Return Migration

There are more types of borders today than ever before in history. Borders of all kinds define every aspect of social life in the twenty-first century. From the biometric data that divides the smallest aspects of our bodies to the aerial drones that patrol the immense expanse of our domestic and international airspace, we are defined by borders. They can no longer simply be understood as the geographical divisions between nation-states. Today, their form and function has become too complex, too hybrid. What we need now is a theory of the border that can make sense of this hybridity across multiple domains of social life.

Rather than viewing borders as the result or outcome of pre-established social entities like states, Thomas Nail reinterprets social history from the perspective of the continual and constitutive movement of the borders that organize and divide society in the first place. Societies and states are the products of bordering, Nail argues, not the other way around. Applying his original movement-oriented theoretical framework "kinopolitics" to several major historical border regimes (fences, walls, cells, and checkpoints), Theory of the Border pioneers a new methodology of "critical limology," that provides fresh tools for the analysis of contemporary border politics.

Many qiaoxiang in southern Fujian and Guangdong appear derelict, but from documenting the material heritage and interviewing people about its social significance, another image surfaces. The homeland of Overseas Chinese was not only found to be significant to the diaspora, but serve as an enduring reminder of a grassroots-based modernity in rural China. The qiaoxiang effectively became a transnational legacy of migration from southern China that has undergone the following stages of transformation: exodus-led emergence of a remittance landscape, sudden abandonment, and sometimes revival. Today, it has become a “repository” or “living museum” where tourists and scholars alike can visit and ponder about how humans adapted to post-rural life.

En los últimos años la investigación académica ha avanzado en la generación de información sobre el volumen, perfil y características demográficas de los migrantes de retorno, lo cual ha generado un llamado a la atención oportuna de las necesidades particulares de esta población desde la agenda pública. Aunque esta caracterización es el primer paso para discutir los obstáculos que enfrentan los migrantes de retorno y sus familias en los contextos de llegada, se ha estudiado de manera menos sistemática el nivel de vulnerabilidad de esta población y las barreras institucionales para el ejercicio de sus derechos sociales, en concreto el acceso a la salud, la educación, la vivienda y el trabajo. Es por lo anterior que la Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos y  El Colegio de México desarrollaron el proyecto “Migración de Retorno y Derechos Sociales: Barreras a la Integración” durante el año de 2018. Este trabajo muestra los resultados de investigación a través de cuatro documentos de política que dan cuenta de la situación de las personas retornadas en el ámbito educativo, de salud vivienda y en indicadores demográficos puntuales como la participación laboral, la composición por sexo y su distribución geográfica, entre otros. Además, este documento señala recomendaciones puntuales en torno a la superación de las barreras institucionales que enfrenta la población retornada.

El artículo pone de relieve cómo el sufrimiento social, concebido como manifestación de la opresión social y la injusticia incorporada en el individuo, posee atributos que atraviesan las distintas etapas del retorno migratorio, etapas que se encuentran marcadas por procesos transnacio-nales y multilocales. A tal efecto, el Modelo VIA-compuesto por los ejes analíticos de vulnerabilidad, incertidumbre y asistencia-permite describir, interpretar y analizar el sufrimiento social durante el proceso de retorno desde un análisis multinivel que conecta las percepciones y vivencias de los actores con las desigualdades estructurales. Palabras clave: migración de retorno; integración social; sufrimiento; movilidad social; migrantes; emigración e inmigración.

Everybody is born into a family. Each has its own history, therefore, 'our history' is not made by us, but by previous generations. The rise of International migration and the crumbling of family structures, however, only make it harder for descendants to learn about their family history. Inhibited by language and geographical barriers as well as lost connections to the bearers of knowledge, many offspring of migrant families year for answers to questions such as 'Where do I come from?' or 'How did I get here?' Answering these requires re-establishing lost connections and meeting family one previously did not know. This paper illustrates how the juxtaposition of two generations of Chinese Australian migrants' narrative (a 'pioneer migrant' and an 'overseas born Chinese' are vital to piecing together a segment of family history.

