Transnational Spaces in Amitav Ghosh’s The Circle of Reason

This essay maps the unmapped nuances of transnational/cultural spaces in Amitav Ghosh’s debut novel, The Circle of Reason (1986; 2008) which underscores the inter-territorial itinerary of Alu, the protagonist, who after being accused of being a terrorist, runs from Lalpukur, near Calcutta (now Kolkata) to Goa to Al-Ghazira, a fictional gulf-state and finally to Algeria. The novel, Bildungsroman in nature and thematic treatment, poignantly deals with James Clifford’s idea of ‘assimilation’ (of) / ‘travelling’ cultures, geo-political boundaries and hybridization of language. The rationale of the paper is to deconstruct the binaries—tradition and modernity; oriental and occidental cultures; and emigration and immigration, which are, to me, the themes of the narrative of the novel. Ghosh has dexterously intertwined the cultural matrix of different spaces in the novel to show how in this age of mobility, open economy and transnational migration, transcultural awareness is all to value. This essay also traces the trajectory of mobility in the age of fluidity and underpins patterns of movement which affect cultural orientations, sensibilities, and, consequentially, creative expressions.

Teachers’ competencies for working in an intercultural environment

BACKGROUND: Today, multiculturalism is present in all spheres of life. Teachers are at the forefront to first formally encounter children from different cultures, and as the first ones, children from different cultures will face it in their social life. Teachers are supposed to prepare students to meet and live with people from cultures different from their own. Hence, it is necessary to identify the competencies teachers need to work in an intercultural environment, given the globalising world where different cultures meet more often, coexist, and exchange values and ways of living. OBJECTIVE: This paper discusses the teachers’ competencies to work in an intercultural environment and presents the results from data collected within the RoMigSc project. These data are analysed to identify the competencies teachers need to work in a multicultural environment. METHODS: In the study, data from the RoMigSc survey were used, where information on the inclusion of migrant students was collected using the survey questionnaire method. All analyses in this paper are on a descriptive level with exploratory purpose. RESULTS: The results show that teachers don’t feel well prepared to support learning or teach human rights, emigration and immigration, shared values and discrimination. They also need more support in teaching in an intercultural and multicultural environment, especially out-of-school support. CONCLUSIONS: In general, teachers find their school and own practices inclusive for migrant and Roma students, but not in all aspects. None of the teachers has participated in a project to raise awareness of Roma issues.

Metaphors of migration over time

This paper aims to cast light on contemporary migration rhetoric by integrating historical discourse analysis. I focus on continuity and change in conventionalised metaphorical framings of emigration and immigration in the UK-based Times newspaper from 1800 to 2018. The findings show that some metaphors persist throughout the 200-year time period (liquid, object), some are more recent in conventionalised form (animals, invader, weight) while others dropped out of conventionalised use before returning (commodity, guest). Furthermore, we see that the spread of metaphor use goes beyond correlation with migrant naming choices with both emigrants and immigrants occupying similar metaphorical frames historically. However, the analysis also shows that continuity in metaphor use cannot be assumed to correspond to stasis in framing and evaluation as the liquid metaphor is shown to have been more favourable in the past. A dominant frame throughout the period is migrants as an economic resource and the evaluation is determined by the speaker’s perception of control of this resource.

Russian Society as Power Resource or Constraint?

This chapter examines the growth of Russian human capital since the collapse of the Soviet Union in order to understand whether the health and demography of the population can support the country’s foreign policies under Vladimir Putin. It examines trends of stubbornly low, although improving, life expectancy, and fertility, high male mortality, emigration and immigration trends, and overall population growth in the post-communist period. The chapter also looks at the effects of high Russian social inequality and wealth concentration. In order to understand whether Russian social trends are supportive of increasing the global reach of the country under Putin’s leadership, the chapter also looks at post-secondary educational reforms in Russia, and the degree to which the Russian labor force is prepared to support increased economic growth in Russia.

(Im)mobility Patterns among Polish Unemployed Migrants in Iceland Navigating Different Welfare Regimes

Based on fieldwork among unemployed Polish migrants in Iceland, this chapter examines how they negotiate and adapt to the social risks and changing circumstances encountered in the countries of emigration and immigration as well as how they navigate the available ‘resource environments’ emerging in conjunction with different welfare regimes. We particularly look at the European Union (EU) regulations for social-security protection vis-à-vis national welfare-protection policies on unemployment in Iceland and Poland and their possible ramifications for the mobility and immobility of Polish workers. Furthermore, we highlight some problematic interactions between the internationalisation of the labour market and concomitant transnational livelihoods, EU social policy and the welfare-assistance environment of member states. In so doing, we apply a critical approach to the commonly assumed high flexibility and extensive geographical mobility of migrant workers that tends to overlook counterfactors that influence different forms of immobility.

Migratory dynamics of the rural population of the Apuseni Mountains in the post-socialist period

The aim of the present article is to draw up an analysis on the migratory dynamics of the population from the Apuseni Mountains in the Post-Socialist era. In order to accomplish this aim, we collected statistical data from two representative years, namely 1992 and 2011, which correspond to two censuses. The analysis was meant to reveal the evolution of the settlements (people who settled in the area) and of emigration, as registered in the two reference years and to identify the causes that determined the evolution of the emigration and immigration.

