tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/citizenship-413/articles
Citizenship – The Conversation
2024-01-09T19:56:21Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/220530
2024-01-09T19:56:21Z
2024-01-09T19:56:21Z
What a recent court ruling on Canada’s Citizenship Act means for ‘lost Canadians’
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<p>In December 2023, Ontario’s Superior Court determined that what’s known as the <a href="https://www.cicnews.com/2023/05/understanding-the-second-generation-cut-off-rule-for-canadian-citizenship-0534674.html#gs.2s7qok">“second-generation cut-off rule”</a> in the federal <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-29/page-1.html#h-81636">Citizenship Act</a> violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms by discriminating on the basis of national origin and sex. </p>
<p>The second-generation rule was adopted in 2009 <a href="https://torontolife.com/city/this-law-has-destroyed-families-why-foreign-born-canadians-are-suing-the-federal-government-over-its-citizenship-policy/">under Stephen Harper’s Conservative government</a>. </p>
<p>It limited Canadian citizenship to the first generation born abroad in an effort to create a clear and simple rule, and, according to Diane Finley, the minister of citizenship and immigration at the time, to <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/39-1/CIMM/meeting-61/evidence">“protect the value of Canadian citizenship by ensuring that our citizens have a real connection to this country.”</a></p>
<p>The concern with connection makes sense. Members of a political community — citizens — should have a relationship to that community. But what does <em>connection</em> mean, and how do we know when it exists? </p>
<h2>Secure claim to citizenship?</h2>
<p>Canada, like many other countries in the world, uses birth as a proxy for connection. If you’re born in Canada or you’re born abroad to a parent who’s a Canadian citizen, you too are a citizen. </p>
<p>In many cases, birth appears to offer a secure claim to citizenship since the facts of someone’s birth are generally unassailable. But as the second-generation cut-off rule demonstrates, governments can shift the legal meaning of those circumstances with significant repercussions.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2023/2023onsc7152/2023onsc7152.html"><em>Bjorkquist et al. v. Attorney General of Canada</em></a> case heard in Ontario in December involves seven families. Their children were born abroad and denied Canadian citizenship because their Canadian parent or parents were also born abroad. </p>
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<p>In each family, the parent has lived in Canada for many years, views Canada as their home and/or intends to return to Canada if they aren’t currently living here. The parents, all Canadian citizens, argued their inability to pass on their citizenship to their children, despite their connection to Canada, imposed second-class citizenship status upon them. The court agreed. </p>
<p>Back when the law was changed, the House of Commons Committee on Citizenship and Immigration unanimously endorsed the second-generation cut-off. Effectively, the clause was the cost for passing a larger package of reforms to the Citizenship Act. </p>
<p>For several years, people known as the <a href="https://lostcanadian.com/">“lost Canadians”</a> — those who have fallen through the cracks of complex citizenship law — had been advocating for changes that would address discriminatory provisions in the act. </p>
<p>These people considered themselves Canadians, but had been denied citizenship because of their age, and/or the sex and marital status of their Canadian parent at the time of their birth. </p>
<p>For example, prior to 2009, a child born abroad before Feb. 15, 1977, to a Canadian woman married to a non-Canadian would not be entitled to Canadian citizenship. The reform package removed the sex and wedlock status of the Canadian parent as conditions for citizenship for children born abroad after Jan. 1, 1947, when Canada’s first Citizenship Act came into force. </p>
<h2>Inconsistently enforced</h2>
<p>Another challenge leading to those reforms was a requirement that second-generation children born abroad affirm their citizenship by the age of 28. They also had to <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-29/20070701/P1TT3xt3.html">demonstrate one year of residency in Canada immediately prior to applying or some other substantial connection to the country.</a> </p>
<p>In practice, though, many Canadians born abroad were unaware of this provision, and it was inconsistently enforced.</p>
<p>Limiting citizenship to the first generation born abroad offered a simple, if blunt, solution to this problem. Parliamentarians were also assured that an <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/39-2/CIMM/meeting-11/evidence">expedited immigration sponsorship process</a> would address situations like those faced by the <em>Bjorkquist et al.</em> families. </p>
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<p>Unfortunately, that process has proven unreliable — so much so, in fact, that the judge in the <em>Bjorkquist</em> case described it as <a href="https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2023/2023onsc7152/2023onsc7152.html">“error-riddled, highly discretionary, and inequitable in …application, and as such … unsatisfactory.”</a></p>
<p>It’s clear that the second-generation cut-off rule excludes children whose parents have a demonstrable connection to Canada, and who have a high likelihood of being connected to Canada as well. So how might that connection be established? </p>
<p>Parliament is currently considering <a href="https://www.parl.ca/legisinfo/en/bill/44-1/s-245">Bill S-245</a>, that would amend the Citizenship Act. Its original draft proposed reinstating the second-generation affirmation and one-year residency requirement. </p>
<p>It now includes an amendment requiring a more rigorous connection test, drawing from Canada’s requirements for permanent residency. The Canadian parent of a child born abroad would need to have lived in Canada for 1,095 days (three years) in total prior to the birth of their child. </p>
<h2>Relying on proxies</h2>
<p>In this way, the Citizenship Act could address concerns about what Finley referred to as <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/39-1/CIMM/meeting-61/evidence">“endless generations living abroad”</a> that spurred the creation of the second-generation cut-off rule in the first place. As well, Canadians would be able to pursue opportunities around the world while maintaining their connection to Canada.</p>
<p>Ultimately, what’s at issue is what’s considered the threshold for citizenship. Canada doesn’t require citizens or those claiming citizenship to pass civics tests or commit to substantive engagement in governing. Instead, it relies on proxies like birth, residency and time since they appear less vulnerable to political manipulation.</p>
<p>These proxies may be imperfect. Yet the <em>Bjorkquist</em> case suggests that when thoughtfully constructed, they can ensure Canadian citizenship is bestowed upon those whose attachment and contributions to Canada are real.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220530/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lois Harder has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Aid to Scholarly Publishing Program, and the Court Challenges Program.</span></em></p>
For years, people known as the ‘lost Canadians’ pushed for changes that would address discriminatory provisions in the Citizenship Act. They succeeded, and now amendments are being considered.
Lois Harder, Dean of Social Sciences and Professor of Political Science, University of Victoria
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/215372
2023-11-06T15:16:12Z
2023-11-06T15:16:12Z
My parents are from two different African countries: study shows how this shapes identity
<p>More than a <a href="https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/062/2016/009/article-A001-en.xml">third of migration</a> in sub-Saharan Africa happens within the continent. This mixing of people means that some children have parents of different national origins. Yet not enough is known about the lives of these children: how they form their identity and what impact migration has on them. </p>
<p>The majority of <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kassahun-Kebede/publication/329950963_The_African_second_generation_in_the_United_States_-_identity_and_transnationalism_an_introduction/links/5c76fdca92851c69504669e9/The-African-second-generation-in-the-United-States-identity-and-transnationalism-an-introduction.pdf">research</a> on second generation African immigrants focuses on understanding their experiences in the global north. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01419870.2018.1484503">research</a> looked at the less studied African context, where the majority of African migration occurs.</p>
<p>We are <a href="https://www.ug.edu.gh/sociology/staff/geraldine-asiwome-ampah">sociologists</a> who study <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-97322-3_7">migration</a> and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/imig.12644">identity</a> and we have seen that studies tend to take the <a href="https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:d93fe8bf-5987-40ea-98d2-e9c6cbbe61f0/download_file?safe_filename=TDI%2Brevised%2Bsubmission%2Bto%2BERS%2BAugust%2B2015.pdf&file_format=application%2Fpdf&type_of_work=Journal+article">perspective</a> of the <a href="https://iupress.org/9780253000828/migrants-and-strangers-in-an-african-city/">parents</a> in the African context. The voices of the children are missing. </p>
<p>To fill this gap we <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13504630.2023.2222670">asked</a> children who have two African-born parents – but from different countries on the continent – about their experiences. </p>
<p>Our aim was to understand how children with binational parentage formed their identity. We wanted to know if they aligned with either or both of their parents’ identities and which individual or structural factors shaped that. This could be useful to know in contexts where ethnic, religious, political and national identities are salient markers of difference and influence people’s lives and opportunities.</p>
<h2>Questions of identity</h2>
<p>We conducted 54 interviews but drew on the experiences of 32 of the research participants for our paper. Their ages ranged from the lower 20s to the lower 60s. Participants came from Ghana, Botswana, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia and South Africa. Our sample was middle class and therefore our findings are limited to binational identity among middle class Africans. </p>
<p>A key criterion for participation was that participants should have lived in the African country of one of their parents’ birth or both during their formative years. This is because formative years (from birth up to the end of secondary education) shape who you are. And the experiences you have in a place leave an indelible impression and influence your sense of who you are.</p>
<p>We asked them questions such as: Who are you? What is your identity? Where are you from? How do others perceive you? What relationship do you have with your parents’ home country or home town? To what extent has your identity created opportunities for you and to what extent has it created challenges for you? </p>
<h2>Primary and secondary identities</h2>
<p>A person’s primary identity is how they see themselves principally. Their secondary identity comes after those core or foundational aspects.</p>
<p>We learnt that the participants’ primary identity was shaped predominantly by the closeness of family ties during their formative years. Family ties were evident in communication, visits and presence at rites of passage.</p>
<p>The case of three sisters whose mother was from Botswana and father from Ghana highlighted the importance of the closeness of family ties for identity formation even among siblings.</p>
<p>Maru, the eldest, was born when her parents were settling into adult life. She was raised by her maternal grandmother in rural Botswana because her parents were trying to find jobs in Gaborone, the capital. She felt a close bond with her maternal grandmother and thought of herself as Kalanga (an ethnic group) with a very weak link to Ghana. </p>
<p>Her two sisters were born almost a decade later in Gaborone and raised by their parents, who had settled into their lives in the capital. They described themselves differently. Seliwe described herself as Ghanaian. When she was growing up, the family spent holidays (sometimes several months) in Ghana and she thoroughly enjoyed those visits. She was close to the Ghanaian side of her family and spent much time during our interview talking about her paternal uncle, who lived in her father’s home town, and the jollof rice at a popular fast-food restaurant in Accra. She identified chiefly as Ghanaian and insisted that identity be recognised, for example by ensuring that her name, which is Ghanaian, be pronounced correctly.</p>
<p>The family plays a crucial role in identity formation. If parents want their children to identify with both sides of the family, they need to ensure that the children spend time with both sides of the family. </p>
<p>Another influence is the extent to which children are accepted by the extended family members. Meghan, who had a Ghanaian father and a Nigerian mother, noted that her mother’s family embraced her far more than the Ghanaian side of the family. Although she was living in Ghana, she barely had any contact with them. She explained, “I find that I relate more to my Nigerian side than the Ghanaian side.” </p>
<p>Fluency in a particular African language was not an important marker of identity for the study participants.</p>
<p>Our study also found that binational individuals drew upon their secondary identity either explicitly to achieve some purpose or implicitly for its intrinsic value.</p>
<p>About half of the sample had drawn on their secondary identity to access something practical, like tertiary education or employment. In simple terms, even if they didn’t feel strongly Nigerian (for example) they might use that identity to get a place at a university. </p>
<p>The other half of the sample drew on their secondary identity for non-essential – more cultural – purposes. Usually this was in making choices about things like food, clothing and music. Another purpose was more personal – such as the name the individual chose to use.</p>
<h2>Why the insights are useful</h2>
<p>Identities are fluid and people weave in and out of them. If you feel Nigerian at your core then you embrace all aspects of “Nigerianness”, including music, food and so on. If being Nigerian is your secondary identity, you see value in claiming it sometimes even if it is for instrumental reasons.</p>
<p>We found individuals with binational identity were able to shift between their primary and secondary identity quite frequently, sometimes daily. </p>
<p>A society’s culture informs identity – but so do individuals.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215372/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Primary identities are foundational and serve as the core part of an individual’s identity.
Akosua Keseboa Darkwah, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Ghana
Geraldine Asiwome Ampah, Senior Lecturer of Sociology, University of Ghana
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/216896
2023-11-02T03:48:42Z
2023-11-02T03:48:42Z
Is a terrorist’s win in the High Court bad for national security? Not necessarily
<p>Yesterday, Abdul Nacer Benbrika, perhaps Australia’s most notorious convicted terrorist, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/nov/01/abdul-nacer-benbrika-australian-citizenship-convicted-terrorist-wins-high-court-battle">won in the High Court</a>. </p>
<p>A six-one majority of the court <a href="https://eresources.hcourt.gov.au/showCase/2023/HCA/33">struck down</a> a ministerial power to revoke the Australian citizenship of certain terrorist offenders. </p>
<p>Benbrika’s citizenship had been revoked as a result of his <a href="https://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/vic/VSC/2009/21.html">conviction</a> in 2008 of a range of terrorism offences, including directing the activities of a terrorist organisation for which he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. </p>
<p>Following the court’s decision, Benbrika remains an Australian citizen. So will he go free? And what does this mean for national security?</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/should-new-australians-have-to-pass-an-english-test-to-become-citizens-175324">Should new Australians have to pass an English test to become citizens?</a>
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<h2>Unconstitutional punishment</h2>
<p>This was not the first time the High Court had stopped the minister for home affairs revoking the citizenship of someone involved in terrorism. </p>
<p>Delil Alexander was a dual citizen of Australia (by birth) and Turkey (by descent) when he entered Syria in 2013 with the terrorist organisation ISIS. </p>
<p>In 2021, the minister revoked Alexander’s Australian citizenship because Alexander had engaged in certain terrorist conduct which demonstrated he had “repudiated his allegiance to Australia”.</p>
<p>Revoking his citizenship was, the minister reasoned, in the public interest. </p>
<p>At that time, Alexander was in prison in Syria and could not be contacted by his family or lawyers. His sister, Berivan, challenged the citizenship-stripping law on his behalf and <a href="https://www.hcourt.gov.au/cases/case_s103-2021">won the case</a>. </p>
<p>In Benbrika’s case, the situation was a little different. </p>
<p>Unlike Alexander, Benbrika (a dual national with Algeria) had actually been convicted of terrorism offences, which gave the minister a basis on which to strip his Australian citizenship. </p>
<p>Yet the court’s reasons for striking down the citizenship-stripping powers were similar in the two cases. </p>
<p>First, the court acknowledged that loss of one’s citizenship is at least as serious as detention. </p>
<p>Second, the court interpreted the law as being designed to punish the person for their conduct. </p>
<p>Under the separation of powers, which the Constitution protects, imposing punishments for wrongdoing is generally the work of courts and should follow a criminal trial and finding of guilt. </p>
<p>In this case, the minister was essentially – and unconstitutionally – trying to go around the courts by punishing these individuals outside the criminal process. </p>
<h2>What now for Benbrika?</h2>
<p>The consequence of Alexander remaining an Australian citizen is that it remained Australia’s responsibility to, for instance, take steps to find out where he was, re-establish contact with him, and provide consular assistance. </p>
<p>Alexander may even need to be brought back to Australia where he would be dealt with under our own laws and justice system (it is, after all, a serious federal offence to join ISIS). </p>
<p>Benbrika, on the other hand, has served his sentence for terrorism offences and won his fight to maintain his Australian citizenship. </p>
<p>So will he walk free? Is it only a matter of time before he is radicalising more young people and inciting further hatred and violence?</p>
<p>Whatever lies ahead for Benbrika, it is unlikely to be any sense of freedom. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/as-new-aussie-citizenship-rules-kick-in-the-fair-go-finally-returns-to-trans-tasman-relations-208739">As new Aussie citizenship rules kick in, the ‘fair go’ finally returns to trans-Tasman relations</a>
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<p>Australia has more extensive counterterrorism law than anywhere else in the world. A <a href="https://theconversation.com/before-9-11-australia-had-no-counter-terrorism-laws-now-we-have-92-but-are-we-safer-166273">recent count</a> put the tally at almost 100 laws enacted since the 9/11 attacks in 2001.</p>
<p>Many of those laws tweak the usual rights given to people as they move through the criminal justice system. </p>
<p>This includes the option of post-sentence imprisonment – “continuing detention orders” – for those who are assessed to pose an unacceptable risk of committing national security offences. </p>
<p>Such an order can be made for up to three years and there are no limits on renewal. </p>
<p>Not only has Benbrika already been subject to those orders but, in 2021, he lodged an unsuccessful High Court <a href="https://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/cth/HCA/2021/4.html?context=0;query=benbrika;mask_path=au/cases/cth/HCA">challenge</a> to those laws. </p>
<p>For as long as Benbrika is assessed to pose an “unacceptable risk” to the community, he will remain in prison. </p>
<p>But what if he satisfies a court that his release no longer poses an unacceptable risk? </p>
<p>Under Victorian law, Benbrika could be subject to an extended “supervision order”, which can be made for up to 15 years (with a possibility of being renewed for a further 15 years). </p>
<p>On top of this are federal “control orders”. </p>
<p>This is the kind of order imposed on <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2007-12-21/hicks-control-order-granted/994358">David Hicks</a> on his return from Guantanamo Bay, and on <a href="https://fedcourt.gov.au/digital-law-library/judges-speeches/speeches-former-judges/justice-marshall/marshall-j-20070906#:%7E:text=Issuing%20of%20the%20Control%20Order,on%20Mr%20Thomas'%20personal%20liberty.">Joseph “Jihad Jack” Thomas</a> after his acquittal for terrorism offences. </p>
<p>Control orders allow for an extremely wide range of restrictions and obligations to be imposed on a person if those conditions are “reasonably necessary, appropriate and adapted” to protecting the community from terrorism. </p>
<p>Control orders last for up to 12 months, but there are no limits on their renewal.</p>
<p>Under a supervision order or control order, Benbrika could be required to:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>stay at a certain address</p></li>
<li><p>be subject to curfews (even amounting to home detention) </p></li>
<li><p>wear a tracking device</p></li>
<li><p>not use the internet, a phone or other devices</p></li>
<li><p>not contact certain people or go to certain places </p></li>
<li><p>undertake education, counselling or drug testing </p></li>
<li><p>or any number of other restrictions or obligations deemed necessary for community protection. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Breaching one of these orders is punishable by five years imprisonment. </p>
<h2>But wouldn’t it be better to deport him?</h2>
<p>There is a symbolic attraction to taking away the citizenship of someone who has acted in a way that shows no allegiance to – and even a violent disregard for – Australia and basic community values. </p>
<p>Indeed, the one judge who upheld the citizenship-stripping laws, Justice Simon Steward, did so on the basis that citizenship-stripping was not designed to punish. </p>
<p>Instead, he argued it was merely an acknowledgement that the person themselves had severed their ties to Australia.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-does-being-australian-mean-under-the-constitution-38889">What does 'being Australian' mean under the Constitution?</a>
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<p>A <a href="https://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/2771452/11-Pillai-and-Williams.pdf">study</a> looking at counterterrorism citizenship-stripping in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia found the laws were serving this symbolic role. </p>
<p>But symbolism is a thin shield for national security. </p>
<p>When it comes to actually protecting security, the evidence shows that citizenship-stripping comes up short. </p>
<p>People have been stripped of their citizenship and committed terrorist acts elsewhere. Khaled Sharrouf, Australia’s most notorious foreign fighter, is one such person. </p>
<p>In a globalised world, people stripped of citizenship can still serve a pivotal role in recruitment and radicalisation, especially on the internet. </p>
<p>Kept in Australia, as an Australian, the full weight of our vast security laws can be brought to bear on Benbrika. </p>
<p>Stripped of his citizenship, Benbrika would have been beyond the reach of those laws, and it would be naïve to think that simply making him not-Australian would negate the risks he may present.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216896/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Ananian-Welsh does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Convicted terrorist Abdul Nacer Benbrika yesterday won the right to remain an Australian citizen. So will he go free? And what does this mean for national security?
Rebecca Ananian-Welsh, Associate Professor, TC Beirne School of Law, The University of Queensland
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/205384
2023-05-28T20:06:27Z
2023-05-28T20:06:27Z
Far from undermining democracy, The Voice will pluralise and enrich Australia’s democratic conversation
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527618/original/file-20230523-23-trurlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cheryl Axleby reads the Uluru Statement from the Heart outside South Australia’s Parliament in Adelaide on March 26, after SA becomes the first state to legislate for an Indigenous Voice.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matt Turner/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Does the proposal for a Voice to Parliament prefigure a distinctive conception of democracy for Australia? A steady drumbeat of criticism to date has been that it will, instead, undermine our liberal democratic institutions.</p>
<p>One version of this concern is that an Indigenous Voice violates the principle of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/02/liberals-accused-of-flirting-with-far-right-fringe-after-sky-news-show-where-indigenous-voice-compared-to-apartheid">equal citizenship</a> and equality before the law. Another is that it introduces a divisive form of <a href="https://www.cis.org.au/commentary/opinion/voice-a-dagger-to-the-heart-of-liberalism/">racial politics</a> into our public life. Some claim it will have little impact on improving the lives of Indigenous people. Yet others say it will have <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7w7tgDccx0">too much power</a>. </p>
<p>A significant part of the debate has been carried out — so far, at least — in a negative tone, and even by some of its supporters. The focus has been on what the Voice won’t do and what its limits are, and less about what it can do. </p>
<p>Of course, the Yes campaign is only just beginning. And there have been powerful statements of support from different sections of the community. State governments, sporting codes, companies, and community organisations have expressed their support in various ways. </p>
<p>However, I want to place the proposal for a Voice into a broader context of democratic innovation and renewal. Taken in isolation, claims about whether the Voice should make “representations” only to Parliament, or also to “executive government”, can seem rather arcane and confusing. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-voice-isnt-apartheid-or-a-veto-over-parliament-this-misinformation-is-undermining-democratic-debate-205474">The Voice isn't apartheid or a veto over parliament – this misinformation is undermining democratic debate</a>
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<p>Concerns about judicial activism and the rule of law, detached from a broader account of how the interplay between law and politics works in a representative democracy, can be <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-happens-if-the-government-goes-against-the-advice-of-the-voice-to-parliament-200517">misleading</a>. We are not, for example, as a result of the Voice, on the verge of a massive transfer of power to the High Court, as just about every credible legal commentator has made clear. </p>
<p>The American democratic theorist <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/dewey/">John Dewey</a> said that “the public is a collective called forth by experience of common problems”. </p>
<p>And the way that democratic societies deal with common problems is through public conversation — through what political theorists call “public reasoning”. </p>
<p>The Australian public is being called forth through the referendum process to address the unresolved status of Indigenous peoples in our body politic. We need a richer account of democracy within which to locate the proposal for a Voice to raise the quality of our debate about it. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527613/original/file-20230523-17381-3mo8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527613/original/file-20230523-17381-3mo8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527613/original/file-20230523-17381-3mo8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527613/original/file-20230523-17381-3mo8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527613/original/file-20230523-17381-3mo8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527613/original/file-20230523-17381-3mo8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527613/original/file-20230523-17381-3mo8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527613/original/file-20230523-17381-3mo8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney and Australian Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus react after the introduction of the bill to establish an Aboriginal and Torres Strat Islander Voice in the House of Representatives.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lukas Coch/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Distinctive qualities</h2>
<p>What is distinctive about the Voice is both its democratic pedigree and its democratic character. Although there are reasonable questions about how much more democratic it could have been, the emergence of the proposal for the Voice from community led dialogues across Australia lends it strong democratic credence. </p>
<p>And at the heart of it is a mechanism for improving the quality of decision making about matters that affect Indigenous peoples. </p>
<p>The desire to anchor the Voice in the constitution is intended both to protect it from being subject to the whims of electoral politics, and to mark the special place Indigenous peoples have in our history. </p>
<p>There is both a forward looking and remedial aspect to this form of recognition. Given the persistent gap in life prospects between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples over decades, we know our existing institutions are not working. But equally, given the complexity of these issues, and the ongoing legacies of colonial dispossession, we need to find ways to keep working through these challenges together. </p>
<p>The proposal is also unique globally. In Canada, <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/index.html">the Constitution Act of 1982</a> recognised “existing” Aboriginal treaty rights, resulting in a long march through the courts to figure out exactly what that means. In the United States, the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/enrd/timeline-event/federal-trust-doctrine-first-described-supreme-court">“domestic dependent</a> nation status of Indian nations, formulated by the Supreme Court in the 19th century, has meant, again, that the courts have led the conversation. In New Zealand, the establishment of the <a href="https://www.waitangitribunal.govt.nz/treaty-of-waitangi/">Waitangi Tribunal</a> (a commission of inquiry, chaired by a judge) and reserved parliamentary seats for Maori, has resulted in a very different kind of political process for resolving purported breaches of the treaty. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/history-and-myth-why-the-treaty-of-waitangi-remains-such-a-bloody-difficult-subject-202038">History and myth: why the Treaty of Waitangi remains such a ‘bloody difficult subject’</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The proposed Voice to Parliament, on the other hand, is seeking to anchor Indigenous perspectives in the constitution, but also at the heart of our democratic institutions. </p>
<p>So, what is the best way of conceiving of the kind of democracy that I think the Voice is calling for? </p>
<p>One of the fundamental values underpinning democracy is political equality. But what kind of political equality? The idea of equality appealed to by many critics of the Voice is too simplistic. Often, it’s a claim that equal treatment means the <em>same</em> treatment, in every circumstance. </p>
<p>But our legal and political institutions already make sense of equality in much richer ways. To treat someone equally requires that we answer at least two further questions: equal in what respect? And to what extent do their circumstances require further consideration in figuring out how to treat them equally?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527617/original/file-20230523-14061-5n2cn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527617/original/file-20230523-14061-5n2cn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527617/original/file-20230523-14061-5n2cn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527617/original/file-20230523-14061-5n2cn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527617/original/file-20230523-14061-5n2cn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527617/original/file-20230523-14061-5n2cn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527617/original/file-20230523-14061-5n2cn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527617/original/file-20230523-14061-5n2cn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">What is the best way of conceiving of the kind of democracy that the Voice is calling for?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lukas Koch/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are two elements to what I’ll call <em>democratic</em> political equality. </p>
<p>The first are those rights that citizens need to protect them from the harms that both the state and society can do. These include the classic protections of freedom of assembly, of religion, of speech, of property and bodily integrity. </p>
<p>The second element, however, and too often neglected, is the positive freedoms associated with participation in public life. We can only ever truly secure our freedoms when we share equally in the power being exercised over us. Citizens need to have the opportunity to shape the laws to which they are subject; in short, they must be empowered. </p>
<p>Most importantly, as leading democratic theorists such as Jurgen Habermas and Danielle Allen have argued, these public and private freedoms are mutually dependent: you can’t fully realise one without the other. Thus democracy, on this reading, is instrumentally valuable — it protects us from harms and enables us to pursue our own interests. But it is also intrinsically valuable — it helps us lead better lives by empowering us to shape the society within which we live. </p>
<h2>‘Public reasoning’</h2>
<p>Another aspect underpinning the kind of democracy the Voice is calling for is what I referred to above as "public reasoning”. Put simply, in a democracy, you solve problems through public conversation. But the terms of these conversations — who participates and how, as well as the kinds of reasons one can or shouldn’t appeal to — matter. </p>
<p>It’s not that citizens engage as if they were in a philosophy seminar, or in a court of law. Rather, it’s that we agree to resolve our disagreements, or continue to live with them, as best we can, through dialogue. These conversations will often be difficult and frustrating, as well as incomplete and disorienting. But the spirit driving them, ultimately, must be one of mutual respect and persuasion, rather than the exercise of arbitrary power. </p>
<p>However, citizens are unequally positioned relative to each other in terms of how they can participate in these public conversations. Hence why the positive freedoms I mentioned above are so important to secure. </p>
<p>Some have more access to resources than others. Some are more eloquent or forceful than others. Majority cultures tend to shape public discussions and institutions in both explicit and implicit ways that can disadvantage minorities.</p>
<p>Thus, we need to design democratic institutions so that they are responsive to the deep pluralism of our society. We need to multiply the ways in which diverse citizens and groups can participate in public debate and policy making. This cuts against technocratic forms of rule, as well as rule by simply majority. </p>
<p>I think this is the best interpretation of what “making representations” to parliament and the executive in the draft constitutional amendment means and why it should be preserved. It’s about creating a mechanism for pluralising and enriching Australia’s democratic conversation. It’s not about identity politics. It’s not intended as a conversation stopper. </p>
<p>Finally, this way of conceiving of democracy should shape our conception of democratic citizenship. It’s not simply a legal status, and nor is it mainly about voting and obeying the law. Instead, citizenship becomes a richer, more capacious ideal. </p>
<p>According to this richer ideal, democratic citizenship also involves the development of forms of self-awareness and self-formation through a wide range of deliberations about our existing institutions. Our sense of common interests, for example, can expand as we encounter new claims, or re-interpretations of existing ones, that we were previously unaware of. Pluralising public reason creates room for democratic innovation. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527608/original/file-20230523-23-qpdoyq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527608/original/file-20230523-23-qpdoyq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527608/original/file-20230523-23-qpdoyq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527608/original/file-20230523-23-qpdoyq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527608/original/file-20230523-23-qpdoyq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527608/original/file-20230523-23-qpdoyq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1113&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527608/original/file-20230523-23-qpdoyq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1113&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527608/original/file-20230523-23-qpdoyq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1113&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Deva Woodly, in her <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/reckoning-9780197603956?cc=au&lang=en&#">brilliant analysis</a> of the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement, uses the analogy of “swailing” — or what we know as the Aboriginal land management practice of “<a href="https://theconversation.com/painting-with-fire-how-northern-australia-developed-one-of-the-worlds-best-bushfire-management-programs-205113">cool burning</a>” — to analogise the kind of renewal that social movements generate for fragile democratic environments. </p>
<p>Woodly points out how these movements draw out the contradictions between ideals and political realities, and demonstrate that democracy is always an incomplete process. The social movements that have led to the Uluru statement — going back over decades — have provided a kind of democratic cool burning for Australian public discourse. </p>
<h2>Democratic all the way down</h2>
<p>In proposing a new mechanism for enhancing Indigenous voices in our political institutions, the Voice is appealing to the interdependence between public and private freedoms, as well as the value of government through public reasoning. </p>
<p>Note that framing the Voice in this way also offers us a means of assessing how best to design and implement the details, if the constitutional amendment is approved. </p>
<p>Democratic values cut in both directions. The way that local and regional Indigenous communities select and engage with their Voice representatives, as well as those in Canberra, will be critical. </p>
<p>The norms that govern those processes will need to reflect the broader democratic intent of the Voice. The <a href="https://ncq.org.au/resources/indigenous-voice-co-design-process-final-report-to-australian-government/#:%7E:text=The%20Indigenous%20Voice%20Co%2Ddesign,the%20Australian%20Government%20and%20Parliament.">final report</a> of the Indigenous co-design process is a good place to start for exploring these different possibilities. </p>
<p>Let’s return to some of the criticisms we began with: Is the Voice introducing division where there is unity, racial categories where there is neutrality, and inequality where there is equality? I think the answer is clearly no. </p>
<p>First, the social, economic, and political baseline we are starting from is radically unequal. Almost everyone agrees that the gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders’ wellbeing and that of the rest of the population is shameful. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/first-nations-people-in-the-nt-receive-just-16-of-the-medicare-funding-of-an-average-australian-183210">First Nations people in the NT receive just 16% of the Medicare funding of an average Australian</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Second, it’s not Indigenous people who have insisted on introducing racial categories into our politics, but rather successive Australian governments and the legal and political institutions that arose from settlement. It was the High Court, after all, that drew on the Racial Discrimination Act, among other sources, to remove long entrenched legal obstacles to the recognition of native title in <a href="https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/mabo-case">Mabo</a>. </p>
<p>And it was the Australian government that suspended the application of that act when it legislated the Northern Territory “<a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/social-justice-report-2007-chapter-3-northern-territory-emergency-response-intervention">Intervention</a>” in 2007. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527616/original/file-20230523-27-3hohcr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527616/original/file-20230523-27-3hohcr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527616/original/file-20230523-27-3hohcr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527616/original/file-20230523-27-3hohcr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527616/original/file-20230523-27-3hohcr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527616/original/file-20230523-27-3hohcr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527616/original/file-20230523-27-3hohcr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527616/original/file-20230523-27-3hohcr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 2008 protest march in Sydney against the NT Intervention. The Australian government suspended the application of the Racial Discrimination Act when it legislated for the Intervention.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dean Lewins/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Race, in other words, has been a primary tool of the state over many years, not the social movements that have sought justice for Aboriginal people. The Voice isn’t a proposal for reintroducing racial categories into our civic identity, despite what <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-22/peter-dutton-says-indigenous-voice-will-re-racialise-the-country/102378700">Peter Dutton</a> recently claimed. In fact, quite the opposite: it is an attempt to reconfigure that identity so that it no longer reflects the racial injustices of the past (and the present). </p>
<p>This democratic framing can also help us think through a deep criticism of the Voice from the left. Some have argued that nothing less than a treaty, rather than a deliberative body, is required to fully disrupt the colonial edifice of the Australian state. The Voice, on this reading, is a form of entrapment; it naturalises settler law and the colonial political order. </p>
<p>However, if we see the constitutional recognition of an Indigenous Voice in democratic terms (and assuming it can indeed reflect the diverse voices of Indigenous peoples), then it offers a practical way of working through these profound questions. </p>
<p>The Uluru statement is, after all, rooted in a claim of continuing sovereignty. Nothing about the referendum process requires a repudiation of that.</p>
<p>However, the establishment of a constitutionally recognised deliberative body puts in place a mechanism for an ongoing conversation between peoples that could, over time, reconfigure these relations.</p>
<p>It offers a means for enlarging and deepening our public reasoning about not only the consequences of the past, but our collective aspirations for the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205384/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Duncan Ivison has received funding from the Australian Research Council for projects related to the themes of this article. </span></em></p>
We need a richer account of democracy within which to locate the Voice, to lift the quality of public debate about it.
Duncan Ivison, Professor of Political Philosophy, University of Sydney
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/202352
2023-05-18T20:01:51Z
2023-05-18T20:01:51Z
‘Habits of civilised life’: how one state forced Indigenous people to meet onerous conditions to obtain citizenship
<p><em>Note of warning: This article refers to deceased Aboriginal people, their words, names and images. Words attributed to them and images in the article are already in the public domain. Also, historical language is used in this article that may cause offence. Individuals and communities should be warned that they may read or see things in this article that could cause distress.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>In the breakthrough High Court case <a href="https://www.hcourt.gov.au/cases/case_b43-2018">Love and Thoms vs Commonwealth</a> in 2020, the court ruled that First Nations people could not be considered aliens in Australia. As Justice James Edelman noted in the decision,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>whatever the other manners in which they were treated […] Aboriginal people were not ‘considered as foreigners in a kingdom which is their own’.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yet, in my upcoming book with historian Kate Bagnall, I look at how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were long denied the rights of citizenship in their own land due to discriminatory laws – perhaps no more so than in Western Australia.</p>
<p>Until the 1970s, Western Australia still forced Aboriginal people to “dissolve tribal and native associations” and “adopt the manner and habits of civilised life” for two years before they could apply for citizenship under the state’s <a href="https://aiatsis.gov.au/sites/default/files/docs/digitised_collections/remove/52766.pdf">Natives (Citizenship Rights) Act 1944</a></p>
<p>Western Australia had <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Birthright-Citizens-History-Antebellum-America/dp/1316604721?asin=1316604721&revisionId=&format=4&depth=1.">copied</a> racially discriminatory provisions on citizenship from the United States, specifically the outdated 1918 US Federal Code, with strong echoes of the notorious “<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/birthright-citizenship-was-won-freed-slaves/574498/">Black Laws</a>” from the early 1800s.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526732/original/file-20230517-17-luw1sy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526732/original/file-20230517-17-luw1sy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=957&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526732/original/file-20230517-17-luw1sy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=957&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526732/original/file-20230517-17-luw1sy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=957&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526732/original/file-20230517-17-luw1sy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1202&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526732/original/file-20230517-17-luw1sy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1202&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526732/original/file-20230517-17-luw1sy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1202&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A letter from a WA government official to the US consul in Perth in 1943, seeking input on US government citizenship policies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">State Records Office of Western Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As Garth Nettheim and Larissa Behrendt note in the 2010 edition of Laws of Australia, the Western Australian law “throughout its life was inconsistent with the Commonwealth legislation” and therefore unlawful. </p>
<p>This is because, from the time of federation, nationality and citizenship were matters for federal, not state law. </p>
<p>Under British law that had remained <a href="http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/AJLH/2004/8.html">unchanged since the 17th century</a>, all Aboriginal Australians were already considered British subjects under colonial rule. And in 1948, the Nationality and Citizenship Act gave citizenship to all Australians previously deemed British subjects, including Aboriginal people.</p>
<p>Noongar activists knew they were already citizens under the laws imposed by white settlers and called for the rights and protections that should have been granted to them. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/abdullah-george-cyril-12117">George Abdullah</a>, founder of the Aboriginal Advancement Council of WA and president of the Aboriginal Rights Council, said in 1962: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Full Australian citizenship was the natives’ birthright, but even the most degraded white Australian had more rights than the native. To deprive a person of civil rights was to destroy his self-esteem and his incentive to become a responsible citizen. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Abdullah displayed the same resolve to achieve equal human rights for Aboriginal people that is evident more than 60 years later in the drive for a Voice to Parliament. He declared:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We are demanding freedom from restrictive legislation, with equal rights and opportunities as our white brothers and sisters, and then we can join them in developing a greater Australia. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Citizenship hearings more akin to criminal trials</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526737/original/file-20230517-25-1nqed9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526737/original/file-20230517-25-1nqed9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1055&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526737/original/file-20230517-25-1nqed9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1055&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526737/original/file-20230517-25-1nqed9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1055&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526737/original/file-20230517-25-1nqed9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1326&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526737/original/file-20230517-25-1nqed9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1326&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526737/original/file-20230517-25-1nqed9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1326&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A racist cartoon from the Daily News in Perth from 1944.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">State Records Office of Western Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For over a century, Australian states enforced so-called “<a href="https://aiatsis.gov.au/collection/featured-collections/remove-and-protect">protection laws</a>” controlling every aspect of the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. These laws led to the forcible removal of Indigenous children from their homes and controlled everything from where people lived and worked to their personal relationships and contacts with family and community. </p>
<p>But only Western Australia added citizenship legislation as well, peddling the lie that Aboriginal people had to apply under state law to become “Australian citizens”. Consistent with the national policy of assimilation at the time, one white MP told the state parliament in 1944 that citizenship was an “inspirational measure” for “de-tribalised natives” who lived according to “white standards”. </p>
<p>Government ministers in Western Australia wilfully disregarded the laws of the Commonwealth in setting up this discriminatory system. When introducing the Natives (Citizenship Rights) bill to state parliament in September 1944, A.M. Coverley, the minister for the North-West, claimed, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The main principle underlying the bill is to provide an opportunity for adult natives to apply for full citizenship as Australians.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526937/original/file-20230518-27-1lp7i5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526937/original/file-20230518-27-1lp7i5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=877&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526937/original/file-20230518-27-1lp7i5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=877&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526937/original/file-20230518-27-1lp7i5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=877&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526937/original/file-20230518-27-1lp7i5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1103&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526937/original/file-20230518-27-1lp7i5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1103&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526937/original/file-20230518-27-1lp7i5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1103&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A.M. Coverley, WA parliamentarian.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After the law was passed, “citizenship” hearings in Western Australia were more like criminal trials, held before a police magistrate with local police as witnesses. Aboriginal applicants suffered the humiliation of intrusive medical examinations and personal inspections of their homes. </p>
<p>The magistrate had to be satisfied the applicant was “of good behaviour and reputation” and “reasonably capable of managing his own affairs”. In addition, applicants had to be “able to speak and understand the English language” and could not be suffering from “active leprosy, syphilis, granuloma or yaws”. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/long-before-the-voice-vote-the-australian-aboriginal-progressive-association-called-for-parliamentary-representation-198064">Long before the Voice vote, the Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association called for parliamentary representation</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Some Aboriginal residents in WA refused to take part in the intrusive process.</p>
<p>In 1954, for example, Noongar man George Howard, who described himself as “a Native and […] proud of that fact”, addressed a Rotary luncheon at the Savoy Hotel, Perth. His very presence in the hotel contravened a state prohibition on “natives” entering licensed premises. As Perth’s Daily News pointed out, “he could get full legal rights by getting a certificate of citizenship”. But as Howard <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/266248532?searchTerm=Native%20breaks%20law%20to%20talk%20on%20law">told the audience</a>, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>to get this certificate, I must pay fees and undergo personal investigation by a board, with the end result of being told I am what I am – a natural-born Australian. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Others who went through the process were mysteriously denied, even if they satisfied all of the requirements. In 1955, Noongar man Jack Shandley, head stockman at Gogo Station near Fitzroy Crossing, travelled 300 kilometres to the Derby magistrates court, declaring he wanted “to be Australian and be free to travel”. However, his application was refused, with no reason given.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526735/original/file-20230517-27-clvfrg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526735/original/file-20230517-27-clvfrg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526735/original/file-20230517-27-clvfrg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526735/original/file-20230517-27-clvfrg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526735/original/file-20230517-27-clvfrg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526735/original/file-20230517-27-clvfrg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526735/original/file-20230517-27-clvfrg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A blank copy of a certificate of citizenship form.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">State Records Office of Western Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-1881-maloga-petition-a-call-for-self-determination-and-a-key-moment-on-the-path-to-the-voice-197796">The 1881 Maloga petition: a call for self-determination and a key moment on the path to the Voice</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A certificate akin to a 'dog tag’</h2>
<p>Even successful applicants faced increased racial harassment, not least being targeted as potential suppliers of liquor. In 1947, for instance, Police Constable C.H. Brown observed suspicious activity on Wellington Street in Perth:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I saw the native, Sport Charles Jones, holder of the certificate of citizenship No. 152 walking across the street from the direction of the Imperial Hotel. He was carrying two bottles bearing labels, which appeared to be Emu Bitter Beer Labels.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Jones was convicted and “fined £4 with 4/6 costs” for supplying beer to a “native”.</p>
<p>Aboriginal Australians derided their “certificate of citizenship” as a derogatory <a href="http://www.noongarculture.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/IntroductiontoNoongarCultureforweb.pdf">“dog licence” or “dog tag”</a>. In 2002, Wongutha man Leo Thomas told the Federal Court:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>When I was about 21 years old […] the football team would go drinking, but if I was caught getting a beer at a hotel my mate would be fined […] The president of the football club asked for me one day they said that we have to go to court […] so they ended up giving me the citizenship rights […] a little black book […] the dog collar, I used to call it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Even former soldiers in the Australian armed forces had to show their citizenship “dog tag” to get a drink in a WA pub. </p>
<p>James Brennan enlisted in the army in 1940 and was one of the “Rats of Tobruk” in the second world war, a group of Australian forces who held the Libyan port of Tobruk against German-Italian forces. But as his son-in-law later <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-17/aboriginal-stockman-turned-guerrilla-fighter/7934792">related</a> to the ABC, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>When he came back from war […] he had to get a citizenship right to go into pubs […] He fought for the country and when he came back home, he couldn’t go into any hotel to get a drink.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"787868948800737280"}"></div></p>
<h2>Why truth-telling matters</h2>
<p>Courts and policymakers are still making decisions about the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples without full knowledge of Indigenous histories and how they continue to affect people today. In our forthcoming book, I argue that even Australia’s highest court has presented a misleading, “whitewashed” view of the history of Indigenous belonging since 1788. </p>
<p>The Voice to Parliament – and the broader goals being sought under the Uluru Statement from the Heart – now offer Australia a chance to confront its history and construct a more inclusive narrative of nationhood. </p>
<p>This history should address the ways in which Australia’s First Peoples were refused equal citizenship and denied the rights and protections that should have accompanied that status. Western Australia’s citizenship law must not be forgotten – it’s an integral part of this story.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202352/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
For nearly 30 years, Western Australia peddled the lie that Aboriginal people had to apply under state law to become ‘Australian citizens’.
Peter Prince, Affiliate of the University of Sydney Law School, University of Sydney
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/200509
2023-03-21T19:53:15Z
2023-03-21T19:53:15Z
Declining naturalizations signal larger problems in Canada’s citizenship and immigration system
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514559/original/file-20230309-18-j31o82.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=310%2C413%2C8316%2C5328&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Reports about declining naturalizations belie the historical and political obstacles that prevent many migrants from becoming citizens. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/declining-naturalizations-signal-larger-problems-in-canada-s-citizenship-and-immigration-system" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>A <a href="https://inclusion.ca/article/newcomers-falling-out-of-love-with-canadian-citizenship/">recent press release</a> from the Institute for Canadian Citizenship that cites <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-626-x/11-626-x2019015-eng.htm">Statistics Canada data</a> has highlighted concerns over a 40 per cent reduction in Canada’s “<a href="https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/as-sa/98-200-X/2021008/98-200-X2021008-eng.cfm">naturalization rate</a>” — the rate at which <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/new-immigrants/pr-card/understand-pr-status.html">permanent residents</a> are becoming citizens.</p>
<p>The release, headlined <em>Newcomers falling out of love with Canadian citizenship</em> generated a number of <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-percentage-of-permanent-residents-becoming-canadian-citizens-in/">other</a> media <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/percentage-of-permanent-residents-becoming-canadian-citizens-in-decline-statcan-data-1.6274463">headlines</a>.</p>
<p>Concerns over how and whether those living and working in Canada are attaining citizenship and important rights — including to vote and run for office — are of course well placed. But love of country by immigrants is not the primary problem.</p>
<p>Individual choices and sentiments are a relevant factor, but there are observable structural explanations. Beyond Canada’s control, not all countries permit dual citizenship. That includes major source countries <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/221026/g-a005-eng.htm">China and India</a> where many immigrants to Canada are from. It is understandable that some permanent residents prefer not to renounce the citizenship of their country of origin. </p>
<p>But within Canada’s control, there are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12762">troubling shifts</a> in our overall citizenship and immigration model. Inequalities connected to its <a href="https://theconversation.com/not-in-the-past-colonialism-is-rooted-in-the-present-157395">colonial nature</a> have left growing numbers of residents without citizenship or even a pathway to it.</p>
<p>Annual immigration levels, for example, only represent those accepted as permanent residents and obscure the number of those admitted to Canada under less secure conditions.</p>
<p>This has occurred thanks to under-discussed but at times <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07078552.2021.2000209">controversial shifts</a> from permanent to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12976">temporary or multi-step migration</a>. </p>
<p>These shifts can be obscured by focusing primarily on the naturalization process and the sentiments some attach to it rather than the larger settler colonial landscape of migration and immigration and its relationship to citizenship and belonging at each stage.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514558/original/file-20230309-18-5wmidx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of people raise their right hands and they take an oath." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514558/original/file-20230309-18-5wmidx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514558/original/file-20230309-18-5wmidx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514558/original/file-20230309-18-5wmidx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514558/original/file-20230309-18-5wmidx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514558/original/file-20230309-18-5wmidx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514558/original/file-20230309-18-5wmidx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514558/original/file-20230309-18-5wmidx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People take the citizenship oath during a ceremony at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Unkept promises and unlearned lessons</h2>
<p>In recent years, Canada <a href="https://utorontopress.com/9781442611689/reconciling-canada/">has apologized</a> for past discriminatory immigration measures and its treatment of Indigenous Peoples. And there have been recent symbolic advances recognizing First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities and Canadians’ treaty responsibilities in the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/2021/06/canadas-oath-of-citizenship-now-recognizes-first-nations-inuit-and-metis-rights.html">citizenship oath</a>. </p>
<p>However, social exclusions in modern forms related to the project of Canadian nation-building, citizenship and belonging persist. They are even intensifying in important respects.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://yellowheadinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/TRC-Report-12.15.2022-Yellowhead-Institute-min.pdf">recent report from the Yellowhead Institute</a> found that, despite an expressed <a href="https://liberal.ca/liberals-call-for-full-implementation-of-truth-and-reconciliation-commission-recommendations/">commitment to fully implement</a> the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/british-columbians-our-governments/indigenous-people/aboriginal-peoples-documents/calls_to_action_english2.pdf">94 Calls to Action</a>, the Federal government has only fulfilled 13, with those providing symbolic rather than structural remedies.</p>
<p>This example is indicative of why many Indigenous people — <a href="https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=res&dir=rec/part/APRC/vot_rights&document=p4&lang=e">themselves denied the vote for much of Canada’s history</a> — understandably view Canadian citizenship as, at best, a “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53529-6_9">kinder, gentler form of colonialism</a>.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.indigenouswatchdog.org/">These realities</a> also remind us that the terms and hierarchies of citizenship and societal membership in Canada <a href="https://utorontopress.com/9781487550769/canadian-club/">shift over time</a>. They are subject to <a href="https://migrantrights.ca/statusforallprinciples/">social struggle</a>. And apologies and symbolic advancements do not relegate mistreatment to the past. </p>
<h2>Hierarchies of belonging persist</h2>
<p>“White Canada” immigration policies that <a href="https://doi.org/10.3138/9781442602496-003">favoured European immigrants and largely excluded those from elsewhere</a> were in place until the 1960s. </p>
<p>These entrenched <a href="https://utorontopress.com/9781442691520/exalted-subjects/">institutional and demographic dominance by white settlers</a>. Europeans immigrating to Canada in earlier periods had ready access to permanent residence and eventual citizenship, unlike many of their contemporary racialized counterparts.</p>
<p>Institutional racism continues to be felt in the country’s <a href="https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/ircc/documents/pdf/english/corporate/reports-statistics/evaluations/r8-2020-racism-summary-eng.pdf">immigration system</a> and political life as tiers of citizenship and belonging continue to be practiced in old and new forms.</p>
<p>Canada adopted official multiculturalism in 1971, yet two years later it <a href="https://utorontopress.com/9780802048837/home-economics/">entrenched migrant worker programs</a>, primarily for racialized workers from the Global South. As with <a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19s-impact-on-migrant-workers-adds-urgency-to-calls-for-permanent-status-148237">past exclusions, these workers still</a> have to navigate programs and realities that prevent or make it difficult for them to access permanent residence and citizenship.</p>
<p>This is particularly the case for those working in what are deemed to be “low skill” positions. Many such workers become “<a href="https://irpp.org/research-studies/permanently-temporary/">permanently temporary</a>” despite ongoing demands for their labour.</p>
<p>Today, Canada’s political institutions are still disproportionately composed of <a href="https://ici.radio-canada.ca/info/2021/elections-federales/minorites-visibles-diversite-autochtones-racises-candidats-politique/en">men of primarily European descent</a>. And they continue to set and enforce problematic terms of citizenship and societal membership. </p>
<h2>Today’s more difficult pathways to citizenship</h2>
<p>Today’s immigrants — who mostly come from the Global South — face a system of complex <a href="https://irpp.org/wp-content/uploads/assets/research/diversity-immigration-and-integration/the-impact-of-precarious-legal-status-on-immigrants-economic-outcomes/IRPP-Study-no35.pdf">chutes and ladders</a> when it comes to their status in Canada. That system leads many migrants to remain stuck in an immigration purgatory, far away from pathways to permanent residence, let alone citizenship.</p>
<p>Even those often characterized as the perfect immigrants — <a href="https://theconversation.com/canada-identifies-international-students-as-ideal-immigrants-but-supports-are-lacking-191105">international students</a> who pay vast sums that subsidize our post-secondary education system — face <a href="https://www.cicnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/From-Student-to-Immigrant-Multi-step-Pathways-to-Permanent-Residence.pdf">limited and precarious pathways</a> to permanent residence and citizenship. </p>
<p>As economist Armine Yalnizyan <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/podcasts/podcast-borders-belonging/migrant-labour-shortage/">recently noted</a>, today for each person granted the security of permanent residence, there are two migrant workers or international students who have uncertain or no access to permanent status.</p>
<p>This could prove an obstacle to attracting and retaining workers. When it comes to citizenship and societal membership, it hinders inclusion by creating an exploitable class of workers who lack full political and social rights.</p>
<p>In the face of these realities, many migrants, students and workers <a href="https://migrantworkersalliance.org/">are mobilizing</a> to address these exclusions. This includes <a href="https://toronto.citynews.ca/2023/03/19/migrant-worker-rights-rally/">protests</a> in several cities demanding “<a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/anti-racism-day-migrant-workers-status-1.6781298">status for all</a>” to mark the <a href="https://www.un.org/en/observances/end-racism-day">International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516727/original/file-20230321-26-mcbo6b.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of people at a protest carrying signs that read: status for all. A woman in a red shirt speaks into a mic." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516727/original/file-20230321-26-mcbo6b.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516727/original/file-20230321-26-mcbo6b.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516727/original/file-20230321-26-mcbo6b.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516727/original/file-20230321-26-mcbo6b.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516727/original/file-20230321-26-mcbo6b.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516727/original/file-20230321-26-mcbo6b.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516727/original/file-20230321-26-mcbo6b.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A rally for migrant rights in Christie Pits park in Toronto on Sept. 18, 2022, calling on the federal government to extend permanent status to undocumented people.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Holly McKenzie-Sutter</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/canada-must-grant-permanent-immigration-status-to-undocumented-residents-187415">Canada must grant permanent immigration status to undocumented residents</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>To return to the later stages of the process of becoming Canadian by adopting citizenship, under the former <a href="https://policyalternatives.ca/Harper_Record_2008-2015/06-HarperRecord-Carlaw.pdf">Conservative government</a>, citizenship became harder to get and easier to lose by design.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, amidst the last decade’s battles between more exclusionary <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13537113.2022.2145056">Conservative</a> and rhetorically warmer <a href="https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/february-2017/john-mccallums-imprint-at-immigration/">Liberal</a> visions of citizenship, tougher and more expensive procedures than previously existed remain under both.</p>
<p>The costs of applying for citizenship <a href="https://policyalternatives.ca/Harper_Record_2008-2015/06-HarperRecord-Carlaw.pdf">increased significantly</a> under the Conservatives, and have remained prohibitive for many. The Trudeau government has made some positive reforms, such as reversing changes that made it take longer to become a citizen. But it has <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/citizenship-fees-liberal-campaign-promise-pandemic-1.5686395">failed to follow through</a> on its <a href="https://liberal.ca/our-platform/eliminating-citizenship-application-fees-for-permanent-residents/">election promises</a> to eliminate citizenship fees.</p>
<p>One <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/migration/mnaa010">recent study</a> argues that it is likely that fee hikes and tougher, often expensive language requirements negatively impact a significant number of applicants.</p>
<p>Even those who have managed to obtain permanent residency and fulfilled their residency requirements face further “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1468796820965784">boundaries related to management flaws, classed naturalization, and cultural biases</a>.” That means many, particularly refugee claimants and family class immigrants, struggle with the citizenship process.</p>
<p>For those who can reach the end of the process, some find it distasteful to continue to have to <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/supreme-court-wont-hear-oath-to-queen-challenge/article23211504/">declare an enforced oath to a colonial figure</a>, a reminder of the structures and hierarchies discussed in this article. </p>
<p>Given this context, the significant decline in Canada’s naturalization rate should be less surprising, though no less alarming as Canada continues to foster and even intensify inequalities of societal membership in its citizenship and immigration regime.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200509/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Carlaw does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Today’s immigrants — who mostly come from the Global South — face a system of ever more complex chutes and ladders when it comes to their status in Canada.
John Carlaw, Postdoctoral Research Fellow under the Canada Research Chair (CERC) in Migration and Integration Program, Toronto Metropolitan University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/195524
2023-02-28T14:53:22Z
2023-02-28T14:53:22Z
Shamima Begum case shows how little power courts have to check government national security decisions
<p><em>Shamima Begum, who left the UK as a teenager to join Islamic State in Syria, has <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-68372112">lost her latest appeal</a> to have her British citizenship reinstated. This means that Begum, now 24, remains in Syria – though she could appeal again and bring her case to the Supreme Court.</em></p>
<p><em>The Court of Appeal’s decision upheld that of a lower court that specialises in national security cases. This piece, published in February 2023, explains what happened in that decision.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>The Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC), a court that specialises in national security cases, has upheld the home secretary’s decision to cancel Shamima Begum’s citizenship. The 23-year-old was deprived of her citizenship in 2019, four years after leaving the UK aged 15 to join Islamic State in Syria. </p>
<p><a href="http://siac.decisions.tribunals.gov.uk/Documents/Shamima%20Begum%20Judgment%20Summary%20-%2022.02.2023%20(003).pdf">The court found</a> “credible suspicion” that Begum had been trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation, as her lawyers had argued. It also found that there were “arguable breaches of duty” by state authorities in having allowed her to make the journey to Syria. </p>
<p>In its decision, the SIAC states that the case is “about fundamental principles, rights and obligations”. It also says that “the rule of law is non-neogtiable”. But ultimately, national security seems to take precedence over any of these considerations. And the court appears to have very little power to scrutinise the home secretary’s assessment of the security situation.</p>
<p>It is possible that there is overwhelming evidence finding Begum a national security threat that has not been made available to the general public – the SIAC is highly reliant on secret evidence, and has closed judgments (in addition to open ones). But there is a bigger question here about whether specialist national security courts like the SIAC are able to give full and proper consideration to human rights issues. </p>
<p>Begum’s case has divided the British public between those who consider her a terrorist and <a href="https://www.counselmagazine.co.uk/articles/shamima-begum-the-court-of-public-opinion">national security risk</a> and those who see her as a <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/02/23/shamima-begum-ruling-dark-stain-uk-justice-system">trafficking victim</a> whose rights were violated.</p>
<p>Her case will have implications for other minors who are trafficked out of the country. This decision shows that as long as the Home Office says there is a national security threat, that may now trump any questions of human rights of children.</p>
<h2>A controversial court</h2>
<p>The SIAC was initially set up in 1997 mainly as a forum where foreigners could appeal against deportation orders. Later, it took over other national security cases, such as detention of those who could not be deported and cancellation of citizenship. </p>
<p>In its early years, the legal community criticised the SIAC’s use of secret evidence and proceedings which were closed to the public. Many lawyers who served as special advocates at the SIAC <a href="https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v26/n06/brian-barder/on-siac">resigned in protest</a> because they were unhappy with how it operated. </p>
<p>Since then, its procedures have been fine tuned (for example, those who appeal to it have to be given the gist of the evidence against them). Its remit has also expanded to include more immigration and nationality issues. </p>
<p>It is not unusual for the SIAC to disagree with the home secretary on human rights issues. For instance, in a <a href="http://siac.decisions.tribunals.gov.uk/Documents/outcomes/1_OpenJudgment.pdf">2010 case</a>, the court decided that the UK could not deport a number of suspected terrorists to Pakistan, as they faced a real threat of torture there. This was despite the UK receiving diplomatic assurances from Pakistan that they would not be subjected to torture. </p>
<p>However, in recent years it appears that the tide has turned on human rights issues. Higher courts have been steering the SIAC away from reconsidering the secretary of state’s assessment of the country’s national security needs using its own lens. </p>
<p>One example is a <a href="https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2021/1642.html">2021 case</a> where a person was deprived of their citizenship and then denied entry to the UK by the home secretary. The SIAC overturned the home secretary’s decision, so the home secretary appealed. </p>
<p>The court of appeal sided with the home secretary, ruling that the specialist court could not substitute its own evaluation of the interests of national security. </p>
<p>This is remarkably close to the <a href="https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/docs/uksc-2020-0156-judgment.pdf">supreme court’s view in 2022</a> as well in an earlier round of Begum’s case. Here too the supreme court said that on a deprivation appeal, the SIAC is not entitled to re-evaluate the home secretary’s discretion using its own standards of review.</p>
<p>It appears that the SIAC’s power to scrutinise what the home secretary has considered when cancelling a person’s citizenship is very limited. In the absence of proper judicial oversight, it is nearly impossible to correct for (or even know of) any mistake or misuse in a minister’s exercise of power. </p>
<p>Given this background, it is unsurprising that this court is unable to grapple with the complicated issues of trafficking, even while accepting that someone like Begum was likely trafficked.</p>
<p>Where can questions of trafficking and sexual exploitation of minors similar to Begum’s case be heard if not in the SIAC? This latest ruling suggests that whenever national security is involved, important human rights questions will remain unanswered, if they are considered at all.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195524/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Devyani Prabhat received funding from Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) for a research project on British Citizenship. </span></em></p>
This case shows how national security is taking precedence over human rights concerns.
Devyani Prabhat, Professor of Law, University of Bristol
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/196726
2023-02-13T13:24:14Z
2023-02-13T13:24:14Z
What a second-century Roman citizen, Lucian, can teach us about diversity and acceptance
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509024/original/file-20230208-16-u2rw3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C7%2C2309%2C1732&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lucian of Samosata, a high-ranking Roman official.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/lucian-of-samosata-an-assyrian-rhetorician-and-satirist-who-news-photo/526916092?phrase=lucian%20of%20samosata&adppopup=true">Michael Nicholson/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>People who don’t fit the dominant demographic of where they live can often be asked, “Where are you really from?” </p>
<p>In 2017, CNN surveyed about 2,000 people who shared their stories on social media with the hashtag <a href="https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2017/08/opinion/where-im-really-from/">#whereiamreallyfrom</a>. The participants included first- and second-generation immigrants, naturalized individuals and others who were native-born citizens. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://classics.ufl.edu/people/faculty/bozia/">classical studies scholar</a> with a focus on linguistic and cultural diversity in Imperial Greek and Latin literature, I am aware that this question is not a new one.</p>
<p>Take Lucian, a high-ranking Roman official in the second century. Born in Syria, he later chose to be a naturalized Roman. As a non-native speaker of Greek and Latin who, by his own admission, looked different from many people in Greece and Rome, he dealt with <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Lucian-and-His-Roman-Voices-Cultural-Exchanges-and-Conflicts-in-the-Late/Bozia/p/book/9780367870676">issues of ethnicity, language use and social acceptance</a>.</p>
<h2>The Roman world</h2>
<p>The time of the Roman Empire is a unique historical period that, in many respects, can be seen as a lived lesson for issues of diversity and inclusion. By Lucian’s time, the <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/9781631492228">Romans had conquered</a> Spain, France, parts of Germany and Britain, Greece, the North Africa coast and much of the Middle East, among other territories.</p>
<p>As occupiers, they did impose their rule with military means. Still, they accepted their subjects’ differences, granted privileges to several provinces and gave citizenship on a case-by-case basis until A.D. 212, <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-roman-citizenship-9780198148470?cc=us&lang=en&">when everyone was given Roman citizenship</a>.</p>
<p>Their pragmatic aim was to maintain stability and ensure cooperation. The result was a multilingual, multicultural and cosmopolitan empire. People were allowed to retain their ethnicity, language, culture and religion for the most part. Latin was [not imposed except in the army] and administration; Greek was established as the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511627323">language of the educated</a>. </p>
<p>This period could be said to resemble our current times: People traveled, relocated and worked in different parts of the empire. Also, there were scholars and writers who were trilingual and multicultural. For instance, there were African authors who wrote in Latin and <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Apuleius-and-Africa/Lee-Finkelpearl-Graverini/p/book/9780367867157">were also fluent in Greek</a>, and Romans <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0009840X00114982">who were fluent in Greek</a>, too. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509025/original/file-20230208-19-3b8lg7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Page of an old manuscript with writing in Latin." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509025/original/file-20230208-19-3b8lg7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509025/original/file-20230208-19-3b8lg7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=749&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509025/original/file-20230208-19-3b8lg7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=749&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509025/original/file-20230208-19-3b8lg7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=749&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509025/original/file-20230208-19-3b8lg7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=941&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509025/original/file-20230208-19-3b8lg7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=941&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509025/original/file-20230208-19-3b8lg7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=941&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Title page of a 1619 Latin translation of Lucian’s complete works.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lukian_von_Samosata_Opera.jpg">Private collection via Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These authors wrote about their <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/greek-literature-and-the-roman-empire-9780199240357?cc=us&lang=en&">sense of identity and belonging</a> and were proud of their ability to remain true to their origins while also adapting to the conditions of the global world of the empire. On the other hand, there were also other authors who were anti-immigration and <a href="https://digilib.phil.muni.cz/_flysystem/fedora/pdf/141160.pdf">critical of new citizens and non-native speakers</a>, and others who showed that Roman occupation weighed heavily on their subjects. </p>
<h2>So, where was Lucian really from?</h2>
<p>Lucian is a <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/hellenism-and-empire-9780198152316?cc=us&lang=en&">cosmopolitan</a> individual. He was born in Samosata, which was in Syria until it was incorporated into the Roman Empire. He traveled to Cappadocia, Pontus, Athens, Rome, Gaul and Egypt. He wrote in perfect Greek; he was in the entourage of the Roman Emperor Lucius Verus and served as the secretariat of the Roman prefect in Egypt. </p>
<p>Throughout all his works, Lucian clearly suggests that he should be accepted in this new world as the model of the new citizens – individuals who were open about their ethnic identity yet embraced the Greco-Roman culture and contributed to advancing contemporary social inclusion.</p>
<p>In his essay “<a href="http://lucianofsamosata.info/wiki/doku.php?id=home:texts_and_library:essays:the-vision">The Dream</a>,” Lucian imagines his future as an underrepresented citizen. He writes that two women appeared in his sleep: an elegant one representing Greek education and a rugged one representing a craftsman’s life. The former promised him a life of popularity among the world’s elite. He chooses to be a well-to-do man of letters who overcame his humble origins and succeeded in a cosmopolitan society, even though he was not a native speaker or a native citizen.</p>
<p>In another one of his writings, “Zeuxis,” he writes about about his fluency in Greek and insists that <a href="https://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/luc/wl2/wl207.htm">he should not be seen as an outsider</a> because he is as articulate as any native-born Greek speaker. </p>
<p>He becomes more emboldened in his treatise “<a href="https://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/luc/wl2/wl204.htm">A Slip of the Tongue in Greeting</a>.” Here, he intentionally makes a mistake in a salutation and supposedly writes to apologize. In reality, however, he shows his knowledge of Greek cultural norms and, at the same time, clearly proves that he is versed in Roman culture, too. </p>
<p>On the other hand, he also wrote a piece titled “<a href="https://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/luc/wl4/wl404.htm">My Native Land</a>,” in which he says that no matter the languages one learns, the cultures one acculturates oneself to, and the global recognition, they are always their motherland’s sons and daughters – proud of them and indebted to them.</p>
<p>Lucian’s work provides a unique insight into a world of imperialism that also fostered multilingualism and multiculturalism and gave birth to the first global citizens. His writings show what diversity and inclusion can look like through the eyes of the empire’s newest citizens – and offers illuminating lessons from an often forgotten classical past.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196726/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eleni Bozia does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Lucian’s work provides insight into the second-century Roman world, which fostered multilingualism and multiculturalism.
Eleni Bozia, Associate Professor of Classics and Digital Humanities, University of Florida
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/193061
2022-10-25T12:29:29Z
2022-10-25T12:29:29Z
Democratic and Republican voters both love civility – but the bipartisan appeal is partly because nobody can agree on what civility is
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491180/original/file-20221023-35106-6mu0km.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=194%2C414%2C8451%2C5340&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">This illustration shows the lack of civility in American politics.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/illustration/concept-of-american-opinion-fractured-before-royalty-free-illustration/1250035478?phrase=gop%20democrats%20fighting&adppopup=true">Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When former Vice President Mike Pence declared, in a speech to a conservative group, that “<a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3696448-pence-advocates-for-healthy-doses-of-civility-as-georgetown-speech-draws-protests/">democracy depends on heavy doses of civility</a>,” several attendees stood up and walked out of the Georgetown University auditorium. </p>
<p>That speech came just three weeks before the midterm elections as commentators and candidates around the country were <a href="https://tucson.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/civility-in-elections-declining-as-political-polarization-rises/article_fe8b4eee-8669-5553-b18d-2d1717d98ce2.html">calling</a> <a href="https://www.yankton.net/opinion/editorials/article_583d16f4-49cc-11ed-bdd3-7b12414628b4.html">for</a> <a href="https://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2022/09/27/you-can-make-a-difference-bring-back-civility-when-you-vote/">greater</a> <a href="https://politics.georgetown.edu/2022/07/28/battleground-civility-poll-new-poll-shows-near-universal-concern-over-level-of-political-division-and-high-levels-of-self-segregation/">civility in politics</a>.</p>
<p>This is no surprise.</p>
<p>Civility is popular with the American people. Across the political spectrum, citizens <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/07/18/americans-say-the-nations-political-debate-has-grown-more-toxic-and-heated-rhetoric-could-lead-to-violence/">agree that politics has become dangerously toxic</a>, and they think the <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/03/04/far-more-americans-see-very-strong-partisan-conflicts-now-than-in-the-last-two-presidential-election-years/">problem</a> is <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2022-02-03/poll-voters-say-politics-is-less-civil-a-year-into-biden-term">worsening</a>. </p>
<p>That is one political issue we all agree on – democracy needs to regain civility. If it’s going to, the effort has to start with each of us individually, rather than waiting for someone else to make the first move. </p>
<h2>Bipartisan hypocrisy</h2>
<p>This unanimity that more civility is needed in politics may be an illusion.</p>
<p>Citizens tend to lay the blame for political incivility solely on their <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/06/19/partisans-say-respect-and-compromise-are-important-in-politics-particularly-from-their-opponents/">political opponents</a>. They want civility in politics, but say they think compromise is a one-way street. </p>
<p>They want politicians to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2019/01/16/many-americans-say-they-want-politicians-to-compromise-but-maybe-they-dont/">work together</a>, but also want the opposition to capitulate.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A middle-aged man with gray hair wearing a navy blue suit with red necktie sits in a television studio." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491183/original/file-20221023-7706-jm8rmh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491183/original/file-20221023-7706-jm8rmh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491183/original/file-20221023-7706-jm8rmh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491183/original/file-20221023-7706-jm8rmh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491183/original/file-20221023-7706-jm8rmh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491183/original/file-20221023-7706-jm8rmh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491183/original/file-20221023-7706-jm8rmh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Former Vice President Mike Pence visits Fox News on Oct. 19, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/former-u-s-vice-president-mike-pence-visits-america-reports-news-photo/1434798790?phrase=mike%20pence%20vice%20president&adppopup=true">Shannon Finney/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>They value civility, but hold that their partisan rivals are uniformly <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2022/08/09/as-partisan-hostility-grows-signs-of-frustration-with-the-two-party-system/pp_2022-08-09_partisan-hostility_00-01/">immoral, dishonest and close-minded</a>. </p>
<p>Pence reflected these us-versus-them attitudes himself during his Georgetown speech when he claimed that powerful institutions have “<a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3696448-pence-advocates-for-healthy-doses-of-civility-as-georgetown-speech-draws-protests/">locked arms to advance a woke agenda designed to advance the policies and beliefs of the American left</a>.”</p>
<h2>Defining civility</h2>
<p>Despite the multiple pleas for civility, little is said about what civility is. </p>
<p>That probably explains why civility is so popular.</p>
<p>Each citizen gets to define the term in their own way, and no one believes their own side to be uncivil. But if we believe that the U.S. needs to restore civility, we must define it.</p>
<p>It cannot be the demand to always remain calm in political debate. It’s generally good to keep one’s cool, of course. But when engaging in political disagreement, it’s not always possible to do so.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-political-opinions-change/">political opinions</a> typically reflect deeply held values and commitments about justice. We tend to regard those who disagree with us about such matters as not merely on the other side of the issue, but on the wrong side. We should expect disagreements about important matters to get heated.</p>
<p>Civility might be better understood as the avoidance of undue hostility and gratuitous animosity in political debate. This could be something as simple as calling out inflated rhetoric, as <a href="https://youtu.be/jrnRU3ocIH4">John McCain famously did</a> during his presidential campaign when his supporters claimed that Barack Obama was untrustworthy and not an American. </p>
<p>This idea acknowledges that heated debates can be appropriate within reason. It allows for some degree of antagonism, while at the same time prohibiting unnecessary vitriol. </p>
<p>In a sense, this makes civility a matter of judging whether our subject’s behavior calls for an escalation of hostility. The problem is that, when it comes to evaluating the behavior of our opponents, we are remarkably poor judges.</p>
<h2>Partisan civility</h2>
<p>Americans’ assessment of political behavior tightly tracks our partisan allegiances. </p>
<p>We cut our allies slack while holding our opponents to very high standards. When our allies engage in objectionable behavior, we excuse them. But when members of the opposition engage in the same behavior, we condemn them. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-015-9313-9">In one experiment</a>, when partisans were told of an ally stealing an opposing candidate’s campaign signs off neighborhood lawns, they chalked it up to political integrity. But when those same partisans were told that an opponent had stolen their signs, they condemned the act as undemocratic.</p>
<p>We over-ascribe <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2019/10/10/partisan-antipathy-more-intense-more-personal/">hostility, dishonesty and untrustworthiness</a> to our political opponents. Consequently, we will almost always see fit to escalate hostility when interacting with our opposition. When civility is understood as the avoidance of unnecessary rancor, it fails.</p>
<p>I’ve argued in my recent book “<a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/sustaining-democracy-9780197556450?cc=us&lang=en&">Sustaining Democracy</a>” that civility isn’t really about how we conduct disagreements with political opponents.</p>
<p>Instead, civility has to do with how people formulate their own political ideas. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A donkey and an elephant are seen in a boxing ring that is covered with Election Day bunting." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491181/original/file-20221023-37902-g62yh3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491181/original/file-20221023-37902-g62yh3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491181/original/file-20221023-37902-g62yh3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491181/original/file-20221023-37902-g62yh3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491181/original/file-20221023-37902-g62yh3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491181/original/file-20221023-37902-g62yh3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491181/original/file-20221023-37902-g62yh3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The GOP elephant and Democratic donkey are going toe-to-toe on Election Day.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/illustration/animal-cartoons-boxing-on-the-ring-royalty-free-illustration/165752107?phrase=gop%20democrats%20fighting&adppopup=true">Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We are uncivil when our political opinions do not take due account of the perspectives, priorities and concerns of our fellow citizens.</p>
<p>To better understand this idea, consider that in a democratic society, <a href="https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/democracy-people-power">citizens share political power</a> as political equals. As democratic citizens, we have <a href="https://www.ndi.org/what-we-do/citizen-participation">the responsibility to act</a> in ways that respect the equality of our fellow citizens, even when we disagree with their politics.</p>
<p>In my view, one way to respect their equality is to give due consideration to their values and preferences. </p>
<p>Of course, this does not require that we water down our own political commitments – or always try to meet our opponents halfway. </p>
<p>It calls only for a sincere attempt to consider their perspectives when devising our own.</p>
<p>People are civil when we can explain our political opinions to our political opponents in ways that are responsive to their rival ideas. </p>
<h2>A civility test</h2>
<p>Here is a simple three-part test for civility:</p>
<p>First, take one of your strongest political views, and then try to figure out what your smartest partisan opponent might say about it.</p>
<p>Second, identify a political idea that is key to your opponent and then develop a lucid argument that supports it. </p>
<p>Third, identify a major policy favored by the other side that you could regard as permissible for government – despite your opposition.</p>
<p>If you struggle to perform those tasks, that means one has a feeble grasp on the range of responsible political opinion. </p>
<p>When we cannot even imagine a cogent political perspective that stands in opposition to our own, we can’t engage civilly with our fellow citizens.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193061/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert B. Talisse does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Political debate has always been filled with heated words and deeply held emotions. But the level of civility in political discourse has reached a new low.
Robert B. Talisse, W. Alton Jones Professor of Philosophy, Vanderbilt University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/192559
2022-10-25T12:29:11Z
2022-10-25T12:29:11Z
How gender, race, age and voter ID laws affect whether a voter actually casts a ballot
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490443/original/file-20221018-4769-515dlf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C6%2C4649%2C3092&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Women are more likely to vote than men, but white women have different voting tendencies than women of color.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/incumbent-democratic-senate-candidate-u-s-sen-maggie-hassan-news-photo/1243194351">Scott Eisen/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Who shows up to cast a ballot and who is allowed to mark a ballot and have it counted will determine which candidates take office and what issues they focus on.</p>
<p>The Conversation asked three scholars of <a href="https://www.sciline.org/elections/voter-turnout/#video-transcript">different aspects of voter turnout</a> for their insights as the election approaches.</p>
<h2>More women vote, and white women vote differently</h2>
<p><strong>Jane Junn, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences</strong></p>
<p>As the 2022 midterm elections approach, and in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/2022/06/the-supreme-court-overturns-roe-v-wade/">overturning Roe v. Wade</a>, new attention is focused on the role of women voters in U.S. elections. Regarding their turnout, three facts are important to keep in mind. </p>
<p>First, women outnumber men in the electorate. In the 2020 presidential election, <a href="https://cawp.rutgers.edu/facts/voters/gender-differences-voter-turnout#GGN">women made up 53.1% of voters</a> compared with 46.9% of men. This is a <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/08/18/men-and-women-in-the-u-s-continue-to-differ-in-voter-turnout-rate-party-identification/">consistent pattern over decades</a>.</p>
<p>Second, the gender gap is also a race gap. Women are <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/08/18/men-and-women-in-the-u-s-continue-to-differ-in-voter-turnout-rate-party-identification/">more likely to support Democratic candidates</a> than men, but there are racial and ethnic differences in that overall trend. While Black, Latina, Asian American and other women voters of color are <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/12/02/how-black-women-organized-voters-secure-joe-bidens-victory-column/6475054002/">strong supporters of Democrats</a>, most white female voters have <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/11/27/white-women-vote-republican-get-used-it-democrats/">consistently supported Republican Party candidates</a>. </p>
<p>For example, in 2020, <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/06/30/behind-bidens-2020-victory/">53% of white women voted for Donald Trump</a> – compared with 46% who supported President Joe Biden. </p>
<p>Third, every election has a unique electorate. So it’s important to distinguish between voter turnout, where mobilization is key, and the patterns of partisan candidate choice. National patterns of voting in presidential elections are different from state and local election trends. And the contours of the voting public change over time, as young people turn 18 and new citizens register to vote.</p>
<h2>Young voter turnout is low</h2>
<p><strong>John Holbein, University of Virginia</strong></p>
<p>The United States has some of the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/08/upshot/youth-voting-2020-election.html">lowest rates of youth voter turnout</a> in the world. That’s despite the fact that a dominant majority of young people 18 to 24 years old <a href="https://electionstudies.org/resources/anes-guide/">care about politics and public affairs</a> and want to participate in politics.</p>
<p>As my collaborator, political scientist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=znMJcvwAAAAJ">D. Sunshine Hillygus</a>, and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=dGUCrakAAAAJ">I</a> describe in our book “<a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/making-young-voters/D8A982E9E7C9DAAAE3DF9685F1DFC037">Making Young Voters</a>,” many young people find the process of registering and voting too complex. </p>
<p>There are two ways to address this problem. The first is to revamp civics education to teach young people the skills they need to overcome voting obstacles. The <a href="https://www.mathematica.org/publications/can-charter-schools-boost-civic-participation-the-impact-of-democracy-prep-public-schools-on-voting">Democracy Prep Charter School Network</a> is a group of schools that structures students’ <a href="https://www.democracyprep.org/about/">entire educational experience</a> around “educating responsible citizen scholars for success in the college of their choice and a life of active citizenship.” </p>
<p>The other way is to reform laws to make registration easier and less complex, such as enabling <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/electronic-or-online-voter-registration.aspx">online registration</a>, <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/preregistration-for-young-voters.aspx">preregistration of 16- and 17-year-olds</a> and <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/same-day-registration.aspx">same-day registration and voting</a>. </p>
<p>Both approaches meaningfully increase youth turnout and would help <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/making-young-voters/D8A982E9E7C9DAAAE3DF9685F1DFC037">the next generation of young voters</a>.</p>
<h2>Voter ID laws affect turnout unequally</h2>
<p><strong>Nazita Lajevardi, Michigan State University</strong></p>
<p>In 35 states, voters must <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/voter-id.aspx">provide some form of physical identification</a> when they arrive to cast a ballot. In eight of those states, the strictest rules apply, typically requiring voters who arrive without a proper photo ID to <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/voter-id.aspx">take additional action, such as bring one to the polling place later in the day</a>, before their vote will be counted.</p>
<p>These laws make it more difficult for all people to vote, but do so unequally. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1532673X18810012">Black and other voters of color are less likely</a> than whites to be able to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/rep.2022.1">afford the material burdens</a> of securing qualifying identification, such as even getting to a motor vehicles office to attain the identification required to vote.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/688343">strictest forms</a> of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/716282">these laws</a> appear to <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/turnout-gap/1B79B19C880A93C462FD1DF22F65DD15">disproportionately affect</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1089/elj.2018.0536">minority</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0731121420966620">voter</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/21565503.2020.1773280">turnout</a>. </p>
<p>Further, research shows that minorities are <a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/oklrv66&div=5&id=&page=">more likely than whites</a> to be asked to actually present their ID at the polls.</p>
<p>And finally, even if voter ID laws are repealed, studies show that their effects last: People who were less likely to have proper ID still don’t show up, even if they don’t need those IDs anymore. That signals voters <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/political-science-research-and-methods/article/abs/durable-differential-deterrent-effects-of-strict-photo-identification-laws/E97B3308FDA75972A6374EDCD26333BF">remain confused</a> about whether they are allowed to vote, even when the law is clear that they can.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192559/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Holbein receives funding from the National Science Foundation</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane Junn and Nazita Lajevardi do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Every citizen has the right to vote. But various characteristics and legal requirements affect how likely any one person is to actually cast a ballot.
Jane Junn, USC Associates Chair in Social Sciences; Professor of Political Science and Gender and Sexuality Studies, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
John Holbein, Associate Professor of Public Policy, Politics, and Education, University of Virginia
Nazita Lajevardi, Associate Professor of Political Science, Michigan State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/192593
2022-10-20T04:46:30Z
2022-10-20T04:46:30Z
Why permanent residents and long-term temporary visa holders should be able to vote in federal elections
<p>Who should have the right to vote?</p>
<p>A common answer is adult citizens of a country. Indeed, the national electoral laws of most countries – including <a href="https://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/cth/consol_act/cea1918233/s93.html">Australia</a> – adopt this approach.</p>
<p>But what about the approximately 3.4 million <a href="https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/foi/files/2021/fa-210200044-document-released.PDF">permanent residents</a> and <a href="https://data.gov.au/dataset/ds-dga-ab245863-4dea-4661-a334-71ee15937130/details">temporary visa holders</a>? Many of them call Australia home, having lived and worked in this country for years, and together they amount to more than 13% of the <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population#:%7E:text=The%202021%20Census%20counted%2025%2C422%2C788,age%20of%2039%20years%20old">Australian population</a>.</p>
<p>Should they be denied the right to vote because they don’t have citizenship, despite the strong connections they have to the country? </p>
<p>I argue “no”. Not having citizenship shouldn’t mean automatic disqualification from being able to vote.</p>
<p>Permanent residents and long-term holders of temporary visas should be able to vote in federal elections (as they can in most local government elections) because of their social membership of the Australian community.</p>
<h2>Citizenship as a floor but not a ceiling</h2>
<p>Citizenship is a compelling basis for voting rights. Article 25 of the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-civil-and-political-rights">International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights</a> stipulates “every citizen” shall have rights of political participation including the right to vote. </p>
<p>It is, however, a grave mistake to treat non-citizenship as a basis of exclusion from voting rights. Article 25 guarantees particular political rights to citizens, but it does not deny these rights to non-citizens. Citizenship is a floor not a ceiling for voting rights.</p>
<p>As the United Nations Human Rights Committee <a href="https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/221930?ln=en">recognised</a>, permanent residents may be provided political rights compatibly with Article 25. Indeed, Article 21(3) of the <a href="https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights">Universal Declaration of Human Rights</a> states that</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The Australian Constitution, which doesn’t expressly mention <a href="http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/MelbULawRw/2000/24.html">citizenship</a>, similarly requires members of parliament be “<a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Senate/Powers_practice_n_procedures/Constitution/chapter1/Part_III_-_The_House_of_Representatives#chapter-01_part-03_24">directly chosen by the people</a>”. Both documents clearly point to an understanding of political community broader than one based on citizenship. </p>
<p>Such a broader understanding is evident in many countries where non-citizens are <a href="https://comparativemigrationstudies.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40878-022-00286-0">entitled to vote in sub-national elections</a>. In Australia, resident non-citizens are entitled to vote at local government elections in <a href="https://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/vic/consol_act/lga2020182/s240.html">Victoria</a>, <a href="https://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/sa/consol_act/lga1999275/s16.html">South Australia</a> and <a href="https://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/tas/consol_act/lga1993182/s254.html">Tasmania</a>.</p>
<p>In several countries, non-citizens are also entitled to vote in national elections including:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://www.nec.go.kr/site/eng/03/10301030000002020070601.jsp">South Korea</a> where “a non-Korean citizen registered in the relevant local constituency and who has had a resident visa for at least three years has the right to vote” in presidential and National Assembly elections</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://vote.nz/enrolling/get-ready-to-enrol/are-you-eligible-to-enrol-and-vote/">New Zealand</a> where permanent residents who have “lived in New Zealand continuously for 12 months or more at some time” can vote in national elections.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>‘Social membership’ as a basis for the right to vote</h2>
<p>Alongside citizenship, the deep connections one has to a country through family, friends, work and a sense of belonging are also a basis of membership of a political community. These connections and belonging provide both commitment and consequence: they signify caring for the country of residence and being profoundly affected by its laws.</p>
<p>In his book, <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-ethics-of-immigration-9780199933839?cc=au&lang=en&">The Ethics of Immigration</a>, political scientist Joseph Carens captured this insight through his principle of “social membership”. This is where membership arises from “the relationships, interests, and identities that connect people to the place where they live”. As a proxy for these dense connections, Carens proposed length of residence.</p>
<p>This principle of social membership is reflected in countries where non-citizens are entitled to vote (including most Australian local government elections).</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-new-australian-citizenship-test-can-you-really-test-values-via-multiple-choice-146574">The new Australian citizenship test: can you really test 'values' via multiple choice?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This concept is also suggested in various international documents. The <a href="https://www.iom.int/sites/g/files/tmzbdl486/files/migrated_files/What-We-Do/docs/Final-Declaration-2013-En.pdf">Declaration of the High-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development</a>, a resolution unanimously adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, acknowledges “the important role that migrants play as partners in the development of countries of origin, transit and destination”.</p>
<p>The General Assembly’s <a href="https://www.iom.int/global-compact-migration">Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration</a> lays down a commitment to “foster inclusive and cohesive societies by empowering migrants to become active members of society”.</p>
<p>History provides surprising support. At the heart of the original Commonwealth Franchise bills was a highly progressive principle of inclusion – even by today’s standards. In the <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp0102/02RP17">words</a> of Senator Richard O’Connor, who had their carriage, they recognised</p>
<blockquote>
<p>one ground only, as giving a right to vote, and that is residence in the Commonwealth for six months or over by any person of adult age. That franchise is the broadest possible one. There is no class of the community left out.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Racist opposition, however, resulted in the eventual Commonwealth Franchise Act of 1902 denying Indigenous Australians, Asians, Africans and Pacific Islanders the right to vote. </p>
<h2>Reflecting the Australian community</h2>
<p>The principle of social membership explains why permanent residents should have the vote in federal elections (perhaps after a brief period of continuous residence, as in New Zealand).</p>
<p>It also provides a strong argument for long-term holders of temporary visas to have the vote in these elections. Long-term can be based on a minimum of three years’ residence, as in South Korea.</p>
<p>Expanding the vote in these ways will make Australia a leader as a democratic and inclusive migrant nation.</p>
<p><em>This article draws upon a longer <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Electoral_Matters/2022federalelection/Submissions">submission</a> to the inquiry of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters into the 2022 federal election</em>.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Correction: this article previously stated that resident non-citizens can vote in NSW council elections. This is incorrect and has been removed.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192593/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joo-Cheong Tham has received funding from the Australian Research Council, the Australian Council of Trade Unions, European Trade Union Institute, International IDEA and the New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption. He is a Director of the Centre for Public Integrity; the Victorian Division Assistant Secretary (Academic Staff) of the National Tertiary Education Union; and was formerly the Deputy Chair of the Migrant Workers Centre.</span></em></p>
Permanent residents can vote in New Zealand. So why not here?
Joo-Cheong Tham, Professor, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/184744
2022-07-04T13:27:57Z
2022-07-04T13:27:57Z
Do humanitarian agencies help refugees become independent? Evidence from history
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471577/original/file-20220629-14-ldhj3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Refugees take shelter in front of the UN refugee centre in South Africa.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ihsaan Haffejee/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When 5.3 million Ukrainians <a href="https://frontex.europa.eu/media-centre/news/news-release/5-3-million-ukrainians-have-entered-eu-since-the-beginning-of-invasion-HbXkUz">entered</a> the EU between February and June 2022, alongside life-saving emergency assistance came similarly crucial support: the right to stay and <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/stronger-europe-world/eu-solidarity-ukraine/eu-assistance-ukraine/information-people-fleeing-war-ukraine_en#your-rights-in-the-eu">work in the EU</a> for up to three years. This arose out of the recognition that people deserve the chance to make a living in exile – and that doing so can benefit host countries as well. </p>
<p>The UN agency for refugees (UNHCR) <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/44bf7b012.pdf">defines</a> self-reliance as the ability to meet essential needs in a “sustainable manner and with dignity”. Yet in my work I have witnessed that this often means refugees live independently from humanitarian assistance, but in destitution. </p>
<p>An estimated two-thirds are in <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/global-compact-refugees-indicator-report/">poverty</a>. They rarely gain citizenship in host countries and many are even forbidden from leaving camps. At times, there’s a blatant disregard for refugees’ own agency and skills. Yet these are the very attributes that provide a foundation for living independently. </p>
<p>While living and <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/art-of-selfreliance-stories-from-refugees-who-stay/">working in Uganda</a>, I grew curious: has fostering refugee self-reliance always been a goal for the humanitarian and development community? And has it ever been successful?</p>
<p>These questions led me to archives, and in turn to reports by the UN Refugee Agency, UN Development Programme, World Bank, Oxfam, International Rescue Committee, and other actors. These documented decades’ worth of self-reliance projects for refugees in Greece, Tanzania, Pakistan and beyond. My book, <a href="https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/refugees-self-reliance-development">Refugees, Self-Reliance, Development: A critical history</a>, shares many of the stories I found.</p>
<p>Whether examining refugee situations in the 1920s or in 2022, I’ve seen how the promotion of self-reliance and livelihoods often comes at the expense of refugee well-being and protection. <a href="https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/56713/9781529219098_Chapter%201.pdf?sequence=1">This knowledge</a> demands a closer look at current trends in refugee self-reliance programming, and whose interests are being served. </p>
<h2>Refugee labour versus livelihoods</h2>
<p>Refugee labour has commonly been used to further the aims of host countries, and even international agencies, sometimes at the expense of refugees’ own livelihoods. </p>
<p>In the 1920s, for example, humanitarian agencies and the League of Nations sought to <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/276111408_From_Bottom-Up_to_Top-Down_The_%27Pre-History%27_of_Refugee_Livelihoods_Assistance_from_1919_to_1979">help refugees in Greece</a> become commercial farmers. They were encouraged to take out loans to grow cash crops such as tobacco. But then tobacco rapidly dropped in price on the global market. The livelihoods encouraged by humanitarians led to refugees becoming bankrupt and struggling to feed their families. </p>
<p>In this instance, a drive to boost Greece’s export economy came at the expense of refugees. Encouraging subsistence farming or crop diversification might have yielded better results. These approaches focus on refugee needs rather than that of their host country or the global economy.</p>
<h2>Using existing skills</h2>
<p>Attempts to foster refugee self-reliance in east Africa in the 1970s often came through farming. Attempts were made to coerce refugees to farm cash crops in collective settlements. Reports document that <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Evan-Easton-Calabria/publication/276111408_From_Bottom-Up_to_Top-Down_The_'Pre-History'_of_Refugee_Livelihoods_Assistance_from_1919_to_1979/links/622b5516a39db062db93b95b/From-Bottom-Up-to-Top-Down-The-Pre-History-of-Refugee-Livelihoods-Assistance-from-1919-to-1979.pdf">refugees were put into camp prisons</a> for fishing instead of farming. </p>
<p>By 1985 most settlements were food-insecure and thus considered failures. “Self-reliant” refugee settlements – defined at this time as those growing enough to feed inhabitants – generally held just a few thousand refugees. Thousands of others had left, seeking to create their own lives and livelihoods beyond the purview of the humanitarians tasked to help them.</p>
<h2>Outside influences</h2>
<p>My research shows that refugee self-reliance and livelihoods programming is not developed in a vacuum. Instead it is influenced by national and international economic, social and political trends. </p>
<p>In the 1920s programming focused on settling refugees on farms or placing them into formal work, such as the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/276111408_From_Bottom-Up_to_Top-Down_The_%27Pre-History%27_of_Refugee_Livelihoods_Assistance_from_1919_to_1979">International Labour Organization’s employment-matching scheme</a>. This reflected a perception of refugees as labour migrants, the availability of agricultural land in countries like Greece, and significant shortages in labour markets in countries like France. In the 1980s in Pakistan, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jrs/article-abstract/33/1/143/5593613?redirectedFrom=fulltext">self-reliance assistance for Afghan refugees</a> shifted to fostering entrepreneurship, reflecting not necessarily refugees’ skill sets but their restrictions on land use by the Pakistani government. </p>
<p>Today, refugees are encouraged to join the informal sector, sometimes even as host states <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/uk/research/working/56bd9ed89/refugees-asked-fish-themselves-role-livelihoods-trainings-kampalas-urban.html">crack down on it</a>. Fostering refugee self-reliance through <a href="https://www.undp.org/publications/digital-livelihoods-people-move">digital remote work</a> is also on the rise. These changes reflect global trends in the world of work – perhaps more than they reflect opportunities for wide-scale refugee self-reliance. Sometimes these routes to livelihoods are promoted to help agencies avoid hard conversations about refugee rights in the first place. </p>
<h2>Self-reliance in the 21st century</h2>
<p>Today humanitarian and development actors need to reconsider how to help refugees in the face of global economic, political, and social upheaval and change. These changes include the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-uks-plans-to-send-asylum-seekers-to-rwanda-raise-four-red-flags-182709">normalising of violations</a> to the 1951 Refugee Convention, and more frequent and severe climate shocks to economies. COVID-19 has shown the precarity of refugees’ lives. The UN Refugee Agency <a href="https://reporting.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/ga2021/pdf/Chapter_GlobalInitiatives.pdf">found</a> that <a href="https://reporting.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/ga2021/pdf/Chapter_GlobalInitiatives.pdf">74% of refugees</a> could meet just half or less of their basic needs. </p>
<p>Discussions on refugee self-reliance and livelihoods must be premised on refugees’ access to national <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/5ad5b4084.pdf">social protection systems</a>. Linkages to wider efforts to improve the decency of informal work, in which most refugees are involved, has the potential to improve many refugee livelihoods. Serious consideration must also be given to promoting refugees’ rights <em>not</em> to work in instances where the only work available is dangerous and exploitative. And there are important ongoing conversations about <a href="https://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/publications/refugee-self-reliance-moving-beyond-the-marketplace">moving beyond the economic</a> focus of self-reliance to encompass its <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/uk/publications/brochures/61a739054/summary-of-roundtable-4-self-reliance.html">multi-dimensional definition</a>.</p>
<p>Forces influencing refugee self-reliance are much greater than what any livelihood training can achieve. Acting on this understanding is crucial for refugee self-reliance to be a concept worth promoting in the future. If this does not happen, then it is neither a meaningful nor reasonable <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/uk/the-global-compact-on-refugees.html">objective</a> of the international refugee regime.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184744/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Evan Easton-Calabria does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Most refugees rarely gain citizenship in host countries and the work that is available to them is informal, irregular and precarious.
Evan Easton-Calabria, Senior Researcher at the Feinstein International Center, Tufts University, and Research Associate at the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/183974
2022-06-29T18:06:20Z
2022-06-29T18:06:20Z
Has the meaning behind the Canadian flag changed? — Podcast
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471666/original/file-20220629-12-owodl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C49%2C2914%2C1931&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jubilant sports fans flew the Canadian flag in 2019 after the NBA playoffs. Since then, the 'freedom convoy' has used the flag to try to represent their values. Has the symbolism of the flag changed?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Tijana Martin</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe height="480px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/fb609e39-d729-4a54-860a-8a411be157ae?dark=false&show=true"></iframe>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-572" class="tc-infographic" height="100" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/572/661898416fdc21fc4fdef6a5379efd7cac19d9d5/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>As we approach Canada Day — and the prospect of the return of “freedom” protests in Ottawa — let’s consider the meaning and symbolism of the Canadian flag. </p>
<p>After weeks of the so-called freedom convoy last winter, many of us took a hard look at the symbolism of the Canadian flag and its recent association with white supremacy. Some, like me, felt a new fear or anger at what they feel the flag represents. </p>
<p>But other communities have always felt this way about the Canadian flag. </p>
<p>After unmarked graves were found at the sites of former residential schools, the Canadian <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-peace-tower-flag-to-remain-at-half-mast-for-canada-day-to-honour/">flag was flown at half-mast</a> in many places to show shame for our collective history and solidarity with Indigenous communities. And last year on Canada Day, many called for people to wear orange instead of red and white. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"881186908277280769"}"></div></p>
<p>Other movements like <a href="https://landback.org/">Landback</a>, Resistance150, Idle No More, Pride and Black Lives Matter have also raised awareness about challenges to Canadian nationalism and belonging. </p>
<p>Both of our guests <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/episodes/has-the-meaning-behind-the-canadian-flag-changed">on this episode of <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em></a> have studied multiculturalism, citizenship and belonging. Daniel McNeil looks at history and culture and the complexities of global Black communities. He is a professor and Queen’s National Scholar Chair in Black Studies at Queen’s University. Lucy El-Sherif is a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto in ethnic and pluralism studies. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="a sea of Canadian flags wave above a crowd" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471471/original/file-20220628-14646-v8t1en.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C103%2C8627%2C5639&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471471/original/file-20220628-14646-v8t1en.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471471/original/file-20220628-14646-v8t1en.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471471/original/file-20220628-14646-v8t1en.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471471/original/file-20220628-14646-v8t1en.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471471/original/file-20220628-14646-v8t1en.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471471/original/file-20220628-14646-v8t1en.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fans cheer and wave Canadian flags before the start of the Canada-Jamaica World Cup soccer qualifying action in Toronto on March 27, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Symbols can and do change</h2>
<p>In our conversation, Daniel McNeil said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The flag can be many different things. But I think the critical question is to ask, why are those who acknowledge its violence depicted as killjoys or marginalized or stigmatized?“</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Lucy El-Sherif said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"We really need to think about what does it mean to be a person of colour living as a settler on Indigenous lands. And what does it mean for us to express solidarity with Indigenous people? The stakes for people of colour are very different.… Whenever we question what’s going on with Canada, [we get]: ‘Go back to where you came from. You should be grateful that you came to this country.’” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>For a lot of people, the Canadian flag is a symbol to be proud of: it’s something they feel represents Canada’s multiculturalism, the idea that the country can welcome anyone. They want to fly the flag — whether at a Raptors game, World Cup match or rally. </p>
<p>Some writers of op-eds have pleaded audiences to fly the flag this year, to take back a symbol they feel proud of. </p>
<p>As McNeil said, Canada is defined as:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“welcoming to others … with positive traits of fairness, openness and generosity … we have these feelings that we’re associating with a flag, but [we should also take] seriously how others may associate that flag with pleasure or with joy. And how do we open up space for those conversations about different historical memories?”</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Canadian residents from Iran who newly received their citizenship wave the Canadian flags after the citizenship oath ceremony in Vancouver, B.C., in July 2017" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471469/original/file-20220628-14613-tc0arl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471469/original/file-20220628-14613-tc0arl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471469/original/file-20220628-14613-tc0arl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471469/original/file-20220628-14613-tc0arl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471469/original/file-20220628-14613-tc0arl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471469/original/file-20220628-14613-tc0arl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471469/original/file-20220628-14613-tc0arl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">New Canadian wave Canadian flags after taking the oath of citizenship during a special Canada Day ceremony in West Vancouver, B.C.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.cpimages.com/CS.aspx?VP3=DamView&VBID=2RLQ2JSENAWDY&PN=1&WS=SearchResults&FR_=1&W=1324&H=686">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Articles from <em>The Conversation</em></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-canadian-flag-and-the-freedom-convoy-the-co-opting-of-canadian-symbols-176436">The Canadian flag and the ‘freedom convoy’: The co-opting of Canadian symbols</a> by Heather Nicol</li>
<li><a href="https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/oise/News/2019/This_Canada_Day_we_need_a_new_citizenship_oath.html">Canada needs a new citizenship oath: OISE expert</a> by Lucy El-Sherif </li>
<li><a href="https://theconversation.com/o-canada-why-i-no-longer-stand-for-the-national-anthem-184027">‘O Canada’: Why I no longer stand for the national anthem</a> by Jason Laurendeau</li>
<li><a href="https://theconversation.com/this-canada-day-settler-canadians-should-think-about-land-back-184816">This Canada Day, settler Canadians should think about land back</a> by Kaitie Jourdeuil</li>
<li><a href="https://theconversation.com/raptors-victory-feel-good-multiculturalism-masks-reality-of-anti-black-racism-in-canada-118942">Raptors victory: Feel-good multiculturalism masks reality of anti-Black racism in Canada</a> by Corrie Scott</li>
<li><a href="https://theconversation.com/black-canadian-activists-pressured-to-be-quiet-leaders-111027">Black Canadian activists pressured to be ‘quiet’ leaders</a> by Daniel McNeil</li>
</ul>
<h2>Resources</h2>
<ul>
<li>“<a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/10/24/why-did-masuma-khans-post-invite-censure-from-dalhousie-if-free-speech-is-so-vaunted-paradkar.html">Why did Masuma Khan’s post invite censure from Dalhousie if free speech is so vaunted?</a>” by Shree Paradkar</li>
<li>“<a href="https://csalateral.org/issue/8-2/webs-of-relationships-pedagogies-citizenship-muslims-canada-el-sherif/">Webs of Relationships: Pedagogies of Citizenship and Modalities of Settlement for ‘Muslims’ in Canada</a>” by Lucy El-Sherif</li>
<li>“<a href="https://doi.org/10.22230/cjc.2021v46n3a4155">‘Multicultural Snake Oil’ & Black Cultural Criticism”</a> by Daniel McNeil and Chris Russill</li>
<li>“<a href="https://classic.esquire.com/article/1936/7/1/let-america-be-america-again">Let America Be America Again</a>” by Langston Hughes</li>
<li><a href="https://utorontopress.com/9781487529178/unsettling-the-great-white-north/"><em>Unsettling the Great White North: Black Canadian History</em></a>, edited by Michele A. Johnson and Funké Aladejebi</li>
<li><a href="https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195178463.001.0001/acprof-9780195178463"><em>In Search of the Black Fantastic: Politics and Popular Culture in the Post-Civil Rights Era</em></a> by Richard Iton</li>
<li><a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/T/bo3620902.html"><em>’There Ain’t no Black in the Union Jack:’ The Cultural Politics of Race and Nation</em></a> by Paul Gilroy</li>
<li><em><a href="https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/red-skin-white-masks">Red Skin, White Masks: Rejecting the Colonial Politics of Recognition</a></em> by Glen Sean Coulthard</li>
<li><em><a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/dear-science-and-other-stories">Dear Science and Other Stories</a></em> by Katherine McKittrick</li>
<li><em><a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538143667/Bad-Faith-and-Antiblack-Racism-2nd-Edition">Bad Faith and Antiblack Racism</a></em> by Lewis R. Gordon</li>
</ul>
<h2>Follow and listen</h2>
<p>You can listen to or follow <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em> on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/dont-call-me-resilient/id1549798876">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9qZFg0Ql9DOA">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/37tK4zmjWvq2Sh6jLIpzp7">Spotify</a> or <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/">wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts</a>. <a href="mailto:theculturedesk@theconversation.com">We’d love to hear from you</a>, including any ideas for future episodes. Join The Conversation on <a href="https://twitter.com/ConversationCA">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheConversationCanada">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/theconversationdotcom/">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@theconversation">TikTok</a> and use #DontCallMeResilient.</p>
<p><em>Don’t Call Me Resilient is produced and hosted by Vinita Srivastava. Series co-producers are: Lygia Navarro and Haley Lewis. Vaishnavi Dandekar is an assistant producer. Jennifer Moroz is our consulting producer. Lisa Varano is our audience development editor and Scott White is the CEO of The Conversation Canada. Don’t Call Me Resilient is a production of The Conversation Canada and was produced with a grant for Journalism Innovation from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</em></p>
<h2>Transcript</h2>
<p>For an unedited transcript, go <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/episodes/has-the-meaning-behind-the-canadian-flag-changed/transcript">here</a>.</p>
<h2>Sound Credits</h2>
<p>Thank you to the following sources for additional sound:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/Resistance150/status/881320153551708162?s=20&t=cheAmRMWxDP42Vn9bcFT5w">Canada 150 protest</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/canadian-citizenship/take-part-citizenship/canada-day/great-canadian-oath.html">Citizenship Oath</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQSErcqYAhU">Convoy honking trucks</a></li>
<li><a href="https://freesound.org/people/KTManahan/sounds/523662/">Black Lives Matter rally in Kennebunk, Maine, on June 3, 2020</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/730431555724">Rosemary Brown speech, CBC</a></li>
</ul><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183974/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
What does it mean to be a settler of colour in Canada? Has the symbolism of the Canadian flag changed since the Ottawa convoy?
