changes, special relationships among refugees developed. These included both friendship and animosity as well as conflict and solidarity. Such relationships challenge the conventional wisdom that assumes that differences in ethnicity will only lead to conflicts among different groups. The fifth article examines the limits of this conventional wisdom. For example, while conflicts among different ethnic groups from the former Yugoslavia persist, solidarity among these groups has also developed as they respond to the difficulties of immigration and social exclusion. In order to analyse the complexity of a process that includes the global, local and individual levels, I developed a multifaceted theoretical approach. This thesis addresses four aspects of a refugee's status: essentialization, thera- peutization, 'problem' that refugees cause for international state system and exclusion. In this connection, my main conclusion is that the social position of being a refugee in particular, as well as processes of social inclusion in general, can only be understood if we move beyond essential and biological explanations and beyond culturalization and therapeutization. Instead, we must focus on social and structural explanations. / digitalisering@umu