U radu se razmatra potencijal iseljeničko-povratničkih socijalnih doznaka za razvitak RH. Socijalne doznake su ideje, vrijednosti i ponašanja koje su iseljenici stekli enkulturacijom i socijalizacijom u zemljama u kojima su živjeli. Riječ je o do sada nevaloriziranom području iseljeničko-povratničkog utjecaja na RH, izvan sfera transfera znanstvenoga znanja ili ekonomskih investicija. Socijalne doznake su ključne za razvitak jer obuhvaćaju kulturne vrijednosti i norme ponašanja koje oblikuju sve aspekte funkcioniranja društva. U konkretnoj povratničkoj priči koja se prezentira u radu, riječ je o socijalnim doznakama povezanima s kulturnim kapitalom, meritokracijom, pravnom državom te profesionalizacijom i transparentnim djelovanjem javnih i državnih institucija.

The various strategies of reaching out to the diaspora throughout the 20th century and of eventually including it in the building of a nation-state was embedded in transnational relations and ties between Croatian communities and individuals sustained over generations. The paper brings an overview of the history of this relationship as well as it questions the current situation and pose questions for the future development. The authors conclude that the transterritorial definition of the nation, on which the relationship between Croatia and its diaspora has been based from early on, was an inherent element of state-building in the 1990s and has likewise shaped the diaspora strategy applied today.

The terms 'return migration' or 're-emigration' deal with the return of the diaspora to the country of origin and are therefore full of nationalistic perspective. These terms can be useful in the case of a diasporic return to the country of origin, however, the use of the term 'ethnic return migra-tion' should be clarified as well becaus migration of diasporic descendants (to the country of origin of their ancestors) by strategic, rational and pragmatic use of their ethnic disposition (i.e. passports of their ancestors with written nationality) should also be looked into. Indeed, term ethnic return migration expresses that in the case of some diasporic descendants their ethnic origin might be lost and the diasporic identification questioned hence their migration to the country of origin of their ancestors could be analysed as mobility for material or economic benefit. In this article I will analyse the migration of diasporic descendants from West Ukraine and South Moldova to find out whether they incline more to return migration/ re-emigration or to ethnic return migration. Acknowledgment Rád bych na tomto místě poděkoval třem anonymním recenzentům i šéf-redaktorce Českého lidu Janě Noskové, jejichž věcná kritika přispěla ke zkvalitnění článku.

The temporary employment of Yugoslav citizens in Western countries was one of the most important migration phenomena in socialist Yugoslavia. In the early 1970s, one in every four Yugoslavs employed outside of agriculture and craft work was a Gastarbeiter. Yet, while the study of the Yugoslav Gastarbeiter emigration has received much scholarly attention, the overall numbers and dynamics of Gastarbeiter return migration have remained under-researched.
This book offers a major contribution to fill this gap. It draws on fresh political documents from the archives, the press, statistical data, contemporary sociological research, audio-visual materials, novels, and oral history interviews. It shows that the impact of the Gastarbeiter return migration on development policies, social change, and narratives of identity was much more extensive than what has been recognised so far. In particular, analysing changes in migration patterns and policies in the period 1965-1991, this book argues that the return and reintegration of Gastarbeiter generated political divisions and social tensions on a much larger scale than had their employment abroad. It maintains that, during the crisis period of the 1980s, the increase of return migration put strains on the domestic labour market, contributing to the crisis of the federal system, and the ‘ethnicisation’ of migration policies

What is the relation between transnational migration, immigrant integration and return migration processes? Moving from a brief theoretical discussion of these social phenomena, the aim of this article is to discuss their relevance as well as interlinkages in the current multimodal and heterogeneous migration. Reference goes to the European context spanning, for instance, from labour migration to asylum seeking, from low to highly skilled migrants, and from migrant elders to the second migrant generations. A methodological approach to capture the extent and policy relevance of these processes has been suggested at the end.

In the wake of the global economic crisis of 2008, a significant amount of Ecuadorian migrants have returned to Ecuador. This dissertation aims at providing insight into the economic and social reintegration of those returned migrants. Building on the already-existing literature on Ecuadorian return migration, this dissertation looks into three questions. First, what are the reintegration experiences of returned Ecuadorians on an economic and social level? Second, what is the role of the reintegration programmes of the Ecuadorian government
in the returnees’ economic and social reintegration? And, third, which role do associations, cooperatives and networks of returned migrants play in the returnees’ economic and social
reintegration, and how do these organisations interact with the government? Each question will be dealt with in a separate chapter. This dissertation concludes that economic and social
reintegration is a struggle for the majority of the Ecuadorian migrants who have returned in the wake of the 2008 crisis. While the Ecuadorian government has vowed to ensure all
returnees with a sustainable return, the actual reintegration programmes it proposes seem to be designed for and reach only a minority of the Ecuadorian returnees. Associations,
cooperatives and networks of returned migrants, founded to support returnees in their economic and social reintegration, equally rely to a large extent on the government’s promises
and programmes. Despite the pressure these organisations exercise on the government, the overall situation of returned migrants has not changed. To facilitate the economic and social
reintegration of the returned Ecuadorian migrants, the government currently faces the challenge of adapting its programmes in such a way that the needs voiced by returnees are listened to, without however making new, unfulfillable promises. Until this challenge is met, reintegrating economically and socially resides solely in the returned migrants’ own hands.

This report presents the comparative findings of research spanning two years on migrants caught in situations of crisis in destination countries. The research focused on the longer-term socio-economic impacts of these crises on migrants, on their families and on the countries affected by crises. While previous studies have examined crises and their aftermath, as well as immediate responses, this is the first major research project to examine the subject from a comparative perspective. In particular, we investigated the long-term impact of crises on migrants, on countries of origin and on host countries. Our research, thus, fills crucial gaps in knowledge on this topic.

Jamais la prise en compte des cycles migratoires dans la compréhension des modes de réinsertion multiples des migrants de retour n’aura été aussi pertinente au regard des développements politiques actuels. Cette étude entend démontrer qu’un lien de continuité existe entre la propension d’un migrant de retour à se réinsérer au pays et la complétude de son cycle migratoire et vice versa. En premier lieu, elle entend apporter une réflexion inédite qui s’inscrit dans le sillage d’une riche littérature scientifique, située au croisement de nombreuses disciplines, et d’une réflexion menée par l’auteur. Ensuite, sur la base d’une enquête de terrain comparative réalisée auprès de migrants de retour en Arménie, au Mali et en Tunisie, elle tente de démontrer que le degré de complétude du cycle migratoire des migrants de retour constitue une variable significative dans la compréhension de leurs différents degrés de réinsertion. Enfin, l’étude conclue en évoquant les implications politiques issues de cette approche.

India was one of the leading countries to implement the initial lockdown to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, but still, the lockdown failed and within a few months, India joined the list of countries most affected by the coronavirus epidemic. Why did this transpire? What were the reasons abaft this? Where did the Indian government miss? This manuscript endeavors to study the lacunae in the lockdown plans of the Indian Government and highlights the mistakes committed by the Government which caused the lockdown in India to fail and further exposed the domestic migrant laborers to unbearable difficulties. The manuscript argues that the fundamental and economic rights bestowed upon the domestic migrant workers and other laborers under labor laws and the Indian constitution were breached extensively during the lockdown and that the state's policies during the lockdown worsened the condition of the domestic migrant workers.

This article questions whether the presentation of the return and deportation of irregular migrants as a solution to the so-called ‘refugee crisis’ is ethical. Legally, the return of irregular migrants may be a legitimate activity by the state, but the current pressure by the European Commission on member-states to increase the current 40 percent rate of effective returns can lead them to operate returns below minimal human rights standards in a bid to increase the rate. Detailed knowledge of the impact of returns – including deportation from and to different countries – on migrants’ welfare and human rights is scarce. Based on studies on returns from EU member-states to different countries, I make three arguments. First, due to the complexity of the return process, statistics need to be unpacked better. Second, there are key conceptual problems underpinning current EU returns policy. Third, research strongly indicates that returns can render people vulnerable. In the absence of in-depth knowledge on the effects of return on migrants, I conclude with an appeal for returns to be treated with caution and their linking to the refugee crisis to be avoided.

