Grassroots Asylum

Escaping the Statist Paradigm

Because the asylum framework is constructed upon such subjective criteria, and is administered by states themselves, the decisions about who receives protection are stuck within a statist paradigm. Asylum is conceived of as a gift of the state, over which the state has discretion in how requests are considered. And ...
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Grassroots Asylum

The Epistemology of the Refugee: 30 Years after Zolberg

Introduction to the Zolberg Institute Special Issue

Zolberg, Suhrke, and Aguayo’s analysis is centered around the question who is recognized as a refugee -- still a contested issue in today’s public discourse, as people arriving at the southern U.S. border are alternatively categorized as “refugees” or “economic migrants.” Although the majority of migrants at the southern border ...
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The Epistemology of the Refugee: 30 Years after Zolberg

Lockstitch Lives

Migrants in the Megacity

Yogesh is one of the people you meet in Lockstitch Lives – Migrants in the Megacity. This interactive documentary, produced by Society for Labour and Development and HELM Studio, transports you to the neighborhoods of Gurgaon, where you witness the rugged daily realities of scores of families like Yogesh’s. Using 360-degree multimedia, Virtual Reality, photography ...
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Lockstitch Lives

Journalism and The Greek Refugee Crisis

An Interview with Kate Schoenbach & Dr. Noemi Mena Montes

Kate Schoenbach and Dr. Noemi Mena Montes have covered a wide array of cultural phenomena throughout the globe. Schoenbach’s most recent piece depicts Moria, a Greek refugee camp on the island of Lesbos. With the increasingly restrictive immigration policies of European Union countries, tens of thousands of refugees have limited ...
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Journalism and The Greek Refugee Crisis

Post-Workers of the World, Unite!

Reconciling Open Borders and Post-Work Politics

Labour party members passed a motion at the 2019 conference asserting that “free movement, equality and rights for migrants are socialist values and benefit us all.” This socialist framing of freedom of movement emphasizes that migrants are workers and marks a clear contrast with Bernie Sanders’s description of open borders as a “right-wing ...
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Post-Workers of the World, Unite!

Initiating Inmates

Closing Rikers Island without oversight will expose thousands of transferred inmates to new violence

Let the initiation begin. The Team snatched the bewildered young men from the van and placed them in metal cages.  “Take your shirt with your right hand and pass it backward over your left shoulder,” the officers commanded.  Perplexed, the young men reacted too slowly and quickly received blows to the head.  The officers continued ...
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Initiating Inmates

Food for Thought

Five Ways New York Is Ready to Increase Organic Recycling

The New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) held a public hearing on November 20th for a newly proposed organic waste recycling rule. It would increase the number of restaurants, stores, and other businesses required to source-separate organic waste for composting or other environmentally acceptable disposal. Compared to cities like San Francisco and Seattle, which ...
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Food for Thought

The New Negro

Exiles on 12th Street, Episode Six

In April, we covered the Civil Rights movement and the fight against racism in “The Fire This Time.” This month, we explore the lasting impact of the Harlem Renaissance in “The New Negro,” as our guests take us on a journey through art, culture, and politics. Author A’Lelia Bundles shares ...
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They Took Our Footprint Out of the Ground

An Interview with LaDonna Bravebull Allard

This interview was conducted on January 10, 2018. --- Nick Estes: I’m here today with LaDonna Bravebull Allard, who helped found Sacred Stone Camp in April 2016. Can you introduce yourself? LaDonna Bravebull Allard: My name is LaDonna Bravebull Allard. My real name is Tamakawastewin, or “Her Good Earth Woman.” I’m an enrolled ...
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Trump’s War on Asylum

In the summer of 2019, the Administration put in place a policy that denies asylum to any person who has traveled through another country and failed to request asylum in the transit state. It has announced a reduction of refugee admissions to 18,000, a more than 80% cut from the ...
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In the Shadow of Auschwitz

Reflections on America’s Asylum Policies in the Age of Trump

This odd combination of events sparked a number of thoughts which I offer now after further reflection. I will not enter into the discussion of whether the detention facilities to which children have been confined in the U.S. are or are not similar to concentration camps; nor am I arguing ...
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