Unpacking the global refugee crisis: deploying the ethical and political work of border crossing

ABSTRACT

This article, derived from the author’s keynote address to the ANZCA conference in July 2017, seeks to reinvigorate a constitutive Communication research approach, drawing on feminist, postcolonial, and intersectional analysis as well as recent research on listening. The model is tested via a case study of BBC media framing the European 2017 refugee crisis as a regional, rather than global, problem. It is argued that Eastern European and Tier 1 countries’ resettlement policies reflect colonial histories and liberal legacies, seeking not to relieve humanitarian strain but to enhance economic growth. The article suggests we must confront how privilege enacts culturally exclusive practices that normalise complacent attitudes in media and scholarly environments that exempt the voices of those ‘outside of the neighborhood’. The duty of ‘care’ is problematised here as a potential tool of colonialism, which must be used ethically if it is to invite thoughtful listening in our work as researchers, organisational leaders, and colleagues seeking to decolonise our practices.

KEYWORDS:

• Global refugee crisis
• immigration
• feminism
• intersectionality
• postcolonialism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Cooren here is referencing the work of Bruno Latour.

2. They also found trends in our publications prioritising CIS white male scholars as first authors of published articles and a notable disparity in men citing women scholars in their articles. They argue this is due to habits made possible by occupying privileged positions, due to persistent male networks. Because citation is a key factor in career advancement and promotion, this lack of citation creates material barriers for women and women of colour Communication scholars.

3. In 1991, Kim Crenshaw crafted from the term ‘intersectionality’; it draws on the work of many who came before, such as Anzaldua (1981), Lorde (1984), and Sandoval (1999).

4. In 2015, under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Canada fast tracked resettlement, taking in 40,081 Syrian refugees between November 2015 and January 2017 (Government of Canada, 2017). Canada too increased its overall acceptance of refugees and asylum seekers to 165,000 in 2015.

5. Doerr (2010) provides greater review of this work and its relevance to immigration precarity.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Paula Gardner

Paula Gardner is the Asper Chair in Communication in the Faculty of Communication Studies and Multimedia, at McMaster University, Canada, where she directs Pulse Lab, and is current President of ICA. Gardner’s multimedia practice and scholarship binds feminist to media studies, human computer interaction, and science and technology studies.