Retornando y deportando migrantes irregulares: no es una solución a la “crisis de refugiados”

Este articulo cuestiona si la presentación del retorno y de la deportación de los migrantes irregulares como una solución a la llamada “crisis de refugiados” es ética. Legalmente, el retorno de los migrantes irregulares puede ser una actividad legítima por parte del Estado, pero la presión actual por la Comisión Europea sobre los Estados miembros de aumentar la tasa actual del 40 por ciento de retornos efectivos puede conducirlos a que operen retornos por debajo de los estándares mínimos de derechos humanos en un intento de aumentar la tasa. El conocimiento detallado del impacto de los retornos – incluyendo la deportación desde y hacia diferentes países – sobre el bienestar de los migrantes y los derechos humanos es escaso. Basado en estudios sobre retornos desde Estados miembros de la UE hacia diferentes países, presento tres argumentos. En primer lugar, debido a la complejidad del proceso de retorno, las estadísticas deben de ser analizadas con más profundidad. En segundo lugar, hay problemas conceptuales claves que sustentan la política actual de los retornos en la UE. En tercer lugar, la investigación indica fuertemente que los retornos pueden rendir vulnerables a las personas. En ausencia de un conocimiento profundo sobre los efectos del retorno de los migrantes, concluyo con un llamado para que los retornos sean tratados con precaución y que su vinculación con la crisis de refugiados sea evitada.

The attention paid by international organisations to the link between migration and development in migrants’ origin countries has highlighted the need to revisit approaches to return migration. Moreover, the growing diversity of migratory categories (ranging from economic migrants to refugees and asylum seekers) necessitates a distinction between the various types of returnee. We still need to know who returns when, and why; and why some returnees appear as actors of change, in specific social and institutional circumstances at home, whereas others do not. The first objective of this paper is to analyse how return has been dealt with by international migration
theories, emphasising particularly the assumptions on which they rest. This theoretical overview is necessary to show how return has been defined and located in time and space, and how the returnee has been depicted. The second objective is to take the various approaches to return migration a step further by elaborating on the theoretical insights that have been extensively proposed. The conceptual approach to returnees is then revisited, taking into account a set of distinguishing criteria, i.e. the returnee’s “preparedness” and “resource mobilisation”..

La victoria del bando sublevado el 1 de abril de 1939 supuso una oleada masiva de civiles que tuvieron que abandonar su patria debido a las diferencias con el régimen político establecido. Entre estos se encontraba la gran mayoría del núcleo intelectual del momento: Antonio Machado, León Felipe, Victoria Kent, Max Aúb, Dolores Ibárruri, y un largo sinfín de nombres. La obra de estos quedó relegada a un absoluto silencio durante casi cuarenta años, sálvense escasas excepciones, dentro de las fronteras españolas. Ya en la última parte de la dictadura franquista, una dictadura que iba relajándose poco a poco, surge la obra de José Ramón Marra-López Narrativa española fuera de España (1963). No obstante, no es hasta la muerte de Franco en 1975 y la apertura mental que sufre España en los años posteriores cuando se produce un acercamiento a estos autores en profundidad. Aun así, estos estudios se centran, en su mayoría, en figuras que ya estaban publicando antes de marchar al exilio y que contaban con cierto renombre. Algunos de ellos son Francisco de Ayala, Max Aub o Rafael Alberti, todos ellos pertenecientes a lo que se ha denominado la Juan A. Godoy es licenciado en Filología Hispánica por la Universidad de Málaga. Máster de Literatura Española por la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, cuya tesis final de máster fue "María Luisa Elío Bernal: exilio, memoria y creación". Actualmente es Phd Candidate (ABD) en Florida International University, en los Estados Unidos, donde estudia la formación de la identidad en la narrativa autobiográfica/autoficcional de la segunda generación de escritores exiliados de 1939. Tras ser teaching assistant en dicha universidad, ha sido contratado recientemente por ésta como Visiting Lecturer at Qingdao University, China. Poseedor de una beca Pablo Ruiz Orozco y Miguel Quesada por un proyecto de investigación sobre la presencia de las mujeres exiliadas en la prensa cubana en 2016. A su labor como investigador de literatura, se le une su trabajo sobre ELE, pues forma parte de un grupo de investigación para fomentar la integración de la cultura afro-hispana en la clase de español.

This article explores situations in which forced migrants revisit places and homes they had fled from, drawing on research carried out among Kashmiri Hindus, better known as Pandits, who were displaced following the outbreak of conflict in Jammu and Kashmir in 1990. Due to the breakdown of law and order, selective attacks, and a climate of fear, most of the community had relocated from the Kashmir valley to the south in Jammu and to even cities such as New Delhi, constituting one of the most prominent groups of Internally Displaced Persons in the region. While there is an interest in repatriation/resettlement in scholarship and policy, the experiences of the Pandits reveal the multiple meanings ‘return’ holds for the displaced. This article will draw on the experiences of Pandit forced migrants in Jammu who have returned to visit Kashmir. Their experiences will be situated with work on return migration, the Kashmir conflict, and the political location of the Pandits in the region. The article argues that return migration is an inconclusive phenomenon that critically raises questions of home and uncertainty, and provides a way to understand how the displaced locate themselves in the world.

Return migration is a topic of growing interest among academics and policy makers. Nonetheless, issues of psychosocial wellbeing are rarely discussed in its context. This book problematises the widely-held assumption that return to the country of origin, especially in the context of voluntary migrations, is a psychologically safe process. By exploding the forced-voluntary dichotomy, it analyses the continuum of experiences of return and the effect of time, the actors that affect the return process and associated mobilities, and their multiple links with returned migrants' wellbeing or psychosocial issues.
The book draws on research encompassing four different continents –Europe, North America, Africa and Asia – to offer a blend of studies, which pay close attention to contextual differences, which affect wellbeing in the context of return. Contrasting with previous research which is heavily informed by clinical approaches and concepts, the contributions in this book come from various disciplinary approaches such as sociology, geography, psychology, politics and anthropology, while often integrating various disciplinary approaches. By considering psychosocial wellbeing as an empirical question investigated through various methodological approaches, the book offers a holistic perspective on how wellbeing is affected during the return process and associated mobilities, enabling academics and policy-makers to understand the repercussions of return and not just the clinical symptoms deriving from mental illness. Therefore the overall approach of the book and the data presented in the contributions are important in informing preventive action and proactive policy-making on return migration. The chapters integrate policy-making implications in the analysis while contributing to the better understanding of return migration as a process and of wellbeing in relation to the variety of factors that affect it.

Return migration has been an important topic in Nigeria as the country has a very large and highly skilled diaspora spread out worldwide with particular concentrations in the United Kingdom and the USA. There has been particular interest in finding a way for Nigeria to capitalize on the human capital deposited in its diaspora in such a way that might aid development at home. At the same time theories about the global competition for talent have put forward the idea that creativity must be considered in governmental policy at all levels if a country/town/region wants to attract skilled workers that will boost the economy there. This study will explore the link between creative city planning in Lagos and return migration to Nigeria by examining how government policies and private initiatives are contributing to the attractiveness of Lagos and Nigeria to creative and talented people in its diaspora. The outcomes of this study suggest that many of these government and private initiatives have contributed positively to return migration and brain circulation in Nigeria. However further research is recommended to determine the exact extent to which this is the case.

Recent social science research has highlighted the chaos imposed by detention and deportation policies on migrant families and communities. This paper expands on these discussions by examining the role of transnational family dynamics as people experience detention, deportation, reintegration and/or remigration. Analysing five exemplary cases of indigenous Ecuadorian families drawn from a larger sample, we highlight the reconfigurations of transnational social relations resulting from these cycles of (im)mobility. We argue that transnational family support structures play a crucial role in the reconfiguration of families affected by deportation by combining material and emotional support and healing with social control. Our findings suggest that the social, emotional, and economic effects of deportation over time are shaped both by family and community contexts of reception and by migrants’ own gender, class, life-course stage, time spent in the United States, and migration experiences. These findings allow us to conclude that deportation is a heterogeneous social and temporal process that does not impact families uniformly but in fact unfolds in diverse ways within family situations where social relationships, gender roles, care arrangements, and social expectations for the most part are already profoundly transnationalised and reconfigured by migration.

This article examines the main determinants for entrepreneurial activities among return migrants in a regional context within Romania. The analytical framework is based on conceptual tools provided by the intersection of entrepreneurship theory and return migration research. The study aimed to answer a set of research questions regarding migrant individuals’ probability for entrepreneurial careers upon return, and Romania constitutes a fertile European origin country for testing them. Returnees are perceived as one of the main transformational forces within the country, and great expectations are related to their entrepreneurial orientation. We test this general assumption using survey data collected from 840 returnees and several logistic regression models which included variables about employment status before the individuals’ first migration, country of destination, length of stay abroad, return reasons, use of savings, and sociodemographics. Individuals’ characteristics as well as features of the migration experiences were found to be highly relevant for predicting the chances of migrants entering into entrepreneurship upon return.

Results from a survey of 461 expat Tasmanians have both confirmed and strengthened anecdotal evidence that Tasmanians leave the state in search of better opportunities to grow and develop – either through employment, education or experiencing other places.  Many want to return to the place they call home, but are prevented by a lack of opportunities matching the wealth of experience and knowledge they have gained from their time away.

"Latinos are now the largest ethnic minority population in the United States and still they encounter a great deal of misunderstanding, prejudice, and discrimination. Utilizing a strengths-based perspective, Social Work Practice with Latinos addresses the unique needs of this diverse population.

Written by practitioners and scholars from many disciplines, this book discusses social issues of consequence to Latinos and specific strengths and risk factors of the Latino community. They then offer methods that utilize these strengths to ensure a culturally-competent approach to practice with Latino populations. Each chapter is accompanied by key questions for personal and group reflection to facilitate discussion and understanding of these vital themes.

The editors have nearly three decades of combined experience working with Latino populations inside and outside the United States. Drawing on this experience, they integrate these varied perspectives to prepare students and practitioners for practice with this richly diverse community."

Undocumented families’ rates of repatriation to Mexico from the US have risen throughout the Obama administration, and this trend will likely increase under Donald Trump. This study describes the experiences of Mexican born youth who grew up in the US and are back in Mexico.  While these children are participants in their families’ migration, their input is rarely sought in decisions to leave or return to a country.  This article shares transborder students’ voices on their struggles to find their identities as Mexican, American or some combination of the two.  They reflect on their schooling experiences across countries, and how these challenges are compounded when they are new to learning in Spanish or indigenous languages in Mexico.  

The phenomenon of 'return' migration has not only become an important feature of the sociology of migration but is also an emerging issue of economic and political importance.  Since the collapse of the Saddam Regime in 2003 and increasingly since 2005, a significant number of high skilled British-Kurdish young people, born and/or educated in the UK, have moved to Kurdistan Iraq to work in the public and private sectors including education, health, oil and gas, construction, finance companies, human resources, healthcare and the international NGOs. 

Drawing on the British Institute for the Study of Iraq funded pilot research on the “transnational mobility of British-Kurdish high skilled young people” from the UK to Kurdistan Iraq, this report aims to provide the scope of existing debates about the “return” migration and identify the motivations of high skilled young people with diasporic background to “return” to their parental homeland. The phenomenon of transnational and “return” migration is an emerging issue of economic, political and technological significance in many developing and post-conflict countries and regions. In this context, it is crucial to find out what drives British-Kurdish high skilled young people, born and/or educated in the UK, to move to Kurdistan Iraq where in the 80s and 90s, many Kurds were forced to seek refuge in Western countries as a result of war, mass killing and ethnic prosecution by the Iraqi governments.

This report draws on empirical research carried out with 32 British-Kurdish young people of diverse age (18-35), gender, income, political affiliation, occupation, religious background and length of residency concerning return migration and social networks. The occupation background of young people were: Teachers including two English language teachers, four university lecturers, four oil and civil engineers, a researcher who worked with Serin- the European Centre for Nuclear Research, three IT workers including a web-designer, two medical scientists, two humanitarian aid workers, two local government service provider, two media workers, two young entrepreneurs, five students and three key informants. In total 32 people including 10 living in the UK (6 males, 4 female) and 22 living in Kurdistan Region of Iraq (14 males, 8 females).

Alongside all this, online discussions and internet activism of the British-Kurdish young people living here and in Kurdistan have been observed to understand their cross-national communication and to reach and interact with a larger number of people with diverse backgrounds.

prologue, intro and afterword of book
Publication date: October 20, 2016
Abstract:
Restrictive border protection policies directed toward managing the flow of refugees coming into neoliberal democracies (and out of failing nation-states) are a defining feature of contemporary politics. In this book, Verónica Tello analyses how contemporary artists--such as Tania Bruguera, Isaac Julien, Rosemary Laing, Dierk Schmidt, Hito Steyerl, Lyndell Brown and Charles Green--negotiate their diverse subject positions while addressing and taking part in the production of images associated with refugee experiences and histories. Tello argues that their practices, which manifest across a range of contexts including Cuba, the United States, Australia and Europe, represent an emergent, global paradigm of contemporary art, 'counter-memorial aesthetics'.

Counter-memorial aesthetics, Tello argues, is characterized by its conjunction of heterogeneous signifiers and voices of many times and places, generating an experimental, non-teleological approach to the construction of contemporary history, which also takes into account the complex, disorienting spatial affects of globalization. Spanning performance art, experimental 'history painting', aftermath photography and video installation, counter-memorial aesthetics bring to the fore, Tello argues, how contemporary refugee flows and related traumatic events critically challenge and conflict with many existing, tired if not also stubborn notions of national identity, borders, history and memory.

Building on the writings of such thinkers as Michel Foucault and Jacques Rancière, this book offers a useful concept of 'counter-memory' for the twenty-first century. It shows how counter-memorial aesthetics is not only central to the nexus of contemporary art and refugee histories but also how it can offer a way of being critically present with many other, often interrelated, global crises in the contemporary era.

http://bloomsbury.com/us/counter-memorial-aesthetics-9781474252737/

The OHB of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies - edited by Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, Gil Loescher, Katy Long and Nando Sigona - has now been published in paperback and is available to purchase with a 30% discount with the code on this flyer. 53 excellent chapters by leading academics, policy makers and practitioners.

Over the past two decades, Swedish authorities have decided on more than 300 000 returns, an average of almost 20 000 per year. Most of these decisions were taken in the later part of this period. All of those who have not been permitted to stay are expected to return voluntarily, but we know from experience that many do not do this. At the political level, issues concerning return policies are said to be prioritized in appropriation directions and through various legislative efforts and other initiatives. Against this background, this Delmi report aims to examine the work with return from a governance and implementation perspective.

The main research question for the study is: Why is there such a large discrepancy between goals and outcomes in the area of return policies? This discrepancy has to do with how instruments of governance are used in the implementation of these policies. This report is based on around 40 semi-structured interviews with officials and front-line bureaucrats, i.e. people in the field, at the Swedish Migration Agency, the Police and the Ministry of Justice, as well as other public agencies and civil society organizations. Several observations and phenomena have been systematized by using interviews, compiling internal reports and other documentation from relevant public agencies and Government inquiries.

The analysis is built on an implementation model with three questions in focus: How to build an understanding, an ability and a willingness to implement return policy? The point of departure is that the authorities charged with implementing the objectives set by politicians for efficient, legally certain and humane return are characterized as ‘street-level bureaucracies’. At these public agencies, front-line bureaucrats create their own procedures and methods to handle their tasks, while also being governed by rules and the constitutional state’s ideal of equal treatment.

The results of the study show that return issues in themselves contain significant conflicting objectives that are difficult to manage. One such conflict exists between the three values that are supposed to permeate return policy, namely efficiency,  legal certainty and humanity. The goal of efficient return in terms of many and swiftly enforced decisions (preferably on a voluntary basis) must be set in relation not only to the other two goals, but also to objectives in other political areas – such as rapid entry to the labour market. The goal of swiftly enforced decisions in the area of returns often must take a back seat to other goals.

In summary, the findings show that return policy has considerable challenges to deal with. These challenges especially concern the conflicting objectives, the fact that these activities are not always prioritized at the two agencies with primary responsibility,
and finally, that policy concerning returns is not always consistent. In
addition, the surrounding factors are also not directly favourable, which means that the policy tools used are met with effective counterstrategies.