Vinita Srivastava, Host + Producer, Don't Call Me Resilient
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/183142
2022-05-25T13:23:25Z
2022-05-25T13:23:25Z
Rwandan researchers are finally being centred in scholarship about their own country
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463570/original/file-20220517-12-v215pz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Aegis Trust/Flickr/All rights reserved©</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It is widely known that African researchers are <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-it-is-crucial-to-locate-the-african-in-african-studies-60807">dramatically underrepresented</a> in academic journals. But it’s still astonishing to see this reality starkly represented in numbers.</p>
<p>For the past eight years we have run the <a href="https://www.aegistrust.org/aegis-launches-research-policy-higher-education-programme-in-kigali/">Research, Policy and Higher Education</a> (RPHE) programme, a research and peer-support scheme with Rwandan scholars, through the Aegis Trust. As part of our work, we’ve analysed 12 leading journals in disciplines relevant to our researcher cohort. We found that from 1994 until 2019, of the 398 articles focusing on Rwanda that appeared in these journals, only 13 were authored or co-authored by Rwandan scholars. That’s just 3.3%. This amounts to 25 years of post-genocide literature almost entirely devoid of Rwandan voices.</p>
<p>In 2019, the flagship area studies journal <em>African Affairs</em> published its <a href="http://www.genocideresearchhub.org.rw/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Ideology-and-interests-in-the-Rwandan-patriotic-front-singing-the-struggle-in-pre-genocide-Rwanda.pdf">first-ever article</a> by a Rwandan. The author, Assumpta Mugiraneza (writing with Benjamin Chemouni) is supported by the RPHE programme. Four of the journals we examined – <em>Journal of Modern African Studies, Journal of Conflict and Security Law, Journal of Peace Research, and Conflict, Security and Development</em> – regularly publish articles on Rwanda. But they are yet to publish a single Rwandan writing on their country.</p>
<p>What explains this level of exclusion? One factor is prejudice on the part of journal editors and peer reviewers, which Rwandan colleagues have encountered for years. It was the need to overcome systemic biases and to amplify the voices of Rwandan scholars in global academic and policy debates that led us to establish the RPHE programme in 2014. </p>
<p>Since we launched, experienced Rwandan and non-Rwandan researchers have worked closely with 44 Rwandan authors selected through four competitive calls that generated more than 400 research proposals. The programme has also organised regular theory, methods, writing and publishing workshops for hundreds of participants in Kigali, supporting the wider Rwandan research community.</p>
<p>It is starting to bear fruit.</p>
<h2>A body of scholarly work</h2>
<p>Our website, the Genocide Research Hub, has just posted the <a href="http://www.genocideresearchhub.org.rw/published_journal/">21 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters</a> that have so far emerged from the programme. It is a rigorous process to reach this point. The authors first produced <a href="http://www.genocideresearchhub.org.rw/research/aegis-working-papers/?fwp_document_categories=aegis-working-papers">working papers</a> and <a href="http://www.genocideresearchhub.org.rw/research/aegis-policy-briefs/?fwp_document_categories=aegis-policy-briefs">policy briefs</a>. These were honed through discussions with their programme colleagues and at <a href="https://www.soas.ac.uk/news/newsitem132711.html">public events in Kigali and London</a>. Only then were they submitted to peer-reviewed journals. Over the next year, these working papers will generate a further tranche of academic publications.</p>
<p>Collectively, these pieces represent an important body of scholarly work on various themes. These include ethnicity, indigeneity, migration, citizenship, gender relations and language politics. Authors also delve into debates over younger generations’ inherited responsibility for the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. </p>
<p>The publications highlight the impressive research being conducted by Rwandan authors, who for too long have been sidelined in debates about Rwanda and other conflict-affected societies.</p>
<h2>Numerous barriers</h2>
<p>Rwandan authors face numerous barriers. Some are domestic and widely acknowledged. The country aims to become a regional high-tech hub. So, the Rwandan government <a href="https://www.newtimes.co.rw/news/featured-govt-invests-heavily-stem-education-rwandan-schools">emphasises</a> science, technology, engineering and maths subjects. This has led to the chronic <a href="https://www.chronicles.rw/2019/07/25/would-be-a-mistake-for-govt-to-stop-funding-social-science-university-courses/">under-funding</a> of the social sciences. </p>
<p>Like their colleagues across East Africa, Rwandan academics’ <a href="https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/corporate/industry/poor-quality-of-varsity-education-slows-eac-growth-1972372">enormous teaching and administrative loads</a> leave little space for research and writing. </p>
<p>Less recognised, however, are the power dynamics in global academic and policy circles. International journal editors, peer reviewers and research funders routinely exclude Rwandan voices. This is driven by a pervasive view that Rwandan authors based in Rwanda cannot produce independent and rigorous research in such a repressive political environment. </p>
<p>These structural biases need to be systematically addressed if institutions and publications based in the global north are serious about the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2019/9/6/africas-next-decolonisation-battle-should-be-about-knowledge">“decolonising knowledge” agenda</a>.</p>
<p>The significance of the academic publications produced through the RPHE programme, though, is not simply that they were written by Rwandans. Crucially, these authors have begun to reorient the substance of scholarly debates about Rwanda and broader peace and conflict issues. </p>
<p>Our calls for proposals asked Rwandan researchers to independently determine the themes and methods of their research, reflecting their deep knowledge of the political, social, cultural, historical and linguistic context. By doing so, they’ve introduced new themes, angles and insights that greatly enrich the academic literature.</p>
<h2>New insights</h2>
<p>To take one example, two <a href="http://www.genocideresearchhub.org.rw/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Becoming-Historically-Marginalized-Peoples-examining-Twa-perceptions-of-boundary-shifting-and-re-categorization-in-post-genocide-Rwanda.pdf">journal</a> <a href="http://www.genocideresearchhub.org.rw/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/One-Rwanda-For-All-Rwandans-Uncovering-the-Twa-in-Post-Genocide-Rwanda.pdf">articles</a> by Richard Ntakirutimana – a member of the Rwandan Batwa community – highlight the challenges the Batwa have faced since the Rwandan government placed them under its “Historically Marginalised Peoples” banner in 2007. This category includes guaranteed parliamentary representation for women, people with disabilities, Muslims and the Batwa. But it conflates Batwa concerns with those of other marginalised communities in Rwanda. </p>
<p>Many Batwa are highly wary of researchers. But Ntakirutimana was able to conduct extensive interviews with members of the community near the forests bordering Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. His respondents roundly criticised the “Historically Marginalised Peoples” framework. They demanded government policies tailored more specifically to the plight of the Batwa.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463900/original/file-20220518-23-bsnllc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463900/original/file-20220518-23-bsnllc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463900/original/file-20220518-23-bsnllc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463900/original/file-20220518-23-bsnllc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463900/original/file-20220518-23-bsnllc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463900/original/file-20220518-23-bsnllc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463900/original/file-20220518-23-bsnllc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Researchers explore perspectives beyond the capital city, Kigali, giving voice to various Rwandan communities’ experiences.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Phil Clark</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When Ntakirutimana presented his research <a href="https://www.newtimes.co.rw/section/read/202165">at an RPHE conference in Kigali</a>, his findings generated vociferous push-back from Rwandan policymakers. His work, and that of other authors from the programme who have presented at public events, challenges a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ssqu.12346">widespread perception of Rwanda</a> as a closed political system in which independent research and public debate on politically sensitive topics are almost impossible.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463568/original/file-20220517-24-erl4qc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463568/original/file-20220517-24-erl4qc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463568/original/file-20220517-24-erl4qc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=303&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463568/original/file-20220517-24-erl4qc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=303&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463568/original/file-20220517-24-erl4qc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=303&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463568/original/file-20220517-24-erl4qc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463568/original/file-20220517-24-erl4qc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463568/original/file-20220517-24-erl4qc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The RPHE’s conferences bring together scholars, journalists and policymakers to discuss research and scholarship about Rwanda.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Aegis Trust/Flickr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Meanwhile, across a wide range of topics and disciplines, <a href="http://www.genocideresearchhub.org.rw/published_journal/">the articles published by other RPHE researchers</a> explore an overarching theme largely ignored by non-Rwandan authors: the prevalence of intra-family and inter-generational conflicts since 1994. </p>
<p>These researchers focus on genocidal legacies and the impact of post-genocide social transformation in intimate family spaces, which are difficult for non-Rwandan researchers to access. Their work thus provides vital perspectives on less visible features of Rwandan society.</p>
<h2>A gradual shift</h2>
<p>The highly talented Rwandan social science research community is beginning to gain the global platform it deserves. This shift is vital for Rwandan researchers. It benefits others, too, by producing fresh insights and challenging the structures that for years stymied these critical voices. More initiatives of this kind are essential if calls to decolonise knowledge are to become more than comforting blandishments.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183142/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicola Palmer receives funding from the British Academy and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Felix Mukwiza Ndahinda, Jason Mosley, Phil Clark, and Sandra Shenge do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Rwandan authors have long been sidelined in debates about Rwanda and other conflict-affected societies.
Felix Mukwiza Ndahinda, Honorary Associate Professor, College of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Rwanda
Jason Mosley, Research Associate, African Studies Centre, University of Oxford
Nicola Palmer, Reader in Law, King's College London
Phil Clark, Professor of International Politics, SOAS, University of London
Sandra Shenge, Director of Programs, Aegis Trust
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/183576
2022-05-23T12:25:27Z
2022-05-23T12:25:27Z
Putin’s key mistake? Not understanding Ukraine’s blossoming national identity - even in the Russian-friendly southeast
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464570/original/file-20220520-18-dedifa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=675%2C271%2C4501%2C3174&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Vladimir Putin has written and spoken about how Ukrainians and Russians are 'one people.'</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/russian-president-vladimir-putin-seen-during-the-summit-of-news-photo/1240707725?adppopup=true">Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine in February 2022 has, thus far, produced the opposite of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-18/the-three-biggest-failures-for-russian-troops-in-ukraine/101071150">what he expected</a>.</p>
<p>Rather than deepening political <a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-vladimir-putin-west-eu-nato-f810a6d94524b804730a9704ad4f0a87">fissures in the West</a>, Putin’s invasion has <a href="https://morningconsult.com/2022/05/12/ukraine-war-european-union-bond/">united the leaders and populations</a> of the majority of countries across Europe <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/05/19/finland-sweden-nato-maps/">and encouraged further NATO expansion</a>. </p>
<p>Putin also seems to have believed <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/03/18/russia-putin-ukraine-war-three-weeks/">it would be relatively easy</a> to capture Ukraine’s capital and topple its government. Instead, the Russian military lost the battle for Kyiv and experienced <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/15/us/politics/russia-moskva-ship-sunk-ukraine.html">the humiliating sinking of its flagship Black Sea cruiser</a>, leaving Putin to oversee <a href="https://millercenter.org/putins-subdued-victory-day-speech">subdued Victory Day celebrations</a> on May 9, 2022. </p>
<p>These defeats, together with the deaths of <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/international/3489148-uk-russia-has-likely-lost-one-third-of-ground-combat-forces-in-ukraine/">thousands of Russian soldiers</a>, have forced Putin’s generals in Ukraine to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/frontlines-moving-battle-donbas-ukraine-mounts-counter-offensive-2022-05-15/">shift course</a> and focus their attacks on the east and southeast of the country - areas that are more linguistically and ethnically Russian. The <a href="https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-fighting-donbas-kharkiv/31851233.html">early results</a> of the campaign to gain control in eastern Ukraine were disappointing for Putin. Once again, the resentment of Ukrainian civilians <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-collects-russian-dead-war-rages-multiple-fronts-2022-05-14/">and effectiveness</a> of the Ukrainian military stood in sharp contrast to his expected outcome. </p>
<p>Most leaders’ decisions are based on a mix of rational calculations and preexisting mindsets. Putin is no exception. </p>
<p>One of his key convictions is that Russians and Ukrainians are the same people, an idea he <a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-oliver-stone-europe-russia-ukraine-3fe3ff2299994fae97825381765b831c">has talked</a> and <a href="https://huri.harvard.edu/news/putin-historical-unity">written about</a> for years. It is an important part of why he proclaimed Russian soldiers would be welcomed in Ukraine. </p>
<p>Understanding Putin’s poor judgment requires a look at his failure to grasp shifts in how Ukrainian citizens have identified themselves since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. </p>
<h2>Drifting from Russia</h2>
<p>For much of the period since <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/12/24/1066861022/how-the-soviet-unions-collapse-explains-the-current-russia-ukraine-tension">the breakup of the Soviet Union</a>, Ukraine saw <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/05/01/is-this-new-era-ukrainian-politics/">notable regional differences</a> in levels of support for pro-Russian presidential candidates vs. pro-Western ones. This pattern reflected the reality that many residents of the far eastern and far southern parts of the country saw themselves as closely aligned, culturally and politically, with Russia. Those in the far west of Ukraine, meanwhile, tended to identify with Europe more than Russia. </p>
<p>The visible divides in presidential election voting masked an important set of changes, in which Ukraine was becoming increasingly more Ukrainian - linguistically, ethnically and nationally. Going as far back as <a href="https://shron1.chtyvo.org.ua/Hrytsak_Yaroslav/National_Identities_in_Post-Soviet_Ukraine_The_Case_of_Lviv_and_Donetsk__en.pdf">the late 1990s</a> and <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4147368">early 2000s</a>, social science researchers <a href="https://www.marquette.edu/political-science/directory/lowell-barrington.php">like myself</a> have emphasized how Ukraine’s population, as a whole, was connecting less and less with Russia. At the same time, a discrete Ukrainian national identity was beginning to emerge. </p>
<p>This process sped up in 2013 and 2014, when the Russian-friendly President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, chose to sign an agreement with the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union rather than with the European Union. Yanukovych’s decision sparked massive protests, known as the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30131108">Maidan Revolution</a>, which forced Yanukovych to flee the country. Putin’s subsequent actions <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/19/world/europe/ukraine.html">to seize Crimea</a> and aid separatist activities in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Donbas">Donbas</a> region of eastern Ukraine accelerated <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2022.2032606">the weakening of the country’s attachment to Russia</a> and the yearning among Ukrainians <a href="https://www.kiis.com.ua/?lang=eng&cat=reports&id=1083&page=1">to look westward to Europe</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://huri.harvard.edu/people/volodymyr-kulyk">Volodymyr Kulyk</a>, one of the most important scholars on Ukrainian identity and public attitudes about Russia, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2016.1174980">argued in 2016</a> that the blurry line dividing those who identified with the West from those who supported close ties to Russia “shifted eastward” after 2014. </p>
<p>Political scientist <a href="https://harriman.columbia.edu/person/elise-giuliano/">Elise Giuliano</a>, a specialist on the politics of ethnic identity, provided evidence <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1060586X.2018.1447769">in a 2018 article</a> that the majority of ethnic Russians in the Donbas did not support the actions of the pro-Russian separatists seeking to secede from Ukraine. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Women and men hold yellow and blue banner and yellow and blue balloons." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464569/original/file-20220520-24-ig14ad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464569/original/file-20220520-24-ig14ad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464569/original/file-20220520-24-ig14ad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464569/original/file-20220520-24-ig14ad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464569/original/file-20220520-24-ig14ad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464569/original/file-20220520-24-ig14ad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464569/original/file-20220520-24-ig14ad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Activists in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine prepare to release balloons into separatist-held territories in February 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/group-of-activists-in-the-donbas-region-of-eastern-ukraine-news-photo/1238346953?adppopup=true">Ali Atmaca/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A national identity deepens</h2>
<p>Growing support after 2014 across Ukraine for an overarching, civic national identity - based on Ukrainian citizenship rather than ethnic identity - was the most crucial change. It offered a means to unite ethnic Ukrainians and ethnic Russians in Ukraine. </p>
<p>My latest research examines the strength of a citizenship-based, civic national identity in Ukraine and how it relates to ethnic identity and language. </p>
<p>Quantitative and qualitative survey data offers evidence of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1060586X.2020.1851541">how weak Ukrainians’ attachment to Russia</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1060586X.2020.1851541">how strong their attachment to Ukrainian citizenship</a> had already become before 2022, even among ethnic Russians and Russian-speaking Ukrainians. </p>
<p>Most respondents viewed a civic national identity based on citizenship as an important part of their self-identity. More participants in the survey saw this kind of national identity as an important or very important part of who they are than those who felt that way about the region they live in, the language they speak or their ethnic identity. Comments from respondents about the importance of being a Ukrainian citizen included statements like “Because I love my country”; “I do not betray my country”; and “I am proud of Ukraine, and I am a patriot.”</p>
<p>The results also underscore that it is not contradictory for people to perceive this kind of national identity as an important part of their identity while also feeling the same way about their ethnic identity, spoken language or region. In Ukraine at least, ethnic identity and a multiethnic, civic national identity are not the incompatible rivals they’re sometimes thought to be.</p>
<p>And so I wasn’t surprised to read about <a href="https://www.afr.com/world/europe/russia-linked-ukraine-mayor-says-he-ll-die-fighting-putin-s-invaders-20220324-p5a7gm">Oleksandr Vilkul’s staunch defense</a> of Ukrainian sovereignty. A powerful politician in southeastern Ukraine, Vilkul had long espoused support for the rights of Russian speakers and closer ties with Russia. In early May 2022, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/07/world/europe/russia-putin-ukraine-politicians.html">The New York Times reported</a> that the Russians approached Vilkul with an offer to align with the invading Russian forces.</p>
<p>Vilkul’s response?</p>
<p>“Get lost.”</p>
<h2>Looking westward</h2>
<p>Putin’s aggressive actions in the years leading up to the 2022 invasion had convinced Russian-speakers like Vilkul in eastern and southern Ukraine to think of themselves, first and foremost, <a href="https://www.afr.com/world/europe/russia-linked-ukraine-mayor-says-he-ll-die-fighting-putin-s-invaders-20220324-p5a7gm">as Ukrainians</a>. </p>
<p>The horrific attacks Putin has unleashed this spring will only accelerate this process, I believe. The time and firepower needed to gain control of Mariupol, a <a href="https://voxukraine.org/en/the-elephant-in-mariupol/">heavily Russian-speaking city</a> in eastern Ukraine, is <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/5/17/23037687/mariupol-evacuation-ukraine-russia">symbolic of Russia’s short-term struggles</a> and long-term problems.</p>
<p>Even if the Russian military were to gain and keep control of Ukraine’s east and southeast, it will come only after a long and terrible period of fighting and bombing. More homes, schools and hospitals in Ukraine’s most ethnically and linguistically Russian areas will be destroyed, and many more of the very people Putin claimed he <a href="https://twitter.com/mission_russian/status/1496874393485598725?s=20&t=glWDTkaqh_jSoy-bt179HA">sought to protect</a> will lose their lives. </p>
<p>To the extent Ukrainians and Russians in Ukraine see themselves as one people, they increasingly do so as part of a multiethnic Ukrainian national identity anchored by shared citizenship and a shared love of the country Putin’s forces continue to assault. </p>
<p>In the long term, the ongoing attacks will further reinforce Ukraine’s civic national identity and solidify what Putin fears most from Ukraine: a broad desire to look westward, rather than eastward, for its future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183576/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lowell Barrington does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Studies on Ukraine going as far back as the late 1990s and early 2000s showed that the country’s population was connecting less and less with Russia.
Lowell Barrington, Associate Professor of Political Science , Marquette University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/182099
2022-04-29T11:50:46Z
2022-04-29T11:50:46Z
Nationality and Borders Act becomes law: five key changes explained
<p>At almost the last minute before the parliamentary session ended, after months of pushback from the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/04/priti-patels-immigration-bill-suffers-at-least-10-defeats-in-lords">House of Lords</a> and despite vehement protests from those supporting refugees and migrants, the UK government has succeed in introducing the <a href="https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3023/publications">Nationality and Borders Act</a>.</p>
<p>These are the five significant changes that will dramatically alter asylum and citizenship rules under the new UK law:</p>
<h2>1. Asylum seekers can be sent to Rwanda</h2>
<p>The plan to process asylum claims in <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-uks-plan-to-send-asylum-seekers-to-rwanda-is-21st-century-imperialism-writ-large-181501">Rwanda</a> is undoubtedly the biggest headline change brought in by the Nationality and Borders Act. It has been widely condemned by human rights experts.</p>
<p>This route will be used to deal with what the government considers “inadmissable” asylum claims – including people who can no longer be returned to European transit countries following the UK’s exit from the European Union. This is an intensification of the longstanding trend of countries like the UK preferring ever more restrictive, “remote-control” approaches to reduce access to their territory, thereby avoiding asylum claims. Judging by the results of <a href="https://theconversation.com/multibillion-dollar-strategy-with-no-end-in-sight-australias-enduring-offshore-processing-deal-with-nauru-168941">Australia’s similar scheme</a>, this will lead to tragic and harmful consequences for asylum seekers and will also be extremely costly for the UK.</p>
<p>There are doubts about how the Rwanda plan will actually work (legal challenges have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/apr/27/priti-patel-faces-legal-challenge-over-rwanda-asylum-seeker-plan">already been mounted</a>) but the effects are already being felt as fear spreads among asylum seekers awaiting a ruling on their status.</p>
<h2>2. Home secretary can strip your citizenship without warning</h2>
<p>There are many new or enhanced powers for the home secretary included in the new legislation. Perhaps the most notable is the ability to deprive British people of their citizenship without notice. This has not garnered as much attention as the offshoring plans, but could potentially affect <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/the-explainer/2021/12/what-does-the-nationality-and-borders-bill-mean-for-you">millions of people</a>. </p>
<p>The law does not allow the government to leave anyone stateless so the people most at risk from being stripped of their citizenship without notice are those born in other countries or who, for whatever reason, hold dual citizenship.</p>
<p>There is scant protection for these people. Simply being eligible for citizenship of another country may be considered sufficient to safeguard against statelessness – even if, in practice, the state in question is unlikely to cooperate and grant such citizenship.</p>
<h2>3. Asylum seekers can be criminalised</h2>
<p>The new law creates two classes of asylum seeker based on how they arrived in the UK. “Group 1” consists of those who meet new entry requirements; “group 2” is made up of those who do not.</p>
<p>Most people attempting to claim asylum in the UK if they are not able to get a visa (nearly impossible from most countries where asylum seekers come from) will now be designated as “group 2”.</p>
<p>If they arrive in the UK without valid entry clearance they will be committing an offence and will be liable to prosecution. The idea that a person’s right to claim asylum is based on how they reach the UK is significant – and as with nearly all the new law, targets those crossing the English Channel on small boats.</p>
<p>As with much of the political rhetoric around immigration and asylum, the increased use of criminal justice measures is couched in the language of anti-trafficking. By criminalising those who facilitate irregular migration, or the irregular migrants themselves, it is argued that the “evil business of people smuggling” will be disrupted. But evidence suggests that increased enforcement and security tends to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5049707/">backfire</a>. Experts repeatedly point to the more <a href="https://www.jcwi.org.uk/briefing-safe-routes-to-the-uk">obvious solution</a> of providing safe routes. The Nationality and Borders Act serves to make journeys more dangerous rather than doing anything effective to stop them. </p>
<h2>4. People who arrive over the Channel can be treated more harshly</h2>
<p>Under the new law, people designated “group 2” will be treated more harshly. The home secretary can now even provide different types of accommodation to the different groups, depending on how they arrived in the UK or whether they previously broke immigration rules.</p>
<p>The effects of this innovation may end up being more significant than the plan to send people to Rwanda because it is likely to apply to many more people – not only those who can be deported. </p>
<p>The decision-making system in the Home Office is already complicated. Adding another two-tier element to the asylum process will make things even worse. This looks a lot like a deliberate move to further degrade the already low level of support provided. It’s likely to increase the harmful consequences of Home Office decision-making for those caught up in the system. </p>
<h2>5. Protections against modern slavery are being undermined</h2>
<p>The parts of the law which criminalise individuals involved in irregular migration connect with another important element – the assumed nexus between asylum and modern slavery. This matter takes up a significant amount of real estate in the new law.</p>
<p>One might assume provisions here would be aimed at better protecting people who are being exploited, but that would miss the mark. There is a remarkable consistency across the new law in terms of its main goal to stop people crossing the Channel in small boats and to make it easier to remove them if they make it over.</p>
<p>Accordingly, the main thrust of the modern slavery provisions in this new law is to reduce the possibility for people whose asylum claims are considered “inadmissable” to avoid removal by falsely claiming they have been exploited. This, it is claimed, will solve the problem of people using (“abusing”) the system designed to address modern slavery to frustrate attempts at removal.</p>
<p>Again, the impacts of these changes are difficult to gauge, but the shift towards making it harder for people to seek protection from exploitation as a means to reduce asylum claims can hardly be seen as a move to tackle traffickers and protect their victims, however the home secretary wishes to spin it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182099/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alex Balch receives funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council. </span></em></p>
From sending arrivals to Rwanda to stripping citizenship without notice – it’s little wonder the government has had to fight to get this legislation passed.
Alex Balch, Senior Lecturer, Department of Politics, University of Liverpool
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/179150
2022-03-21T20:33:21Z
2022-03-21T20:33:21Z
Ukraine refugee crisis exposes racism and contradictions in the definition of human
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452270/original/file-20220315-25-i4kwhh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=242%2C335%2C7467%2C4774&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">African residents in Ukraine wait at Lviv railway station on Feb. 27, 2022. The Ukraine refugee crisis revealed deep-seated racism as racialized and Black refugees from Ukraine were treated differently.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Not only has the Russian invasion of Ukraine brought to light the awful tragedies that accompany armed conflict, but the subsequent refugee crisis has also uncovered deeply seated racism in the country. </p>
<p>Reporters have documented dehumanizing treatment against <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/03/05/russia-ukraine-war-african-students-say-they-faced-guns-hostile-guards-as-they-fled-ukraine/?utm_source=twitter_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site%20buttons&utm_campaign=site%20buttons">international students from Africa</a>, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-16/indian-students-trapped-in-ukraine-amid-accusations-of-racism/100910370">South Asia</a> and <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/5/thats-poland-now-walk-arab-students-plight-out-of-ukraine">the Middle East</a> in Ukraine. This treatment also extended to racialized permanent residents of Ukraine, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/day6/fleeing-ukraine-twisted-sister-s-dee-snider-batman-movies-ranked-pandemic-travel-tips-and-more-1.6373164/nigerian-doctor-fleeing-kyiv-for-poland-calls-treatment-by-ukrainian-officials-dehumanizing-1.6373301">including a long-time practising Nigerian doctor</a>.</p>
<p>While white women and children were given priority on vehicles departing the country, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-63-the-current/clip/15898360-russians-speaking-invasion-ukraine-despite-risk-entails-refugees?share=true">African women</a> were barred from trains leaving Kyiv even though there were empty seats.</p>
<p>These incidents demonstrate a racist logic that positions some people as vulnerable, and others as beyond the realm of moral obligation to receive protection. Black and racialized people, it seems, are not as deserving of care. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1497974245737050120"}"></div></p>
<p>As Black Studies researchers in the field of education, we study how colonialism and anti-Blackness shape what we know. Although some have been shocked by these reports, we are not surprised. </p>
<p>The contradictions inherent in the incidents of racism occurring in Ukraine are part of a long legacy of the exclusive ways the West defines who counts as human.</p>
<h2>Appalled, but not surprised</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A group of Black students wait at a railway station with suitcases." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452574/original/file-20220316-8547-1x1mdi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452574/original/file-20220316-8547-1x1mdi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452574/original/file-20220316-8547-1x1mdi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452574/original/file-20220316-8547-1x1mdi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452574/original/file-20220316-8547-1x1mdi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452574/original/file-20220316-8547-1x1mdi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452574/original/file-20220316-8547-1x1mdi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nigerian students trying to flee Ukraine wait at the platform in Lviv railway station in February.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The liberal notion of western society was forged during the 15th-19th centuries <a href="https://cosmopolis.woo.cat/media/pages/events/08-11-19/collective-thinking/2931087183-1573123705/sylvia-wynter-1492-a-new-world-view.pdf">when Africans were enslaved across the West</a>. Because of this, liberal conceptions of justice do not consider Indigenous, Black and racialized persons to be on the same level as white Europeans. </p>
<p>For example, the French Revolution pursued the values of liberté, egalité, fraternité even <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/86417/the-black-jacobins-by-c-l-r-james/">while the French fought to uphold Black enslavement in Haiti (then known as Saint Domingue).</a> </p>
<p>Similarly, the American constitution declared that “all men are created equal” while declaring that <a href="https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/events-african-american-history/three-fifths-clause-united-states-constitution-1787/">Black persons counted as only three-fifths of a person</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.4000/rccs.6793">The 1948 UN Declaration of human rights</a> was created to contest Nazism and anti-semitism, but did not seek to redress centuries of colonialism of racialized people. Author and poet <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt9qfkrm.4">Aimé Césaire pointed out</a>: “Europeans tolerated Nazism before it was inflicted on them… because until then, it had been applied only to non-European people.”</p>
<h2>Different levels of ‘human’</h2>
<p>Jamaican philosopher Sylvia Wynter explores the contradictions within our working definitions of what it means to be human. She explains that since <a href="https://trueleappress.files.wordpress.com/2020/04/wynter-columbus-and-the-poetics-of-the-propter-nos-1.pdf">the rise of Renaissance Humanism</a> and the spread of colonialism, western origin stories have used a binary opposition between an ideal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/ncr.2004.0015">Human and a “dysselected other”</a>, where the “other” is Black, Indigenous or racialized. </p>
<p>Beginning in the 15th century, when Europeans began colonizing the Americas, <a href="https://monoskop.org/File:Wynter_Sylvia_1995_The_Pope_Must_Have_Been_Drunk_the_King_of_Castile_a_Madman.pdf">European intellectuals introduced an origin story</a> that considered rationality the defining characteristic of being human. </p>
<p>In contrast, they <a href="https://www.dloc.com/UF00090030/00043/images/26">framed Indigenous people in the Americas, and Africans everywhere, as inherently lacking rationality</a>, marking them as less than fully human. This logic justified European colonialism and the dispossession of Indigenous peoples. Africans and their descendants would be viewed as enslaveable by nature, supposedly the most lacking in reason. </p>
<p>Around the 18th century, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/ncr.2004.0015">a revised origin story</a> placed all human groups in a supposed evolutionary hierarchy in which white people were seen as the pinnacle of human development. </p>
<p>All these origin stories have one thing in common: they require the dehumanization of non-white, and especially Black, people. The idea of Black humanity becomes an oxymoron. </p>
<p>As the crisis in Ukraine shows, this continues today, allowing some human beings to be disregarded as what <a href="https://www.editionsladecouverte.fr/les_damnes_de_la_terre-9782707142818">Frantz Fanon calls “les damnés.”</a> The racist behaviour at both individual and state levels is rooted in longstanding origin stories. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A soldier holds a bundled up baby while another soldier stands beside him with a bag" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452570/original/file-20220316-7542-1n88184.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452570/original/file-20220316-7542-1n88184.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452570/original/file-20220316-7542-1n88184.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452570/original/file-20220316-7542-1n88184.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452570/original/file-20220316-7542-1n88184.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452570/original/file-20220316-7542-1n88184.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452570/original/file-20220316-7542-1n88184.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Polish soldiers come to the aid of refugees fleeing war in neighboring Ukraine as they arrive at the Medyka border crossing on March 10, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Daniel Cole)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The boundary between ‘humans’ and others</h2>
<p>The prioritization of some people over others, based on racist logic, is a result of these origin stories. </p>
<p>Some reporters have expressed disbelief that a refugee crisis could occur in Europe among people <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2022/02/27/media-ukraine-offensive-comparisons/">“so like us.”</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://www.minnpost.com/community-voices/2022/03/why-dont-we-treat-all-refugees-as-though-they-were-ukrainian/">White Ukrainian refugees are treated differently than racialized refugees</a> from places like <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/17/calais-ukraine-refugees-migrants/">South Sudan</a>, Somalia, Syria, Afghanistan and Haiti.</p>
<p>For example, Canada has accepted <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/multiple-refugee-crises-across-globe-put-pressure-on-canada-s-immigration-system-1.6389238">the same number of refugees from Ukraine in the last three months as from Afghanistan</a> over the past year, despite longstanding promises to accept Afghan refugees.</p>
<p>European countries that <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/politics-nationalism-and-religion-explain-why-poland-doesnt-want-refugees/">originally resisted admitting racialized refugees have now felt moved to provide refuge</a> for their fellow white Europeans. </p>
<p>The imagined racial boundary between selected and dysselected explains this difference in treatment. This boundary is so entrenched, that even when racism is pointed out, it is difficult for many to avoid. </p>
<p>When asked about the reports of racism, <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-ambassador-black-asian-refugees-racism-b2031847.html">Ukraine ambassador to the United Kingdom Vadym Prystaiko said</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Maybe we will put all foreigners in some other place so they won’t be visible… And (then) there won’t be conflict with Ukrainians trying to flee in the same direction.” </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>A vision of ‘the human’ for all humans</h2>
<p>Genuine change begins with a re-imagined notion of the human. <a href="https://trueleappress.files.wordpress.com/2020/04/wynter.black-studies-manifesto.pdf">Wynter advocates for</a> the rupture of these definitions of the “human” and replacing them with a revolutionary definition that values all humans. </p>
<p>Wynter also says that a revolutionary notion of the human is best crafted by those who most experience <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/mono/10.4324/9781315052717-8/towards-sociogenic-principle-fanon-identity-puzzle-conscious-experience-like-black-antonio-gomez-moriana-mercedes-duran-cogan">the discrepancy between the current definition of the “human” and their own humanity</a>. </p>
<p>Indeed, throughout history, Black freedom movements have been essential to challenging dehumanizing conditions. They have recognized the futility of depending on western systems to correct themselves since they are founded on anti-Blackness. </p>
<p>In this spirit, we pose these questions for consideration:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>What does it mean to be human, and what will it take for us to recognize everyone’s humanity, vulnerability and dignity without condition?</p></li>
<li><p>What might be required to make ostensible spaces of refuge into true refuge for everyone? </p></li>
<li><p>How might the experiences of Black and racialized persons in this crisis be embraced as the foundation for necessary policy change?</p></li>
<li><p>What can we learn from Black Studies and Black liberation struggles toward crafting a vision of the “human” in which all humans count?</p></li>
</ul><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179150/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The racism seen in the Ukraine refugee crisis reflects a long legacy of how the West defines who is human. We need a new definition that respects the dignity of all humans.
Philip S. S. Howard, Assistant Professor of Education, McGill University
Bryan Chan Yen Johnson, Faculty Lecturer, School of Continuing Studies, McGill University
Kevin Ah-Sen, PhD Student in Education, McGill University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/178118
2022-03-11T20:24:39Z
2022-03-11T20:24:39Z
Ukraine: How citizenship and race play out in refugees’ movements in Europe
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451616/original/file-20220311-17-bgapfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C7722%2C5144&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">African residents in Ukraine wait at the platform inside Lviv railway station on Feb. 27, 2022.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As millions of refugees flee Ukraine as a result of the Russian invasion, one question that has been raised is: Why have Ukrainians been welcomed into eastern Europe, unlike Syrians, Iraqis, Afghans and Eritreans? Is it because they are white?</p>
<p>Criticisms imply that the European Union treats refugees from the Global South differently, and that <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/europe-racism-ukraine-refugees-1.6367932">such treatment is based on race</a>. Critics also highlight that Romania and Poland’s hospitality to Ukrainians stands in <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/europe-welcomes-ukrainian-refugees-83153021">stark contrast to their past reluctance to accommodate refugees from Africa and the Middle East</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ODMOzwI__zs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Al Jazeera looks at the treatment of Black and Indian refugees at the Polish border.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yet hasty interpretations that single out race as the primary force in refugee favouritism simplify geopolitical realities. They also ignore the <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/policies/migration-and-asylum/common-european-asylum-system_en">EU legislative framework that produces categories of refugees based on nationality and citizenship</a>.</p>
<p>Europe rests on a <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/what-does-a-multi-speed-eu-mean-for-central-and-eastern-europe/a-38016484">hierarchy of nations</a>, with older EU members at the top of the pile followed by new members, and then countries being considered for membership in the EU. At the bottom of the pile is everyone else.</p>
<h2>Geopolitics play a role</h2>
<p>Commitments to welcoming <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/war-ukraine-russia-send-one-million-refugees-fleeing-poland/">one million Ukrainians to Poland</a> and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/romania-could-take-500000-ukrainian-refugees-if-needed-defence-minister-2022-02-22/">500,000 to Romania</a> are linked to these countries’ geographical proximity to the Ukrainian border.</p>
<p>Refugees usually head to the closest safe place. Think of the Syrian war: neighbouring Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan resettled the largest number of Syrians. <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/turkey/registered-syrian-refugees-host-countriesnovember-2021-egypt-iraq-jordan-lebanon-and">Turkey hosts close to four million, Lebanon over 800,000 and Jordan close to 700,000</a>. </p>
<p>Similarly, more than half of Eritrean refugees are in <a href="https://eritreanrefugees.org/refugee-stats/">neighbouring Ethiopia and Sudan</a>. Bangladesh also hosts the majority of <a href="https://www.unrefugees.org/news/rohingya-refugee-crisis-explained">Rohingya refugees from neighbouring Myanmar</a>.</p>
<p>Ethnic composition and regional labour market flows also play a role. Poland is the <a href="https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/iom-poland-is-main-destination-for-migration-of-ukrainians.html">primary EU destination country for Ukrainian migrants</a>. By the end of 2020, a record number of <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10290-021-00437-y">a million and a half Ukrainians</a> had migrated to Poland for work. </p>
<p>In Ukraine, <a href="https://ukrainian-studies.ca/2021/02/26/hungarian-and-romanian-minorities-in-ukraine-conditions-and-status/">close to 160,000 people are ethnic Hungarians, and over 150,000 are of the Romanian minority</a>. The <a href="https://uur.ro/alegeri-parlamentare-2020/">Union of the Ukrainians in Romania</a> is an ethnically based political party with a seat in the national parliament.</p>
<p>Ukrainians regularly cross regional borders for personal reasons, such as accessing <a href="https://www.libertatea.ro/stiri/marturia-unei-mame-din-ucraina-care-vine-de-trei-ori-pe-saptamana-in-romania-pentru-dializa-la-vama-pe-partea-noastra-oamenii-platesc-spaga-ca-sa-treaca-4002985">medical care</a> or visiting family.</p>
<h2>Pre-existing affinities</h2>
<p>Eastern Europe shares a common <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/165603/carlson-russia-ukraine-imperialism-nato">Soviet history</a> and after the end of the Cold War in 1989, an <a href="https://www.veridica.ro/en/analyses/is-romania-still-an-anti-russia-stronghold-in-the-region">anti-Russian sentiment</a>. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, most eastern European states <a href="https://libcom.org/library/back-banality-gm-tam%C3%A1s">rejected communist ideas as being Russian-centric</a>. Integration into the West and the adoption of liberal ideas of freedom, free market and democracy, have become synonymous with opposing Russian neo-imperialism.</p>
<p>Solidarity based on a <a href="https://lefteast.org/revisiting-ambiguous-revolutions-1989/">similar history of oppression</a> is common across <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/26925341">the former Eastern Bloc countries (the Soviet Union, Poland, East Germany, Albania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Romania, Czechoslovakia and Hungary)</a>. A shared memory of Russian aggression makes the pain of Ukrainians more intelligible <a href="https://www.focaalblog.com/2022/02/28/derek-hall-russias-invasion-of-ukraine-a-response-to-david-harvey/#more-3696">to other eastern Europeans</a>.</p>
<p>Linguistic similarities between Ukrainian and Polish make Poland more accessible to Ukrainian migrants. Both languages are Slavic and <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/41036749">have long influenced each other</a>. The Polish and Ukrainians <a href="https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=911908">close to the border</a> <a href="https://youtu.be/UM0Qd5-8oo0">largely understand what each other is saying</a>.</p>
<p>Most countries <a href="https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351018944">from the former Eastern Bloc are Christian Orthodox</a>. Not only is Christian Orthodoxy intertwined with <a href="https://www.pewforum.org/2017/05/10/religious-belief-and-national-belonging-in-central-and-eastern-europe/">national identity</a> but Orthodoxy has also <a href="https://www.worldatlas.com/feature/are-soviet-member-countries-more-religious-today.html">flourished</a> since the fall of Communism. In Ukraine, <a href="https://www.worldatlas.com/feature/are-soviet-member-countries-more-religious-today.html">about 39 per cent of the population self-identified as Orthodox in 1991 — by 2015, the number had doubled</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451621/original/file-20220311-27-32lk6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a soldier stands in rubble and takes a photograph of a damaged church" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451621/original/file-20220311-27-32lk6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451621/original/file-20220311-27-32lk6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451621/original/file-20220311-27-32lk6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451621/original/file-20220311-27-32lk6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451621/original/file-20220311-27-32lk6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451621/original/file-20220311-27-32lk6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451621/original/file-20220311-27-32lk6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Ukrainian serviceman takes a photograph of a damaged church after shelling in a residential district in Mariupol, Ukraine.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Ukraine’s position</h2>
<p>Ukraine is not a member of the EU, but it is a signatory to the <a href="https://eeas.europa.eu/diplomatic-network/european-neighbourhood-policy-enp_en">European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP)</a> and the <a href="http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2016/november/tradoc_155103.pdf">2014 EU-Ukraine Association Agreement</a>.</p>
<p>The 2014 Association Agreement was key in defining Ukraine as a European country with shared common history and values. It also paved the way for <a href="https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/schengen-visa-countries-list/">granting Ukrainians visa-free access to the Schengen Area</a>, which comprises all the EU members except Ireland, as well as Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Lichtenstein, for up to 90 days.</p>
<p>Both agreements outline the foreign policy expectations of countries on the path to EU integration. These agreements legally produce different categories of migrants. Ukrainians are on the path to integration into the European labour market, unlike <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/pages/glossary/third-country-national_en">third-country nationals</a>, defined as non-citizens without the right to free movement in the EU.</p>
<p>Through a budget of <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/policy/what/glossary/e/european-neighbourhood-investment">15.4 billion euros</a>, the ENP supports economic and social reforms for neighbouring countries of the EU including Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Moldova, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia and Ukraine. </p>
<p>Since 2014, the ENP has funnelled more than <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/european-neighbourhood-policy/countries-region/ukraine_en">200 million euros</a> to help Ukraine’s path to EU integration. Ukraine has received <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/STATEMENT_22_545">over 17 billion euros in grants and loans</a>, inclusive of financial supports for the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>
<h2>Fortress Europe</h2>
<p>With central and eastern European member states <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/factsheets/en/sheet/167/the-enlargement-of-the-union">joining the EU in 2004, 2007 and 2013</a>, eastern Europe has became the bordering outskirts of the EU. And so recent refugee flows have to be managed in the peripheral east, now tasked with <a href="https://www.tni.org/es/node/23373">militarizing their borders</a> and keeping refugees out.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-eu-is-the-real-villain-in-the-poland-belarus-migrant-crisis-172132">The EU is the real villain in the Poland-Belarus migrant crisis</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In contrast to the warm welcome granted to Ukrainian refugees, Poland has recently let <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/09/poland-belarus-border-crisis-migrants-eu-explainer">Iraqi and Afghani refugees freeze to death</a> at its eastern border. It was the EU that tripled the border management funds to Latvia, Lithuania and Poland to <a href="https://euromedrights.org/publication/new-commission-proposal-on-migrants-at-eu-belarus-border-sets-dangerous-precedent/">reduce access to asylum</a>, and increase border push-backs and detentions. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1496812180070707206"}"></div></p>
<h2>Citizenship or race?</h2>
<p>The mistreatment of foreign nationals fleeing Ukraine <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/europe-racism-ukraine-refugees-1.6367932">has been attributed to race</a>.</p>
<p>“Black people” and “African students” are terms interchangeably <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/african-students-ukrainians-first-policy-preventing-them-leaving-war-zone-2022-2">used to describe</a> those being held back at borders or being prevented from boarding evacuation buses. </p>
<p>Ukraine has continued the former Soviet tradition of regularly recruiting Global South students within the medical field. India, Morocco, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Nigeria, China, Turkey, Egypt, Israel and Uzbekistan are the top <a href="https://www.firstpost.com/world/explained-why-medical-universities-in-ukraine-attract-indian-students-in-big-numbers-10408361.html">10 countries of origin for international students in Ukraine</a>. </p>
<p>Much of eastern Europe is made out of racially homogeneous countries, where non-citizens are often visibly non-white. Using a racial lens to understand how borders respond to the attempts of international students to cross them diverts attention from citizenship regimes in allocating rights. </p>
<p>It also minimizes the larger problem at hand — the precarious status of temporary residents, including international students, who inhabit a marginal position by bureaucratic design.</p>
<p>Citizenship becomes the primary basis of exclusion. It is a related phenomenon that citizenship gets descriptively associated with race.</p>
<p>We do not intend to legitimize the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/mar/02/civilised-european-look-like-us-racist-coverage-ukraine">racist and discriminatory coverage</a> that has surfaced in relation to the Ukrainian refugee crisis.</p>
<p>Race does matter in refugee favouritism. But the opening of refugee corridors to Ukraine’s neighbours has little to do with race and more to do with geopolitical and citizenship regimes that determine freedom of movement within Europe.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/178118/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Raluca Bejan receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Canada for the "Refugee Integration in South East Europe (RISEE)" project.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rene Bogovic receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Canada for the "Refugee Integration in South East Europe (RISEE)" project.</span></em></p>
Ukraine’s history with the former Soviet Union and its current relationship with the European Union inform how refugees move across borders. While race plays a role, citizenship is also an important factor.
Raluca Bejan, Assistant Professor of Social Work, Dalhousie University
Rene Bogovic, PhD Candidate, Sociology, University of Toronto
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/173733
2022-02-23T01:03:45Z
2022-02-23T01:03:45Z
How sport can help young people to become better citizens
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447690/original/file-20220222-25-1dc1634.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/5821004209">woodleywonderworks/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Most Australians have followed health advice to <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-09/coronavirus-majority-australians-support-mandatory-face-masks/12641758">wear face masks</a> and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-02/charting-australias-covid-vaccine-rollout/13197518">have COVID-19 vaccinations</a>. Actions like these that benefit others are known in psychology as prosocial behaviours. In a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886920307261">COVID context</a>, prosocial behaviours reduce the spread of the virus and keep health-care institutions functioning. </p>
<p>The likelihood of prosocial behaviour by an individual is <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0791603519863295">affected by their values</a>. In particular, their social and civic values influence their concern for the welfare of others.</p>
<p>We recently undertook <a href="http://ecite.utas.edu.au/146795">research</a> on possible connections between sport and promoting thinking about social issues and the common good. Working with health and physical education student teachers, we explored shared learning opportunities between two areas of the Australian Curriculum, <a href="https://australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/health-and-physical-education/?strand=Personal,+Social+and+Community+Health&strand=Movement+and+Physical+Activity&capability=ignore&priority=ignore&elaborations=true">Health and Physical Education</a>, and <a href="https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/humanities-and-social-sciences/civics-and-citizenship/">Civics and Citizenship Education</a>. Fair play, ethical debates and dilemmas, community involvement, identity and inclusivity are areas where sport and civic values intersect.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-kids-whod-get-the-most-out-of-extracurricular-activities-are-missing-out-heres-how-to-improve-access-169447">The kids who'd get the most out of extracurricular activities are missing out – here's how to improve access</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Civic values help keep people happy and secure in a functional society. In democracies such as <a href="https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/teachingresources/discipline/humanities/civics/Pages/default.aspx">Australia</a>, these values include freedom, equality, responsibility, accountability, respect, tolerance and inclusion. </p>
<p>When young people learn these values it helps create a cohesive society.
This has become increasingly important in light of COVID misinformation and conspiracy theories, and the various threats to democracy around the world in recent years.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1213098940360515584"}"></div></p>
<h2>What does sport have to do with civic values?</h2>
<p>Adolescence is an <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0791603519863295">important time</a> for developing civic values. Personal life experiences, relationships and social contexts all influence this development. These contexts can include home, school and extracurricular activities such as sport.</p>
<p>Sport is a big part of the lives of many young people. It <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18971513/">provides</a> opportunities for:</p>
<ul>
<li>participation</li>
<li>breaking down cultural barriers</li>
<li>building community identity</li>
<li>making friends, developing networks and reducing social isolation.</li>
</ul>
<p>Sport requires us to work with others to achieve team goals. In this way, it can help children to develop attributes such as altruism and empathy. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jasp.12713">one study</a>, for example, young people taking part in organised sport were more accepting of migrants. Those who did not have contact with migrant children through sport had more negative attitudes. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Children in a huddle on the middle of a sport ground" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447691/original/file-20220222-22-e9x69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447691/original/file-20220222-22-e9x69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447691/original/file-20220222-22-e9x69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447691/original/file-20220222-22-e9x69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447691/original/file-20220222-22-e9x69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447691/original/file-20220222-22-e9x69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447691/original/file-20220222-22-e9x69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Research has found children who play sport are more likely to accept others and feel empathy for them.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pushing-casual-sport-to-the-margins-threatens-cities-social-cohesion-92352">Pushing casual sport to the margins threatens cities' social cohesion</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Research has noted parents <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5969199/">describing sport</a> as a “school of life”. It teaches their children tolerance, teamwork, a sense of duty, the value of hard work, and socialisation skills. </p>
<p>Sport’s development of character and understanding of values such as fair play and respect can <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232744682_Emotions_cognitive_interference_and_concentration_disruption_in_youth_sport#read">benefit young people in their wider lives</a>. </p>
<p>More broadly, by fostering prosocial behaviour, sport can make significant contributions to the common good. </p>
<p>For example, a <a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10940-021-09536-3.pdf">2021 review</a> of 13 international studies investigated the effects of sports programs on crime prevention and re-offending. It found participants in these programs had greatly reduced aggressiveness and antisocial behaviour. Their self-esteem and mental well-being improved significantly. The result was a decrease in criminal behaviour. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/ncss/se/2017/00000081/00000004/art00008">creator of basketball</a>, James Naismith, believed the sport taught players values and moral attributes. He developed basketball not just as an indoor game football players could play through the winter, but as a context for young people to learn teamwork, co-operation, fair play, sportsmanship and self-sacrifice. He believed team sports taught the skills essential for a functioning community.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/it-was-the-best-five-years-of-my-life-how-sports-programs-are-keeping-disadvantaged-teens-at-school-162855">'It was the best five years of my life!' How sports programs are keeping disadvantaged teens at school</a>
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</p>
<hr>
<h2>It’s not all rosy</h2>
<p>Unfortunately, in elite sports, gamesmanship, greed, cheating and a win-at-any-cost mentality can sometimes be elevated above positive virtues such as courage, co-operation and sportsmanship. In our study, many student teachers referred to news reports with negative messages about cheating, doping and racism. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1121337426998247425"}"></div></p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/can-the-cricketers-banned-for-ball-tampering-ever-regain-their-hero-status-its-happened-before-94096">Can the cricketers banned for ball tampering ever regain their hero status? It's happened before</a>
</strong>
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</p>
<hr>
<p>Yet our data also highlighted sporting contexts as positive catalysts for reflection and pro-social behaviours. Participants noted examples such as:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“equal pay for men and women (e.g. surfing)”</p>
<p>“evolving attitudes towards mental health issues in sport”</p>
<p>“sportspeople taking the knee in support of the Black Lives Matters movement”</p>
<p>“sport as a breath of fresh air in the context of the restrictions of COVID-19”</p>
<p>“great sporting moments have arisen with the inclusion of disabled or disadvantaged people”.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Sport has recently been a victim of the COVID-19 pandemic. Events have <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12662-021-00726-6">been cancelled</a> and games played in <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-27/no-crowds-for-matches-in-melbourne-amid-covid-surge/100169580">empty stadiums</a>. But sport has also been a shining light for people struggling in lockdown. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/missing-out-on-pe-during-lockdowns-means-students-will-be-playing-catch-up-170101">Missing out on PE during lockdowns means students will be playing catch-up</a>
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<hr>
<p>This was particularly true of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) described the event as a beacon of hope after so much of normal life was brought to a standstill. Other commentators have similarly <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sport-yearender-covid-idCAKBN2IS04D">said</a> Tokyo “<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sport-yearender-covid-idCAKBN2IS04D">made sport a shining light in the gloom</a>” and <a href="https://m.facebook.com/breakfastnews/photos/a.10150516947383983/10158685334193983/?type=3">described the Games</a> as “such a welcomed distraction, really highlighted how much sport can bring a smile to people’s faces”.</p>
<h2>So, how do we maximise the benefits?</h2>
<p>Teaching students about civic values and sport as part of the school curriculum isn’t the only way to foster prosocial behaviour. We can reap its broader benefits for a healthier society by encouraging young people to play sport at school and in the community. Ways to do this include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>governments, schools and community groups <a href="https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/physical-activity-its-important">promoting</a> physical activity benefits such as better health, increased energy and improved mood and sleep</p></li>
<li><p>increasing opportunities to be physically active in school programs, including <a href="https://theconversation.com/bushwalking-and-bowls-in-schools-we-need-to-teach-kids-activities-theyll-go-on-to-enjoy-123004">activities they can enjoy for years after school</a> such as bushwalking and cycling </p></li>
<li><p>making students more aware of community clubs and facilities by inviting club staff or volunteers to talk to students and run practical sessions </p></li>
<li><p>allowing girls to wear sports uniforms that make them more comfortable and confident, such as clothing that’s <a href="https://www.vu.edu.au/sites/default/files/girl-sport-uniforms-national-study.pdf">stretchy, dark-coloured and hides sweat</a></p></li>
<li><p>helping parents to get involved in their children’s physical activity by offering family activities and providing take-home bags of basic play equipment and <a href="https://soscn.org/downloads/resources/early_movers/Booklet_7_Getting_parents_and_carers_involved.pdf">activity suggestions</a> </p></li>
<li><p>removing <a href="https://www.sportaus.gov.au/youth_participation/barriers_and_motivation">barriers to participation</a> such as the cost of club fees and equipment and an overemphasis on competition. This can be done by providing <a href="https://www.communities.tas.gov.au/ticket-to-play">vouchers</a> and promoting other reasons people play sport such as personal achievement and satisfaction, and <a href="https://australianmastersgames.com/wp-content/uploads/2021-AMG-SPT-Sport-Handbook_Template_Hub.pdf">social interaction</a>. </p></li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bushwalking-and-bowls-in-schools-we-need-to-teach-kids-activities-theyll-go-on-to-enjoy-123004">Bushwalking and bowls in schools: we need to teach kids activities they'll go on to enjoy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173733/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The benefits of sport for young people include not only health and enjoyment, but also an appreciation of many of the civic values and ethics that make our democracy work.
