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Refuge: How the State Shapes Human Potential
How states deny the full potential of refugees as people and perpetuate social inequality
As the world confronts the largest refugee crisis since World War II, wealthy countries are being called upon to open their doors to the displaced, with the assumption that this will restore their prospects for a bright future. Refuge follows Syrians who fled a brutal war in their homeland as they attempt to rebuild in countries of resettlement and asylum. Their experiences reveal that these destination countries are not saviors; they can deny newcomers’ potential by failing to recognize their abilities and invest in the tools they need to prosper.
Heba Gowayed spent three years documenting the strikingly divergent journeys of Syrian families from similar economic and social backgrounds during their crucial first years of resettlement in the United States and Canada and asylum in Germany. All three countries offer a legal solution to displacement, while simultaneously minoritizing newcomers through policies that fail to recognize their histories, aspirations, and personhood. The United States stands out for its emphasis on “self-sufficiency” that integrates refugees into American poverty, which, by design, is populated by people of color and marked by stagnation. Gowayed argues that refugee human capital is less an attribute of newcomers than a product of the same racist welfare systems that have long shaped the contours of national belonging.
Centering the human experience of displacement, Refuge shines needed light on how countries structure the potential of people, new arrivals or otherwise, within their borders.
As the world confronts the largest refugee crisis since World War II, wealthy countries are being called upon to open their doors to the displaced, with the assumption that this will restore their prospects for a bright future. Refuge follows Syrians who fled a brutal war in their homeland as they attempt to rebuild in countries of resettlement and asylum. Their experiences reveal that these destination countries are not saviors; they can deny newcomers’ potential by failing to recognize their abilities and invest in the tools they need to prosper.
Heba Gowayed spent three years documenting the strikingly divergent journeys of Syrian families from similar economic and social backgrounds during their crucial first years of resettlement in the United States and Canada and asylum in Germany. All three countries offer a legal solution to displacement, while simultaneously minoritizing newcomers through policies that fail to recognize their histories, aspirations, and personhood. The United States stands out for its emphasis on “self-sufficiency” that integrates refugees into American poverty, which, by design, is populated by people of color and marked by stagnation. Gowayed argues that refugee human capital is less an attribute of newcomers than a product of the same racist welfare systems that have long shaped the contours of national belonging.
Centering the human experience of displacement, Refuge shines needed light on how countries structure the potential of people, new arrivals or otherwise, within their borders.
208 pages, Paperback
First published April 5, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 30, 2023
"destination countries, including the United States, Canada, and Germany, are not saviors. They are complicit in the conditions that instigated the very wars from which refugees are fleeing. And, within their borders, they too are capable of violence—the violence of minoritizing, of denying living wages, of non-recognition of people’s humanity."
the brutality of borders! this was so goodmygod.
the brutality of borders! this was so goodmygod.
May 10, 2024
Well written and quick book that centralizes the experiences of new refugees in national systems (in this case Syrian refugees in the USA, Canada, Germany) that limit their human potential in different ways, namely through not investing in them and/or through not recognizing the skills they already possess. A needed reframing of the language behind immigration/refugee policy.
April 1, 2025
*Read for SOCY4931*
This book gave a great comparison of the policies around resettlement of immigrants in the US, Canada, and Germany by following the lives of Syrian refugees. Very insightful and definitely changed my own opinions about policy surrounding refugees.
This book gave a great comparison of the policies around resettlement of immigrants in the US, Canada, and Germany by following the lives of Syrian refugees. Very insightful and definitely changed my own opinions about policy surrounding refugees.
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May 25, 2022As heard on Code Switch:
https://www.npr.org/2022/05/24/110105...
https://www.npr.org/2022/05/24/110105...
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews