Who counts as a refugee?

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	Time: 10 hours Level: Advanced

	Introduction Introduction Resource This unit explores the dynamic interrelationships between citizenship, personal lives and social policy for people who have fled their country of origin seeking asylum in the UK.

	1 The aspects and meanings of citizenship 1 The aspects and meanings of citizenship Resource The issues discussed in this unit are considered in relation to different aspects and meanings of citizenship: people's legal and political status, their rights, opportunities to work, access to welfare,...

	2 Personal lives 2 Personal lives Resource We start our exploration of the interrelationship of personal lives and social policy with personal stories.

	3 Social policy and citizenship 3 Social policy and citizenship Resource Immigration law and policy do not traditionally appear under the heading of ‘social policy’. We argue here for a broader definition that includes these, since the laws, policies and procedures concerned...

	4 Refugees, asylum seekers and citizenship 4.1 The context and significance of the historical moments under consideration Resource The two historical moments we are considering were not chosen arbitrarily; they are both significant times in the overall history of people seeking asylum in the UK. Some important relationships between... 4.2 Feminist perspectives: who counts as a refugee? Resource The UN Convention has a very narrow definition of a ‘refugee’, which does not ‘accommodate those people who are forced to leave their country of origin because of economic and/or social disruption caused...

	5 Citizenship, identity and belonging 5.1 Post-structuralist perspectives: the production of social meaning Resource With the onset of the Second World War, because they came from Germany, Wolja and Lotte became ‘enemy aliens’ overnight, an identification they resisted. By contrast, both Victor and Françoise were viewed... 5.2 National identity and diasporic citizenship Resource National identity is frequently associated with country of origin and place of birth. This association created difficulties for many Jewish refugees in the 1930s who, like Lotte and Wolja, had to flee... 5.3 Legal status and belonging Resource During the Second World War, Jewish refugees experienced great insecurity about their status, resulting in some cases in severe mental distress. Others ‘chafed at existing conditions. Indeed, most refugees...

	6 Citizenship and access to welfare 6.1 ‘Maybe you can look, but you cannot touch’: asylum and restricting access to welfare Resource So far we have considered meanings of citizenship in terms of legal status, national identity and belonging. In this section we want to explore it in terms of ‘access to welfare’, recognising that people... 6.2 ‘No-choice’ dispersal Resource Dispersal as a strategy aimed at resolving tensions, avoiding ‘concentrations of aliens’ and preserving ‘ethnic balance’ and ‘cultural homogeneity’ is not a new idea, but one proposed for the settlement... 6.3 Shopping with ‘vouchers’ Resource The advice given to young asylum seekers, reproduced here as Extract 4, describes how the system of vouchers (see Figure 4) operated before it was discontinued in 2002 (other details of the scheme are...

	7 Citizenship as ‘participation in social life’ 7 Citizenship as ‘participation in social life’ Resource If ‘citizenship, as social practice, is manifested by direct or indirect participation in public life, by both individuals and groups’ (Kastoryano, 2002, p. 143), then opportunities for asylum seekers...

	8 Knowledge and evidence 8 How is ‘knowledge’ about refugees and asylum seekers produced and reproduced? Resource In this final section we consider ways in which ‘knowledge’ about refugees and asylum seekers is produced and reproduced through different kinds of research.

	9 Conclusion 9 Conclusion Resource In this unit we have explored the mutual constitution of personal lives and social policy through an analysis of the implications of different aspects of citizenship on the lives of refugees and asylum...

	10 Further resources 10 Further resources A very useful overview of ‘migration’ can be found in Lewis (2003). A special issue of Critical Social Policy (2002, vol.22, no.3) on ‘Asylum and welfare’ focuses on refugees, asylum seekers and migration....

	References and Acknowledgements References Resource Acknowledgements Resource