Shows how domestic identity narratives and political polarization shape the sociopolitical response to refugees
The United States once played a major role in global refugee resettlement, accounting for nearly two-thirds of all refugees resettled worldwide. However, in recent years, it has dramatically cut refugee admissions and implemented discriminatory policies on refugee protection. These policies have been justified amid intensifying xenophobic rhetoric against specific groups.
In this book, Alise Coen explains why the monumental shift around refugee resettlement occurred, particularly in response to the high-profile conflict in Syria. She shows how refugees—and broader global migration debates—became contentious political issues in the US, revealing the many ways in which refugees have been increasingly weaponized as partisan symbols by Democrats and Republicans. The book calls attention to the power of rhetoric and identity narratives, and shows how the language used to talk about refugees fuels divisive
policies.
From the years leading up to the Trump administration’s policies targeting Muslim refugees to debates during the Biden administration around who deserves access to asylum, Coen examines how ideas about race, gender, and nativism shape US approaches toward migration. As arguments for “closing the border” continue to gain traction and politicians continue to use global displacement issues to further their agendas, Reconfiguring Refugees explores the ideas, meanings, and policies that undermine and influence US responsibility-sharing.
By:
Alise Coen Imprint: New York University Press Country of Publication: United States Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
ISBN:9781479827961 ISBN 10: 1479827967 Pages: 256 Publication Date:20 August 2024 Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format:Hardback Publisher's Status: Active
Alise Coen is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.