Vaughan Cruickshank, Program Director – Health and Physical Education, Maths/Science, Faculty of Education, University of Tasmania
Casey Peter Mainsbridge, Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, Director of Student Engagement School of Education, University of Tasmania
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/176367
2022-02-16T15:13:03Z
2022-02-16T15:13:03Z
What Ghana can do to combat corruption: educate, prevent, enforce
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444501/original/file-20220204-13-k4xxk7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas has undertaken several anti-corruption projects</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">James David Duncan/Wikimedia Commons</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ghana’s finance minister, <a href="https://thefinderonline.com/art-entertainment/item/6812-i-will-stop-ghana-s-4bn-loss-to-corruption-ken-ofori-atta">Ken Ofori-Atta</a>, estimates that the country loses over US$4 billion annually to corruption: abuse of entrusted power for advancing private interests. The loss is about 20% of Ghana’s budget, reckons <a href="https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Today-In-History-20-of-Ghana-s-budget-lost-through-corruption-annually-CHRAJ-1341091#:%7E:text=News-,Today%20In%20History%3A%2020%25%20of%20Ghana's%20budget,lost%20through%20corruption%20annually%20%E2%80%93%20CHRAJ&text=In%202018%2C%20it%20was%20reported,had%20been%20lost%20through%20corruption.">Richard Quason</a>, deputy commissioner of Ghana’s Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice. This money could instead help improve the country’s education, healthcare, water, housing, electricity, and communication and transport network infrastructure.</p>
<p>Corruption can also undermine democratic stability and social justice. It is one reason given for the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-58461971">recent</a> military overthrow of the government in Guinea, for example. And in Ghana, corruption was one of the main reasons for <a href="https://newsghana.com.gh/ghana/political-history-of-ghana/">coups d’état</a> that disrupted democratic governance in the past. </p>
<p>Corruption occurs in both private and public <a href="https://www.ganintegrity.com/portal/country-profiles/ghana/">sectors</a> in Ghana, including public procurement, the judiciary, police, public services, and land, tax and customs administration. </p>
<p>I was interested in finding out what Ghanaians think should be done to combat corruption in their country. My <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08039410.2021.1984304?journalCode=sfds20">study</a> of this drew on in-depth interviews with 25 politicians, media personnel, academics and anti-corruption activists. I asked them: Is Ghana doing well in addressing corruption? If not, what should be done to combat corruption in the country, and why? Their responses yielded three themes: anti-corruption education, prevention, and law enforcement. All these need to be strengthened in Ghana, according to the respondents.</p>
<h2>Education</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Mungiu-Pippidi-24-1.pdf">One scholar</a> has said that corruption can be controlled through collective action. Before they can take collective action, people need to understand what it means to loot public coffers. In my study, all the participants emphasised the need to educate the public to help build a strong anti-corruption culture. For instance, one participant said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Corruption is inherent in our society, and so we need to educate the public on the adverse impact of corruption on the country to ensure an attitudinal change.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The interviewees stressed that anti-corruption education must start at home. They urged parents and guardians to reject corruption and educate their children to do the same. </p>
<h2>Prevention</h2>
<p>Another <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520074088/controlling-corruption">scholar</a> has noted that the exercise of monopoly and discretionary powers over services and resources often leads to corruption. Thus, one way to control or prevent corruption is to reduce monopoly and discretionary powers. </p>
<p>In my study, participants demanded constitutional and institutional reforms to actively prevent Ghana’s corruption. For example, one participant explained that the president’s appointment and dismissal <a href="https://www.myjoyonline.com/full-text-coalition-of-csos-statement-on-the-constructive-dismissal-of-auditor-general-daniel-domelevo/">powers</a> must be reduced:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The constitution has given the executive president every power to do whatever he/she wants, and I believe that it is a bigger problem … Because, for instance, when a political party comes into power, almost everybody who heads public institution is sacked and they are replaced with party people, compromising checks and balances. So, our laws must be amended. </p>
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<p>About 90% of the interviewees also stressed that the Attorney-General’s Department should be separated from the Ministry of Justice and made independent of the executive influence.</p>
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<p>If the Ministry of Justice were independent, it could catalyse the prosecution and punishment of corrupt government members and their allies.</p>
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<p>About 85% of interviewees urged the government to resource state anti-corruption bodies and allow them to function independently. Otherwise the Office of the Special Prosecutor is also likely to fail in the fight against corruption. </p>
<h2>Enforcement</h2>
<p>If law enforcement is weak, the fight against corruption will fail. Hence, <a href="https://www.unodc.org/documents/treaties/UNCAC/Publications/Convention/08-50026_E.pdf">United Nations</a> and <a href="https://au.int/en/treaties/african-union-convention-preventing-and-combating-corruption">African Union</a> conventions emphasise that laws must be enforced to sanction corruption offences and retrieve stolen resources. </p>
<p>For example, Article 30 of the <a href="https://www.unodc.org/documents/treaties/UNCAC/Publications/Convention/08-50026_E.pdf">UN Convention</a> against Corruption emphasises prosecution, adjudication and sanctions. </p>
<p>Interviewees in my study argued that Ghana’s main problem has to do with enforcing laws: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>There are laws, and they have to be enforced. The problem is enforcing the law by prosecuting people for wrongdoing, regardless of their money or power.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Participants also mentioned that corruption in Ghana’s criminal justice system is partly responsible for the country’s weak law enforcement. </p>
<p>They said Ghana’s apparent failure to enforce laws made corruption a low-risk offence.</p>
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<p>When corrupt people exposed are prosecuted, when the prosecution runs from start to finish and when recommendations are followed through, corruption can be reduced.</p>
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<p>As an anti-corruption activist said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The laws must be applied fairly and equally. People, whether they are at the top or bottom, should know that they are not above the law. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Interviewees added that it was not enough for offenders simply to pay back the money. They must be prosecuted too.</p>
<h2>Next step</h2>
<p>The study participants said successive Ghanaian governments’ <a href="http://www.gaccgh.org/publications/National%20Anti-Corruption%20Action%20Plan%20.pdf">anti-corruption plans</a> had included public education, prevention, and enforcement. But implementing these strategies, especially law enforcement, had been disappointing due to limited <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12495">political</a> commitment. A strong government’s commitment to law enforcement, prevention, and public education has been shown to control corruption, as in <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/abs/controlling-corruption-by-robert-klitgaard-berkeley-university-of-california-press-1988-210p-1995/F0052B158EBCE727D2C47A0C167B6AA4#">Hong Kong and Singapore</a>.</p>
<p>To help build broad-based, nonpartisan support for the fight against corruption, anti-corruption education must be intensified and focused on what it means when public resources are stolen. According to research participants, the government, the media, schools, religious bodies, parents and guardians, and anti-corruption NGOs must be involved. As shown in Hong Kong and Singapore, such <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/corruption-and-government/C7B39840D29F70A3529D31D70E296BD8">public education</a> is important. </p>
<p>Ghana must embark on constitutional and institutional reforms to create robust checks and balances. These reforms must include curtailing the president’s appointment and dismissal mandates, separating the state Attorney-General’s Department from the Ministry of Justice, and insulating anti-corruption bodies from executive control. </p>
<p>Corruption must be made a high-risk enterprise so that when offenders are caught, the laws will be enforced. Retrieving stolen public resources must go with custodial sentences to help deter potential offenders.</p>
<p>Finally, to improve the justice system in Ghana, there must be monitoring mechanisms to detect and address law enforcement corruption. For example, there can be undercover investigations to arrest and prosecute state attorneys, judges, and police officers who take money and pervert the course of justice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176367/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joseph Yaw Asomah does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Corruption must be made a high-risk enterprise so that when offenders are caught, the laws will be enforced
Joseph Yaw Asomah, Assistant Professor, University of Manitoba
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/175324
2022-01-25T19:03:43Z
2022-01-25T19:03:43Z
Should new Australians have to pass an English test to become citizens?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442424/original/file-20220125-21-bxet5d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Prime Minister Scott Morrison with new citizens in 2020.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mick Tsikas/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On Australia Day each year, thousands of people become Australian citizens at <a href="https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/citizenship-subsite/files/australian-citizenship-ceremonies-code.pdf">ceremonies</a> around the country. </p>
<p>Prospective citizens have to meet a number of eligibility criteria, including passing a <a href="https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/citizenship/test-and-interview">citizenship test</a> to show they have a reasonable knowledge of Australia and basic English. </p>
<p>But there are persistent <a href="https://minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/peterdutton/Pages/smokescreen.aspx">suggestions</a> those applying to be citizens should also pass a separate formal English test to prove their language skills. </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nana.12799">newly published article</a> with colleague Louisa Willoughby, we explain why this poses a range of problems and why it would not boost English proficiency among new Australians. </p>
<h2>What do other countries do?</h2>
<p>Language tests for citizenship have become increasingly common overseas: for example, <a href="https://www.coe.int/en/web/education/-/-linguistic-integration-of-adult-migrants-requirements-and-learning-opportunities-council-of-europe-and-alte-report">33 of 40</a> Council of Europe member states surveyed in 2018 had one. </p>
<p>In 2017, the Australian government also proposed adding a language test to the citizenship requirements. It backed away from the idea following a public <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-05/senate-committee-says-citizenship-english-proposal-too-tough/8875926">backlash</a>, although it continues to put a <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/proposed-english-test-a-hurdle-for-migrants-escaping-violent-partners-20210401-p57fz8.html">strong emphasis</a> on the importance of English ability across the visa system. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Person completing a test." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442427/original/file-20220125-13-7u17kk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442427/original/file-20220125-13-7u17kk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442427/original/file-20220125-13-7u17kk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442427/original/file-20220125-13-7u17kk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442427/original/file-20220125-13-7u17kk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442427/original/file-20220125-13-7u17kk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442427/original/file-20220125-13-7u17kk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Many European countries already have language tests for citizenship.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Proponents of language tests for citizenship <a href="https://www.languageonthemove.com/multiculturalism-linguistic-diversity-and-citizenship-testing/">see them</a> as promoting migrant integration and social inclusion. Requiring prospective citizens to pass an English test seems like an easy way to ensure they can be educated, employed and participate in society more generally. </p>
<p>But there are some real issues with this approach.</p>
<h2>Why language tests don’t work</h2>
<p>Language testing scholars have repeatedly criticised the tests, saying there is <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1473-4192.2008.00191.x">no evidence</a> they help people integrate. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-new-australian-citizenship-test-can-you-really-test-values-via-multiple-choice-146574">The new Australian citizenship test: can you really test 'values' via multiple choice?</a>
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<p>Furthermore, it is not clear what kind of language skills a citizenship language test should include. </p>
<p>As our article notes, language tests for jobs or entry to higher education have been developed by experts to reflect the linguistic demands of <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/fairness-justice-and-language-assessment-paperback-9780194017084?lang=en&cc=nl">the relevant discipline or profession</a>. </p>
<p>For example, doctors are tested on medical language and their ability to communicate respectfully and empathetically with patients, prospective university students on their academic reading and writing abilities, and so on. </p>
<p>But what are the language skills required to be a good citizen? We might think skills like being able to follow a political debate are a good starting point, but this is <a href="https://www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages">a very high bar</a> that would exclude many people – including, potentially, <a href="https://www.coe.int/en/web/education/-/-linguistic-integration-of-adult-migrants-requirements-and-learning-opportunities-council-of-europe-and-alte-report">some native English speakers</a>.</p>
<h2>What about testing basic skills?</h2>
<p>And even if – like many European countries – we set the bar lower and asked for more basic, <a href="https://www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages">conversational language skills</a>, this would still raise a number of problems. We know many factors beyond people’s control influence their ability to learn a second language after migration. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Teacher at blackboard setting out components of English." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442428/original/file-20220125-23-17fr5k5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442428/original/file-20220125-23-17fr5k5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442428/original/file-20220125-23-17fr5k5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442428/original/file-20220125-23-17fr5k5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442428/original/file-20220125-23-17fr5k5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442428/original/file-20220125-23-17fr5k5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442428/original/file-20220125-23-17fr5k5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Learning English is not necessarily as simple as signing up to a class.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Among those who find it particularly difficult are older people, <a href="https://lirias.kuleuven.be/retrieve/539458">those with limited education or who are illiterate</a> in their first language, and those who have experienced significant <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1363461515612933">trauma</a> (such as refugees and asylum seekers). Language tests risk putting citizenship out of reach for these vulnerable groups, an outcome that seems inequitable at best, discriminatory at worst.</p>
<p>This is complicated by the huge variation in the way people around the globe speak English, and by the need to avoid situations where those who speak English with particular accents (including, sometimes, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-40868315">well-educated native speakers</a>) fail English tests because their accents are deemed too different from what the test thinks is “normal” or “standard”. </p>
<h2>Tests as an incentive to learn English</h2>
<p>What of the idea that tests motivate prospective citizens to learn the language of their new society? </p>
<p>Migrants’ motivation to learn the language of their new country cannot be assessed independently of contextual factors, especially <a href="https://www.coe.int/en/web/lang-migrants/motivation#:%7E:text=Their%20motivation%20to%20learn%20the,greater%20opportunities%20on%20the%20labour">incentives and rewards</a>. Furthermore, migrants often face <a href="https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/settlement-services-subsite/files/settlement-outcomes-new-arrival.pdf">barriers</a> around eligibility, scheduling, transport, work and childcare commitments, or lack of good quality classes.</p>
<p>Moreover, there is no guarantee tests actually work as an incentive. The Netherlands, for example, introduced a <a href="https://ind.nl/en/pages/integration-in-the-netherlands.aspx">tough system</a> that fines new migrants if they do not pass a Dutch test within three years of their arrival. Despite this, around one in four migrants still <a href="https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/binaries/rijksoverheid/documenten/rapporten/2018/06/27/evaluatie-van-de-wet-inburgering-2013/evaluatie-van-de-wet-inburgering-2013.pdf">fails</a> to pass the test within the required time. </p>
<p>Older migrants, especially those from countries where schooling is commonly interrupted (such as Afghanistan and Somalia), are <a href="https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/binaries/rijksoverheid/documenten/rapporten/2018/06/27/evaluatie-van-de-wet-inburgering-2013/evaluatie-van-de-wet-inburgering-2013.pdf">particularly likely</a> to fail the test. This reinforces the view that social and cognitive factors are more reliable predictors of language learning than lack of motivation.</p>
<h2>What to do instead</h2>
<p>Forcing people to pass an English test in order to become Australian citizens creates a range of practical and ethical problems, while producing little benefit for migrants and their host society. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-values-are-hardly-unique-when-compared-to-other-cultures-76917">Australian values are hardly unique when compared to other cultures</a>
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<p>Instead, the federal government should use other measures – such as extending eligibility for its <a href="https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/settling-in-australia/amep/about-the-program/background#:%7E:text=The%20Act%3A,or%20before%201%20October%202020.">adult migrant English program</a> – to support English learning. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, COVID-19 has reinforced the importance of migrant language media and migrant associations. To better support and include this part of our population, we also need to ensure people with lower English skills are able to get the information they need to fulfil the expectations and duties of citizenship.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175324/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matteo Bonotti does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Louisa Willoughby was co-author of the original research article. She is Associate Professor in linguistics at Monash University and the Greens candidate for Hotham at the upcoming federal election.</span></em></p>
Language tests for citizenship are increasingly common overseas. But they will not boost English skills among new Australians.
Matteo Bonotti, Senior lecturer, Monash University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/173636
2022-01-13T19:48:45Z
2022-01-13T19:48:45Z
In a pandemic, ignoring science affects everyone. Citizenship education can help ensure that doesn’t happen
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439270/original/file-20220104-25-1doptb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3443%2C2117&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Disregard for public health, like protests at hospitals challenging vaccine passports, seen at this event in September 2021 in Toronto, show schools need to expand how they teach what it means to be a responsible global citizen. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since early 2020, our way of life has changed dramatically. COVID-19 has transformed how we study, learn and work — even how we shop, eat and gather.</p>
<p>Throughout the pandemic, <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection/health-professionals/public-health-measures-mitigate-covid-19.html">Canada has implemented individual and community-based measures</a> to protect its citizens. While <a href="https://www.environicsinstitute.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/cot2021-report1-final_corrected-ap-19.pdf?sfvrsn=6f378628_0">most Canadians have trusted and listened to the scientists and public health experts</a>, too many have ignored the science — <a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-freedom-rallies-actually-undermine-liberty-heres-why-161863">protesting mask wearing, social distancing and vaccination</a>.</p>
<p>Those who have failed to comply with these protocols have prolonged the pandemic and put their fellow citizens at risk. This troubling issue requires attention and future action, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11125-021-09594-2">including addressing it through education</a>. </p>
<h2>Responsible citizenship and education</h2>
<p>Responsible citizenship is fundamental in a democratic society — and with it comes the responsibility to not engage in behaviour that endangers the health and well-being of neighbours. </p>
<p>Noted professors of citizenship education, Joel Westheimer and Joseph Kahne, tie <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102%2F00028312041002237">good citizenship</a> to an active democratic citizenry. They stress the importance of teaching about following the law and becoming a personally responsible citizen, engaging in civic affairs and becoming a participatory citizen, and challenging social inequities by becoming a justice-oriented citizen.</p>
<p>In recent years, as a result of growing global challenges — such as <a href="https://globecit.com/global-citizenship-in-a-covid-19-world/">poverty, hunger, public health and climate change</a> — the concept of responsible citizenship has expanded to include <a href="https://journals.sfu.ca/jgcee/index.php/jgcee/article/view/213/443">global belonging and commitment</a>. </p>
<p>Global citizenship seeks to <a href="https://teachingsocialstudies.org/2021/08/05/global-citizenship-education-and-liberal-democracy/">unite people within and across countries in common cause to bridge national divides to address seminal challenges facing the world</a>. Global citizenship in many ways seeks to fulfil the <a href="https://sdgs.un.org/goals">United Nations Sustainable Development Goals</a> designed to confront pressing global issues. </p>
<p>In schools, “<a href="https://en.unesco.org/themes/gced">global citizenship education</a>” aims to provide students with the knowledge, skills and values to become responsible citizens and learn to address a range of generational challenges. Schools in several countries, <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.5038/2577-509X.4.2.1121">including Canada, have started to recognize the importance of these educational goals</a>. Several provinces, such as Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Québec, have <a href="https://www.unicef.ca/sites/default/files/imce_uploads/UTILITY%20NAV/TEACHERS/DOCS/GC/ChartingGlobalEducationinElementarySchools.pdf">integrated global citizenship education into their social studies curricula</a> in the past few decades. </p>
<p>Canadian intergovernmental bodies representing every provincial ministry of education, including the <a href="https://www.cmec.ca/en/">Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC)</a>, have emphasized the importance of global citizenship education among other priorities. In its recent <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5af1e87f5cfd79c163407ead/t/5e20d79f9713f543996da6ad/1579210656022/Pan-Canadian+Systems-Level+Framework+on+Global+Competencies_EN.pdf"><em>Pan-Canadian Systems-Level Framework on Global Competencies</em></a>, CMEC laid out six global competencies for students: global citizenship and sustainability; critical thinking and problem solving; innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship; learning to learn and to be self-aware and self-directed; and collaboration. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man in a face mask walks past a wall spraypainted with 'covid is a lie' and 'the news is the virus.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440782/original/file-20220113-19-m8eif3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440782/original/file-20220113-19-m8eif3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440782/original/file-20220113-19-m8eif3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440782/original/file-20220113-19-m8eif3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440782/original/file-20220113-19-m8eif3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440782/original/file-20220113-19-m8eif3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440782/original/file-20220113-19-m8eif3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">After the COVID-19 pandemic, curriculum should engage students in discussions about how responses to public health messaging interact with being a responsible global citizen.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Contemplating post-pandemic citizenship</h2>
<p>Despite these curricular trends, issues that have come to light in the pandemic have shown that the goals of global citizenship education must adapt. </p>
<p>These include the disregard for public health protocols, the undermining of science, the spread of misinformation and the lack of concern for others (particularly for seniors, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/aging/covid19/covid19-older-adults.html#:%7E:text=Older%20adults%20are%20more%20likely,60s%2C%2070s%2C%20and%2080s.">who are more likely to get very ill with COVID-19</a>, and for those with underlying health conditions).</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-urgent-need-for-media-literacy-in-an-age-of-annihilation-117958">The urgent need for media literacy in an age of annihilation</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>It is increasingly important that the next generation of Canadian students learn how to navigate the many increased challenges of a post-COVID-19 world. Research from the Center for Global Development noted that “<a href="https://www.cgdev.org/blog/the-next-pandemic-could-come-soon-and-be-deadlier">the next pandemic could be much sooner and more severe than we think</a>.” </p>
<p>In light of the lessons of COVID-19, schools across Canada should consider offering a social studies elective course that emphasizes post-pandemic values, including commitment to public health, empathy and compassion, self-sacrifice and a co-operative spirit. Such a “post-pandemic citizenship” education could help prepare the next generation of Canadians to promote the kind of values sometimes lacking during the pandemic. </p>
<h2>Health literacy, compassion</h2>
<p>First, the course should include issues of public health. It could, for example, use online tools and platforms to teach students <a href="https://www.who.int/activities/improving-health-literacy">health literacy</a>. As noted by the World Health Organization, health literacy implies equipping people to “play an active role in improving their own health, engage successfully with community action for health, and push governments to meet their responsibilities in addressing health and health equity.”</p>
<p>Researchers from the Healthy Schools Lab at the University of Alberta noted that when education went online due to pandemic closures, provincial guidelines for at-home learning <a href="https://hslab.ca/2020/03/24/health-and-physical-education-in-the-midst-of-a-pandemic">did not include a focus on health and physical education</a>.</p>
<p>The course also could examine how other countries handled COVID-19 and prior epidemics or ask students to devise a plan for combating the next pandemic. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Students standing in a hallway in face masks." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439747/original/file-20220106-12389-1tsh5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439747/original/file-20220106-12389-1tsh5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439747/original/file-20220106-12389-1tsh5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439747/original/file-20220106-12389-1tsh5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439747/original/file-20220106-12389-1tsh5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439747/original/file-20220106-12389-1tsh5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439747/original/file-20220106-12389-1tsh5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students should have the opportunity to devise plans to combat pandemics.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Second, there should be an emphasis on empathy and compassion, including its impact on positive health outcomes. In Canada, there have been efforts to impart empathy in the classroom and these efforts should continue. For example, Canadian educator Mary Gordon founded <a href="https://rootsofempathy.org/">Roots of Empathy</a> more than two decades ago. This program seeks to <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2017-12-20/canadian-classroom-program-aims-to-teach-children-compassion">develop students’ emotional and social competencies, resulting in less aggression and bullying</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/strong-relationships-help-kids-catch-up-after-6-months-of-covid-19-school-closures-145085">Strong relationships help kids catch up after 6 months of COVID-19 school closures</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Self and community interest</h2>
<p>At the same time, the course should stress self-sacrifice. From reviewing case studies on those who disregarded public health recommendations at the expense of others, to debating situations where <a href="https://doi.org/10.22381/KC83202012">collective responsibility should transcend individual self-interest</a>, these lessons can be instructive. </p>
<p>For instance, the Winnipeg School Division recently released an <a href="https://www.winnipegsd.ca/page/8804/education-for-sustainable-development">Education for Sustainable Development Plan</a> to teach students about collective responsibility in such areas as human rights, environmental protection and reducing poverty. </p>
<p>Studies of collective responsibility should include examining issues around equity due to the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/corporate/publications/chief-public-health-officer-reports-state-public-health-canada/from-risk-resilience-equity-approach-covid-19.html">disproportionate impact of the pandemic on marginalized communities in Canada</a>. </p>
<p>Studying documents like the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/how-rights-protected/guide-canadian-charter-rights-freedoms.html">Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms</a> also can shed light on the critical role of government mitigation strategies in supporting the collective dignity and rights of citizens. </p>
<h2>Collective good at stake</h2>
<p>By embracing a co-operative spirit, students can appreciate local examples of community involvement, or consider when public and private sector institutions should collaborate for the good of society at home and abroad. </p>
<p>For instance, <a href="https://www.international.gc.ca/world-monde/stories-histoires/2021/education_covid-19.aspx?lang=eng">Toronto’s Bloorview School Authority, which provides school programs to children with special needs who are undergoing intensive therapies, has partnered with UNICEF Canada</a> to raise funds for necessary school equipment for students in Malawi. A Bloorview teacher noted that the project, known as <a href="https://www.unicefusa.org/mission/protect/education/kids-need-desks-kind">Kids in Need of Desks</a>, helps students understand what it means to be global citizens in a pandemic. This is even as they deal with their own learning disruptions due to COVID-19 while managing other challenges.</p>
<p>This is just a starting point. Over time, Canadian schools will need to continue to re-examine and rewrite social studies curricula to groom the next generation of citizens for a post-pandemic world. The collective good and responsible citizenship are at stake.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173636/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Evan Saperstein does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The failure to observe public health protocols during the pandemic requires attention and action. Revitalizing global citizenship education in schools should be part of addressing the problem.
