ABSTRACT

This book focuses on refugee resettlement in the post-9/11 environment of the United States with theoretical work and ethnographic case studies that portray loss, transition, and resilience. Each chapter unpacks resettlement at the macro or micro scale, underscoring the multiple, and mostly unsupported, negotiations refugees must undertake in their familial, social, educational, and work spheres to painstakingly reconstruct and reintegrate their lives. The contributors show how civil society groups and individuals push back against xenophobic policies and strive to support refugee communities, and how agentive efforts result in refugees establishing stable lives, despite punishing odds. This volume will be of interest to anthropologists and other scholars with a focus on refugee and migration studies.

chapter |11 pages

Prologue

part I|73 pages

Unpacking Early Resettlement

chapter 1|12 pages

“More Karenni, More Happy”

The Role of Social Bonds in the Refugee Resettlement and Integration Processes of Families from Myanmar in Western New York

chapter 4|15 pages

“Sometimes, I Wish We Never Came Here”

Public Schooling of Iraqi Refugee Youth and a Dream (of a Second Life) Denied

part II|90 pages

Understanding Later Resettlement

chapter 6|18 pages

“I Would Expect Her to Know That She's A Dinka”

Defining Successful Reproduction and Resettlement among South Sudanese Refugees

chapter 7|19 pages

“They Don't Love Me Anymore”

A Deeper Look at Family-Related Anxiety for Nepali Bhutanese Refugees in Northeast Ohio

chapter 8|15 pages

Seeking Samaj

Refugee Resettlement beyond Self-Sufficiency and Dispersal

chapter 9|15 pages

Trajectories of Refugee Adaptation

Insights from the Case of Bosnians in the United States

chapter 10|15 pages

Building a Multicultural Community with Resettled Refugees

A Case Study of the Midtown Utica Community Center in Utica, NY

chapter |21 pages

Epilogue

Beyond the Fastlane: Policy Innovation to Facilitate Upward Mobility