A transnational family story: A narrative inquiry on the emotional and intergenerational notions of ‘home’

At the core of migratory experiences lie key questions pertaining to one's emotional changing Self: the complexity of conflicting identities, feelings of (un)belonging, varying degrees of emotional place (un)attachment, and the fundamental (re)conceptualizations of ‘home’. Though well-studied from various angles, ‘home’ as an emotional concept in the context of generational family migration research has many gains yet to be made. Through an in-depth study on three generations of one author's own family, this paper provides personal insight into the intergenerational and emotional dimensions of this topic. Unanimously, the findings demonstrate that notions of ‘home’ as where family is remain predominant, with ties to transnationally dispersed family members rendering ‘home’ as multiple. Places of familial heritage further remain central in conceptualizations of ‘home’ through a retainment of cultural practices and values derived from familial homelands. Despite these cross-generational similarities, challenges and emotional uncertainties on the topic are seen to be increasingly prevalent in the youngest generation. Above all, interviewees' post-migration reflections demonstrate that such conceptualizations are intricate, relational and do not exist in an emotional vacuum.     

Racism,Xenophobia, and Migration in Italy,a Post-Catholic Country

This paper looks at the present situation of xenophobia and racism in Italy through the lenses of land and displacement. It examines the relationship between the homeland and the phenomenon of migration – internal and international – from the beginning of the unitary unified state of Italy (1861) and the Catholic identity of Italian society. Colonialism opened the door to disdain for Black people, while fascism decreed racial laws against Jews without opposition from the Catholic hierarchy. After the Second World War, the Italian Republic banned any form of racism; but more recently the fear of the stranger has led to intolerance of migrants arriving in Italy because of war, violence, hunger, and poverty in their homelands. While Pope Francis, Italian bishops, and many Catholic associations and individuals have called for an attitude toward migrants based on the gospel, sentiments of racism and hate against foreigners are widely present among the population of a formerly Catholic country.     

The Poisoning of Nostalgia: Commentary

The present paper explores elements of traumatic separation associated with involuntary migration by individuals and groups. Loss of home, one's sense of security, familiarity, and historical continuity—without physical threat or actual injury—is examined within a cultural and historical context. The author addresses the complex implications of traumatic separation by conscious human choice, rather than natural processes, such as the poisoning of nostalgia, the process by which normal mourning of loss is undermined by a potentially transgenerationally enduring sense of betrayal of trust.     

International Migration and Religious Selection

Migrants are selected by several characteristics (age, education, skill, health, and family migration experience). Often less examined is religious selection. Using Guatemalan data, this research note tests whether religious affiliation is significantly associated with migration to the United States, net of other competing factors. Results are robust, demonstrating that Protestants are more likely than other religious groups to migrate. Additionally, mediating factors (social networks, cultural norms, and ideological links) are tested to identify social mechanisms behind the Protestant effect. The research note concludes with implications of religious selection and how religious selection can be further examined in migration and religion studies.     

Mental health problems and post-migration stress among multi-traumatized refugees attending outpatient clinics upon resettlement to Norway

Refugees have often been exposed to multiple traumas making them prone to mental health problems later. The aim of this study is to describe the prevalence and symptom load of psychiatric disorders in refugees admitted to psychiatric outpatient clinics and to investigate the relationship between multiple exposure to traumatic events, the severity of traumatic symptoms and post-migration stressors. A clinical sample of 61 refugee outpatients from psychiatric clinics in Southern Norway was cross-sectionally examined using three structured clinical interviews (SCID-PTSD, SIDES and MINI) and self-report psychometric instruments (HSCL-25, IES-R). Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was diagnosed in 82% of the patients, while Disorders of Extreme Stress Not Otherwise Specified (DESNOS) was present in 16% of them. Comorbidity was considerable; 64% of the patients had both PTSD and major depression disorder (MDD) and 80% of those who had PTSD had three or more additional diagnoses. Multi-traumatized refugees in outpatient clinics have high prevalence of PTSD, DESNOS, comorbid depression and anxiety disorders. A more severe symptomatology was found in patients diagnosed with both PTSD and DESNOS, than in those diagnosed with only PTSD. Higher rates of unemployment, weak social network and weak social integration were also prevalent in these outpatients, and related to increased psychiatric comorbidity and severity of symptoms. Further research may clarify the existence of a cumulative relationship between pre-resettlement traumas and post-resettlement stressors in the mental health of refugees, which in turn may help to improve therapeutic interventions.     

The Development of the Universal Ethnic Identity Scale (UEIS) for use in an Australian context

The aim of the present research was to develop a measure that assessed the level of ethnic identification of adults from diverse ethnic backgrounds, as well as individuals' level of ethnic identification with a host culture following migration. In the first study, an ethnically diverse sample of 275 people (138 males and 137 females) responded to a range of new items, as well as items drawn from related scales. Factor analysis revealed three dimensions of ethnic identity that were labelled, “Pride in Ethnic Background and Language,”“Liking for Traditional and Social Activities of my Ethnic Group,” and “Sense of Belonging to This (host) Country.” This factor structure was evaluated in a second study with 1,007 (552 males, 455 females) adults from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. A two‐factor structure provided the most parsimonious fit to the data but further investigation of the factor structure within ethnically diverse samples was recommended. The results are discussed in relation to theories of social identity as well as research on ethnic identification and adaptation.     

Re-charting global ethics

Migrations driven by ethnic, religious, and other forms of social conflict have been common in the past quarter-century, and have in Africa led many to seek refuge and to expect hospitality abroad. This leads to a concern for pluralist ethics, for many receiving refuge abroad expect that they will be able to live by their thoughts and beliefs, creating enclaves of cultural difference. But difference exists in all communities: cultural homogeneity does not exist except in the conservative imagination. Nevertheless, a sameness – the sameness of the value of every person – remains within this plurality. The sameness is conceived in distinct ways in the Natural Law tradition that yields liberalism, in the Golden Rule, in Kant's categorical imperative, and in the Luo culture of Eastern Africa. The Luo precept Luoro remb dhano (‘restraint from letting human blood’) is compared with these other ethical cosmopolitan wellsprings in this essay.     

Introduction: education and migration

ABSTRACT

This introduction expounds educational problems that arise from transnational migration. It argues that it is high time to critically analyze normative issues of and in education under conditions of globalization because dominant approaches in normative philosophy of education tend to suffer from both a nationalist bias and a sedentary bias. The contributions to this special issue address normative problems pertaining to migration-related education from a variety of ethical and philosophical perspectives, including analytic applied ethics, continental philosophy, care ethics, Hegelian philosophy, the capability approach and theories of distributive justice. They discuss the education of both citizens and migrants in the receiving society as well as in the country of origin, focusing on ethical issues pertaining to access to education as well as to the content of educational programs.     

Vocation and encounter: A Scandinavian theological reflection on everyday life as Christians

Martin Luther turned from understanding vocation as a Christian praxis of leaving the world to understanding it as a praxis within everyday life. In accordance with such an understanding, historically, vocation in the Scandinavian countries was central for organizing society as a whole. This article discusses a contemporary use of vocation where there is a tension between communal and individual aspects in a Scandinavian context characterized by democracy, gender equality, and migration. I then propose a focus on vocation and encounter.     

Admissions of racism in discourse on migration in Greece: Beyond the norm against prejudice?

The turn to language in social psychology is closely related to the study of prejudice as racist discourse has been the subject matter of some of the ground‐breaking discourse analytic work. A widely accepted argument was that there seems to be a norm against prejudice informing Western societies: people commonly engage in denials of prejudice when they make negative comments about minorities. Recent work has argued that, due to ideological shifts in the wider societal context or because denying prejudice may not be people's only rhetorical concern, it is possible to find people admitting prejudice. We examine how people in Greece, Greek majority and immigrants, formulate admissions of racism in interviews on migration and citizenship in Greece. Drawing on Ideological Dilemmas and Critical Discursive Social Psychology, we argue that these admissions ironically operate within the norm against prejudice and discuss our findings in relation to the wider socio‐political Greek context.