Evan Saperstein, Postdoctoral Fellow, Citizenship Education and History Teaching Research Lab, Université de Montréal
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/173833
2022-01-03T14:47:02Z
2022-01-03T14:47:02Z
Not all polarization is bad, but the US could be in trouble
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438483/original/file-20211220-49721-z08p4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=49%2C57%2C5405%2C3573&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Protesters and counter-protesters face off at a political rally in September 2021.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CapitolBreachRally/fc4b8d42c3ff4e7eaa169719570a22c7/photo">AP Photo/Nathan Howard</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For the first time, the United States has been classified as a “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/11/22/united-states-backsliding-democracies-list-first-time/">backsliding democracy</a>” in a <a href="https://www.idea.int/gsod/global-report#chapter-2-democracy-health-check:-an-overview-of-global-tre">global assessment of democratic societies</a> by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, an intergovernmental research group.</p>
<p>One key reason the report cites is the <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/now/republicans-resist-saying-3-simple-052438273.html">continuing popularity</a> among Republicans of <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/exhaustive-fact-check-finds-little-evidence-of-voter-fraud-but-2020s-big-lie-lives-on">false allegations</a> of <a href="https://apnews.com/article/voter-fraud-election-2020-joe-biden-donald-trump-7fcb6f134e528fee8237c7601db3328f">widespread</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/17/opinion/election-vote-fraud-data.html">voter fraud</a> in the 2020 presidential election.</p>
<p>But according to the organization’s secretary general, perhaps the “most concerning” aspect of American democracy is “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/22/us-list-backsliding-democracies-civil-liberties-international">runaway polarization</a>.” One year after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Americans’ perceptions about even the well-documented events of that day are <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/09/28/declining-share-of-republicans-say-it-is-important-to-prosecute-jan-6-rioters/">divided along partisan lines</a>.</p>
<p>Polarization <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/15/opinion/republicans-democracy-minority-rule.html">looms</a> <a href="https://dividedwefall.com/the-seeds-of-dysfunction-why-this-polarization-is-not-like-the-others/">large</a> in many <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-12-17/u-s-democracy-faces-real-threats">diagnoses</a> of America’s current <a href="https://news.usc.edu/194874/why-is-america-divided/">political struggles</a>. Some <a href="https://www.salon.com/2021/12/08/us-political-polarization-tipping-point/">researchers</a> warn of an approaching “<a href="https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2021/12/tipping-point-makes-partisan-polarization-irreversible">tipping point</a>” of irreversible polarization. <a href="https://heterodoxacademy.org/library/political-polarization-resource-list/">Suggested</a> <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2021/12/18/polarization-america-how-fight-forces-dividing-our-nation/6460116001/?gnt-cfr=1">remedies</a> <a href="https://democracyjournal.org/magazine/62-special-issue/can-americas-political-polarization-be-fixed/">are</a> <a href="https://charleskochfoundation.org/stories/principled-dissent-will-reduce-polarization/">available</a> <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/30/opinions/fractured-states-of-america-polarization-is-killing-us-avlon/index.html">from</a> <a href="https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/public-health-now/news/political-polarization-often-not-bad-we-think">across</a> <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/11/30/why-american-politics-is-so-stuck-and-what-new-research-shows-about-how-to-fix-it-523517">the</a> partisan spectrum.</p>
<p>There are <a href="https://3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2018/12/our-polarization-problem.html">two types of polarization</a>, as I discuss in my book “<a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/sustaining-democracy-9780197556450?cc=us&lang=en&">Sustaining Democracy</a>.” One isn’t inherently dangerous; the other can be. And together, they can be extremely destructive of democratic societies.</p>
<h2>Two kinds</h2>
<p>Political polarization is the ideological distance between opposed parties. If the differences are large, it can produce logjams, standoffs and inflexibility in Congress and state and local governments. Though it can be frustrating, political polarization is <a href="https://bpr.berkeley.edu/2019/04/13/the-positives-of-political-polarization/">not necessarily dysfunctional</a>. It even can be <a href="https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2010/05/27/why-political-polarization-might-be-good-for-america">beneficial</a>, offering true choices for voters and policymakers alike. Deep-seated disagreement can be healthy for democracy, after all. The clash of opinions can help us find the truth. The clamor of ideological differences among political parties provides citizens with <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/R/bo3636475.html">shortcuts</a> for making political choices.</p>
<p>Belief polarization, also called <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.83.4.602">group polarization</a>, is different. Interaction with like-minded others transforms people into more <a href="https://quillette.com/2019/05/17/conformity-and-the-dangers-of-group-polarization/">extreme versions of themselves</a>. These more extreme selves are also overly confident and therefore more prepared to engage in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1031(67)90038-8">risky behavior</a>.</p>
<p>Belief polarization also leads people to embrace more intensely <a href="https://theconversation.com/political-polarization-is-about-feelings-not-facts-120397">negative feelings</a> toward people with different views. As they shift toward extremism, they come to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12152">define themselves and others</a> primarily in terms of partisanship. Eventually, politics expands beyond policy ideas and into <a href="https://theconversation.com/partisan-divide-creates-different-americas-separate-lives-122925">entire lifestyles</a>.</p>
<p>But that’s not all. <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/sustaining-democracy-9780197556450?cc=us&lang=en&">As I explain in my book,</a> as society sorts into “liberal” and “conservative” <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12485">lifestyles</a>, people grow more invested in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8309.1992.tb00952.x">policing the borders</a> between “us” and “them.” And as people’s alliances focus on hostility toward those who disagree, they become more <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-todays-gop-demonstrates-about-the-dangers-of-partisan-conformity-161401">conformist</a> and intolerant of <a href="https://heterodoxacademy.org/blog/the-need-for-socially-distanced-citizens/">differences among allies</a>. </p>
<p>People grow less able to <a href="https://phys.org/news/2021-05-politically-polarized-brains-intolerance-uncertainty.html">navigate disagreement</a>, eventually developing into citizens who believe that democracy is possible only when <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-identity-not-issues-explains-the-partisan-divide/">everyone agrees with them</a>. That is a profoundly antidemocratic stance. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438484/original/file-20211220-129369-1jwx34q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman wraps her arms around a man" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438484/original/file-20211220-129369-1jwx34q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438484/original/file-20211220-129369-1jwx34q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438484/original/file-20211220-129369-1jwx34q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438484/original/file-20211220-129369-1jwx34q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438484/original/file-20211220-129369-1jwx34q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438484/original/file-20211220-129369-1jwx34q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438484/original/file-20211220-129369-1jwx34q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Even when demonstrators are part of the same group, as the photographer reports these two are, they can have differing views.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/woman-with-super-happy-fun-america-tries-to-calm-down-a-news-photo/1223642485">John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The polarization loop</h2>
<p>Belief polarization is toxic for citizens’ relations with one another. But the large-scale political dysfunction lies in how political and belief polarization work together in a <a href="https://www.discoursemagazine.com/ideas/2021/01/26/the-polarization-dynamic/">mutually reinforcing loop</a>. When the citizenry is divided into two clans that are fixated on animus against the other, politicians have incentives to amplify hostility toward their partisan opponents. </p>
<p>And because the citizenry is <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-identity-not-issues-explains-the-partisan-divide/">divided over lifestyle choices rather than policy ideas</a>, officeholders are released from the usual electoral pressure to advance a <a href="https://www.axios.com/mcconnell-no-agenda-midterms-91c73112-0a2e-441b-b713-7e8aa2dad6bf.html">legislative platform</a>. They can gain reelection simply based on their antagonism.</p>
<p>As politicians escalate their rifts, citizens are cued to entrench partisan segregation. This produces additional belief polarization, which in turn rewards political intransigence. All the while, constructive political processes get submerged in the merely symbolic and tribal, while people’s capacities for <a href="https://thefulcrum.us/civic-ed/moral-citizenship">responsible democratic citizenship</a> erode.</p>
<h2>Managing polarization</h2>
<p>Remedies for polarization tend to focus on how it poisons citizens’ relations. Surely President Joe Biden was correct to stress in his <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/01/20/inaugural-address-by-president-joseph-r-biden-jr/">inaugural address</a> that Americans need to “lower the temperature” and to “see each other not as adversaries, but as neighbors.”</p>
<p>Still, democracy presupposes political disagreement. As James Madison observed, the U.S. needs democracy precisely because self-governing citizens <a href="https://guides.loc.gov/federalist-papers/text-1-10#s-lg-box-wrapper-25493273">inevitably will disagree about politics</a>. The response to polarization cannot involve calls for unanimity or abandoning partisan rivalries. A democracy without political divides is no democracy at all.</p>
<p>The task is to render people’s political differences more civil, to reestablish the ability to respectfully disagree. But this cannot be accomplished simply by conducting political discussions differently. Research indicates that once people are polarized, exposure even to civil expressions of the other side’s viewpoint <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1804840115">creates more polarization</a>.</p>
<p>This is a case of the crucial difference between prevention and cure. It’s not enough to pretend polarization hasn’t happened, or to behave as if it’s a minor concern. In the current situation, even sincere attempts to respectfully engage with the other side <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2102139118">often backfire</a>. </p>
<p>Yet Americans remain democratic citizens, partners in the shared project of self-government who cannot simply ignore one another.</p>
<p>[<em>Over 140,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletters to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-140ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>Polarization is a problem that <a href="https://3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2020/04/democracy-cant-be-fixed.html">cannot be solved, but only managed</a>. It does make relations toxic among political opponents, but it also hurts relations among allies. It escalates conformity within coalitions, shrinking people’s concepts of what levels of disagreement are tolerable in like-minded groups.</p>
<p>It may be, then, that managing polarization could involve working to counteract conformity by engaging in respectful disagreements with people we see as allies. By taking steps to remember that politics always involves disputation, even among those who vote for the same candidates and affiliate with the same party, Americans may begin to rediscover the ability to respectfully disagree with opponents.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173833/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert B. Talisse does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Deep-seated disagreement is healthy for a democracy. But when people lose the ability to navigate those differences, they risk seeking anti-democratic unity of thought.
Robert B. Talisse, W. Alton Jones Professor of Philosophy, Vanderbilt University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/174001
2021-12-21T11:40:46Z
2021-12-21T11:40:46Z
Italy’s citizenship debate: how a country of emigrants is learning to live with immigrants
<p>The American actor Richard Gere is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/27/richard-gere-may-testify-in-matteo-salvini-trial-over-rescue-ship-standoff">one among several witnesses</a> scheduled to testify at the high-profile trial of the Italian politician Matteo Salvini, Italy’s former interior minister. Salvini is facing charges of kidnapping after allegedly blocking the humanitarian ship Open Arms carrying 147 migrants from docking at the Sicilian port of Lampedusa in 2019. </p>
<p>He has been accused of holding all passengers hostage as they languished at sea in the Mediterranean summer heat for 19 days. If found guilty, Salvini could face up to 15 years in prison. Gere is expected to <a href="https://www.italy24news.com/entertainment/news/84076.html">tell the court</a> how he came to supply the migrants on the Open Arms with food.</p>
<p>Despite Salvini’s attempts to <a href="https://www.thelocal.it/20211023/italys-former-interior-minister-salvini-stands-trial-for-migrant-kidnapping/">discredit the trial process</a>, his hearing <a href="https://www.ilmessaggero.it/politica/salvini_processo_open_arms_palermo_cosa_succede_oggi_news-6389595.html">has just got underway</a> in Palermo, Sicily.</p>
<p>For those of us in the fight to increase the rights of today’s global migrants, Salvini’s trial is a sign of hope. It is a very public instance of state officials being held accountable amid the narratives of alienation that have been inflicted on migrants in the country in the past few years. </p>
<p>Still identifying as a country of emigrants <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Migration_for_Employment_Bilateral_Agree/KXG5BB4gvqcC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Italy+country+of+emigration&pg=PA55&printsec=frontcover">rather than for immigrants</a>, Italy struggles not only to empathise with the lives of people who arrive in search of better opportunities but also to adapt to its <a href="https://www.statista.com/topics/5925/demographics-in-italy/#dossierSummary__chapter1">contemporary sociodemographic reality</a>. It’s a country that is more and more diverse and its people older and older. Meanwhile, the younger generations are increasingly embracing cosmopolitan ideals.</p>
<h2>Citizenship debate</h2>
<p>Italy’s citizenship law and the many years of debate about changing it reflect these struggles and the country’s paradoxes. They raise questions about current configurations of being a citizen, and about how they address the rights of the second generation of immigrants and of the children who are born or raised in the country by foreign parents.</p>
<p>Different proposals <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/migrant-integration/news/new-proposals-try-overcome-impasse-reforming-citizenship-law-italy_en">have been generated</a> along the years to replace the current system of <em>jus sanguinis</em> (recognising the right to citizenship only for children born from Italian citizens). Initially aiming to apply the principle of <em>jus soli</em> (recognising the right to citizenship to all children born on Italian ground), the latest proponents have been pushing for a strategically less radical <em>jus culturae</em> (enabling minors born and raised in Italy who have completed a cycle of study in the country to become citizens).</p>
<p>Along with these proposals, different grassroots solidarity groups in the country have been promoting a different narrative about migrants and changes to citizenship laws. Among the most vocal proponents of them have been second-generation black Italian activists, who have been pushing for citizenship reform for the past decade. </p>
<p>As extensively documented by scholars Camilla Hawthorne and Angelica Pesarini, <a href="https://www.academia.edu/33390479/In_Search_of_Black_Italia_Notes_on_Race_Belonging_and_Activism_in_the_Black_Mediterranean">their efforts</a> to seek a pathway to citizenship for the one million children of immigrants born in Italy gained heightened visibility in the <a href="https://www.publicbooks.org/making-black-lives-matter-in-italy-a-transnational-dialogue/">summer of 2020</a>, with the Black Lives Matter protests that swept Italy in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. </p>
<p>In her work, Pesarini urges against a separation of the movement for Black Lives from “the question of immigration”. She argues that these efforts would be further strengthened through explicit alignment with groups that are advocating for broadening the rights of recently arrived migrants.</p>
<h2>Fitting in</h2>
<p>Both second generations and newly arrived migrants have experienced racialised criminalisation and marginalisation, and are subjected to anti-black sentiment. Their belonging is perpetually held in question and they exist outside the category <a href="https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=29781">of “real Italians”</a>. </p>
<p>They are embedded in the Italian culture, but also in their parents’ heritage, giving them the benefits of having had to negotiate among different cultures. Their backgrounds should represent a source of cultural enrichment – not recognising this potential renders Italy a hostile place for both citizens and non-citizens.</p>
<p>But from our continuing research in Sicily, for instance, we have observed that organisations working to <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520344518/island-of-hope#:%7E:text=Island%20of%20Hope%20Migration%20and%20Solidarity%20in%20the%20Mediterranean&text=Island%20of%20Hope%20sheds%20light,mobilize%20for%20radical%20political%20change.">advance the rights of migrants</a> are not really examining the experiences of the second generations. And, similarly, black Italian activists – among other second-generation activists – are likewise not explicitly including recently arrived migrants. Essentially, these activities are happening independently of one another. </p>
<p>This needs to change, not only because migrants represent the future of Italy and it is their offspring who will still be denied the rights to participate in the country’s political life if it did not – but because doing so would yield to much broader transformations and advances in social justice.</p>
<p>Coalitions of different minority groups, such as that which we are proposing, do not represent anything new. They have already proved to be essential in advancing rights for people elsewhere. In the US, for example, movements of mixed-status immigrants (among them <a href="https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/dream-act-overview?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=BVhQWP60Q4aW80tff_AA_vCYhpCOryMBc69y2dLLCsg-1636149624-0-gaNycGzNCNE">the Dreamers and the 1.5 youth</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_one_is_illegal">No Person Is Illegal</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abolish_ICE">AbolishICE</a> and <a href="http://www.notonemoredeportation.com/">NotOneMore</a>) have been working together for years towards the common goal of being allowed to legally stay in the country and the ability to eventually obtain a path to citizenship. </p>
<p>Together, they have been able to advance important policies like the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deferred_Action_for_Childhood_Arrivals#:%7E:text=%22Dreamers%22%20get%20their%20name%20from,brought%20in%20by%20their%20parents.">Daca</a>), which allowed undocumented young people to receive a conditionally renewable two-year permit to study and work in the country. Their work has also contributed to shifting ideas around what “real citizens” look like, and how laws regulating citizenship might be based on arbitrary frameworks.</p>
<p>Those already advocating for changes to Italy’s citizenship laws would benefit from organising and creating coalitions between the second generation and more recently arrived immigrant youth. The movement would leverage the institutional knowledge of the first group, but also become a stronger and more transformational voice by including the second.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/174001/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The trial of Italy’s former interior minister is a sign of hope in a country that is fast becoming more diverse and multicultural.
Megan A. Carney, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Arizona
Sara Vannini, Lecturer in Information Systems, University of Sheffield
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/170557
2021-12-09T19:09:48Z
2021-12-09T19:09:48Z
‘I say Tajikistan or Uzbekistan’: why Afghan refugees feel unwelcome in Australia, even after becoming citizens
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428967/original/file-20211028-25-eykfb0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Department of Defence/ AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In recent months we have seen images of Afghan people, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/20/desperate-crowds-empty-flights-and-rage-in-afghanistan-at-governments-who-failed-to-plan?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other">fleeing their country</a> and seeking refuge in Australia.</p>
<p>But people from Afghanistan have a long history in Australia. From the 1860s to the 1930s, they helped <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-02/descendents-remember-australias-cameleers/11890622">develop the outback</a> with their camels. They also arrived during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1970s and 80s, and after 1996, when the Taliban began persecuting ethnic and religious minorities.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/incomplete-strategy-and-niche-contributions-australia-leaves-afghanistan-after-20-years-159045">Incomplete strategy and niche contributions — Australia leaves Afghanistan after 20 years</a>
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<p>As of 2016, there were are about 47,000 <a href="https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/mca/files/2016-cis-afghanistan.pdf">Afghanistan-born people</a> in Australia, the majority of whom arrived as refugees. </p>
<p>Prominent Afghan-Australians such as cardiologist Homa Forotan, journalist Yalda Hakim and martial arts actor Hussain Sadiqi have highlighted the significant contributions Afghan refugees have made to Australian society. </p>
<p>However, despite the successful integration of some, our research shows other Afghan refugees still face serious challenges in Australia, even after receiving their citizenship.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/19/10559/htm">new study</a> focused on former Afghan refugees who are now Australian citizens to understand what integration challenges they still face after becoming citizens. </p>
<p>We surveyed 102 people, interviewed 13 and conducted two focus groups (one for men with eight participants and one for women with five) during 2020 and 2021. Our study was based on the Afghan community in Perth. On average, participants had been living in Australia for more than eight years.</p>
<h2>Nearly 90% want to stay forever</h2>
<p>Our survey research suggests respondents are settled in Australia – they want to be here and feel a connection to their new home. </p>
<p>About 87% “definitely” or “most probably” want to live in Australia for the rest of their lives, and only 1.6% wanted to move to Afghanistan if it becomes a peaceful country. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Afghan refugees line up at customs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428976/original/file-20211028-25-1e065mt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428976/original/file-20211028-25-1e065mt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428976/original/file-20211028-25-1e065mt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428976/original/file-20211028-25-1e065mt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428976/original/file-20211028-25-1e065mt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428976/original/file-20211028-25-1e065mt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428976/original/file-20211028-25-1e065mt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Nearly 90% of those surveyed said they wanted to stay in Australia forever.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Royal Australian Navy/AAP</span></span>
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<p>This is not surprising, because the situation in Afghanistan has been unstable over the past four decades. In addition, at the time of our survey, the United States declared it was planning to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/biden-us-troop-withdrawal-afghanistan/2021/04/13/918c3cae-9beb-11eb-8a83-3bc1fa69c2e8_story.html">withdraw</a> its troops from Afghanistan. Therefore, returning home to the country was not a realistic option.</p>
<p>More than half of those surveyed (56%), considered both Australia and Afghanistan as their homelands, and 20% nominated only Afghanistan and 22% nominated just Australia as their homeland.</p>
<p>The participants considered safety and stability as the most attractive feature of Australian society.</p>
<h2>More than half not satisfied with work</h2>
<p>Employment emerged as a major issue for those surveyed. Only 42.5% of Afghan-Australians were satisfied with their current employment, and 17.4% of respondents were either unemployed or doing unpaid voluntary work. This is compared Australia’s overall unemployment rate of less than 5%. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Sydneysiders line up outside Centrelink." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428979/original/file-20211028-27-11256uu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428979/original/file-20211028-27-11256uu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428979/original/file-20211028-27-11256uu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428979/original/file-20211028-27-11256uu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428979/original/file-20211028-27-11256uu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428979/original/file-20211028-27-11256uu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428979/original/file-20211028-27-11256uu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Afghan interviewees reported difficulties finding work that suited their skills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Gourley/AAP</span></span>
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<p>Many participants also faced problems in finding employment in their chosen fields or having their overseas qualifications recognised. As Sadiq, a chemistry graduate and former high school teacher explains: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I have to study eight years if I want to be a teacher [in Australia], but I don’t have time. I have to work and make money to support my family in Afghanistan. That’s why I’m working in construction field now.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Afghan women were over-represented of those unemployed, making up nearly 84% of that group, as well as having lower level of education and higher level of English language barriers, compared to men. Zari, a Hazara woman in her 20s, told us her hijab was severely limiting her employment options. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I haven’t been able to find a job mainly because of my hijab. Even some employers have said this to me directly. My uncle is an owner of a business in Perth, but even he doesn’t hire me for my hijab […] That’s why I have to look for a job only in Afghan community.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Sanam, another female interviewee, does not wear a hijab and describes herself as “modern”. But she nevertheless reported discrimination at work, and being overlooked for promotions. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>You are a foreigner in the workplace, no matter how much you try to be similar to them.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>‘Where are you from?’</h2>
<p>Interviewees also reported being uncomfortable about revealing their identity either as Muslim-Afghan or as former refugees. This was particularly the case in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks. As Ali, a 39-year-old participant told us: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>At first, people would ask me, ‘where are you from?’ And I would say, ‘Afghanistan’. Then they would say, ‘Oh, Taliban’, or ‘Do you know Osama Bin laden?’ So, I realised that I don’t have to tell them the truth. Since then, whenever somebody asks me where are you from, I say Tajikistan or Uzbekistan.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Saed, 41, told a similar story: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>My younger brother is a [university] student […]. One day I was working with him in a construction project and the man that we were working for asked my brother, ‘What do you study?’ My brother replied, ‘Piloting’. Then the man said,‘Oh. Okay, you plan for hijacking’. It really made me sad […] and I decided not to tell people my nationality anymore.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There has been significant, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1464884911408219">negative media and political attention</a> on “boat people” since the 1990s. Interviewees reported this has had an impact on public understanding of why refugees come to Australia. Sara is in her 60s and has been living in Australia for over 30 years. She had a pharmacy in Afghanistan in the 1970s, but had to flee as a result of the Soviet invasion.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s always been so difficult for me to explain people that we were fleeing from violence. We didn’t leave our country voluntarily, but we had to do that. People here don’t know anything about war […] they just blame refugees for coming to Australia.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Seeking acceptance</h2>
<p>Adjusting to a new society is not an easy journey for everyone, particularly for refugees who have been forced to flee violence and trauma. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-studied-afghan-refugees-for-3-years-to-find-out-what-life-is-like-for-them-in-australia-166498">We studied Afghan refugees for 3 years to find out what life is like for them in Australia</a>
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<p>Since arriving in Australia, our participants have undeniably received <a href="https://www.redcross.org.au/get-help/help-for-migrants-in-transition/humanitarian-settlement-program">support</a> from the Australian government. As citizens, they have the same rights as other Australians and the vast majority regard Australia as home. </p>
<p>However, our study showed how former Afghan refugees continue to face serious challenges. This not only includes fulfilling employment, free from discrimination, but a sense of belonging as well. This suggests that while they are legally Australian citizens, they are not fully accepted in their new home.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170557/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Associate Professor Vicki Banham is Associate Dean in School of Arts and Humanities, Edith Cowan University</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Omid Rezaei does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
New research, based on interviews with Afghan-Australians, shows most want to stay in their new country forever. But they don’t feel accepted in their new home.
Omid Rezaei, PhD Candidate, Edith Cowan University
Vicki Banham, Associate Dean, School of Arts and Humanities, Edith Cowan University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.