Türkiye’nin Kitlesel Akınlar Deneyiminin Çatışma Modeli ve 3Ka Ekseninde Değerlendirilmesi

Türkiye uluslararası göç yazınına sonradan girmiş eski bir göç ve göçmen ülkesidir. Özellikle 19. yüzyıl sonundan itibaren yaşanan uluslararası nüfus hareketlerinin önemli bir kısmı, şiddetli çatışmalar karşısında yerinden olan nüfusların sınır aşan hareketleri olarak gerçekleşmiştir. Bu çalışmada, Suriyelilerin 2011 tarihinde Türkiye’ye yönelik kitlesel akınları ile yeniden tartışılmaya başlanan kitlesel akın kavramı, çatışma eksenli bir kuramlaştırılma üzerinden ele alınmaktadır. Bu bağlamda Türkiye’nin deneyimlediği tüm göç hareketleri değil, sadece kitlesel akınlar incelenmektedir. Teorik arka planını Çatışma ve Göç Kültürleri Modeline dayandırdığımız bu çalışmada insan hareketliliğinin öncelikle hedef ülkenin çekiciliği değil, kaynak ülkelerdeki çatışmaların motive edici rolü vurgulanmaktadır. Bu bağlamda çatışmaların makro düzeyde Göçün 3KA’sı olarak ifade ettiğimiz, Katılım, Kalkınma ve Kitle Açıklarının insani güvensizlik kaynağı olduğunu ve bunların kitlesel akınları yönlendirdiğini tartışıyoruz. Böylelikle bu çalışmada, yaygın olarak “ani ve öngörülemez” olarak tanımlanan kitlesel akınların aslolarak öngörülebilir olduklarına işaret eden ve biriken insani güvensizlik algısına dikkat çekerek, kitlesel akın tanımını yeniden tartışmaya açmaktayız. ABSTRACT IN ENGLISH Understanding Mass Movements to Turkey in Reference to the Conflict Model of Migration and 3Ds Despite entering the international migration literature more recently, Turkey has long been an emigration and immigration country. International population movements to Turkey, especially movements at the end of the 19 century, was mostly by those who lost their houses because of the intensive conflicts happening in the origin countries. We discuss mass migrations to Turkey with reference to the Conflict Model of Migration. We argue that conflicts in places of origin are primarily important in mass migration movements. We look at the sources of conflict and insecurity classified into the 3Ds (Democratic Deficit, Development Deficit and Demographic Deficit) to explain human mobility. Thus, we argue that mass population movements that are often described as “sudden” and “unpredictable” can in fact be predictable if cumulative human insecurity factors are taken into account.

Return Migration Around the World: An Integrated Agenda for Future Research

Currently, two distinct bodies of scholarship address the increased volume and diversity of global return migration since the mid-1990s. The economic sociology of return, which assumes that return is voluntary, investigates how time living and working abroad affects returnees’ labor market opportunities and the resulting implications for economic development. A second scholarship, the political sociology of return, recognizing the increasing role of both emigration and immigration states in controlling and managing migration, examines how state and institutional actors in countries of origin shape the reintegration experiences of deportees, rejected asylum seekers, and nonadmitted migrants forced home. We review these literatures independently, examining their research questions, methodologies, and findings, while also noting limitations and areas where additional research is needed. We then engage these literatures to provide an integrated path forward for researching and theorizing return migration—a synergized resource mobilization framework.

Fenômenos migratórios na perspectiva da saúde coletiva

Analisar o perfil de produção dos trabalhos científicos acerca dos fenômenos mundiais de migração em massa que foram conduzidos sob a ótica dos pressupostos da saúde coletiva. Revisão de escopo desenvolvida sobre protocolo Joanna Briggs. Foi realizada a leitura dos títulos e resumos das literaturas, leitura de textos completos e selecionados os trabalhos que possuíam aderência à proposta do estudo. A estratégia resultou em 212 publicações das quais 15 artigos foram eleitos para compor a revisão. Discussão: os artigos analisados sinalizam a hegemonia da visão funcionalista e do saber médico hegemônico. As publicações na área da saúde coletiva que estudam os fenômenos migratórios mundiais são feitas dentro da perspectiva positivista.Descritores: Saúde Pública, Determinantes Sociais de Saúde, Emigração e Imigração. Migratory phenomena in public health care pespectiveAbstract: To analyze the production profile of scientific studies about the worldwide phenomena of mass migration that were conducted from the perspective of the assumptions of collective health. Scope review developed on protocol Joanna Briggs. Literature titles and abstracts were read, full texts were read and the papers that adhered to the study proposal were selected. The strategy resulted in 212 publications of which 15 articles were elected to compose the review. The articles analyzed signaled the hegemony of the functionalist view and the hegemonic medical knowledge. Publications in the area of public health that study world migratory phenomena are made from the positivist perspective.Descriptors: Public Health, Social Determinants of Health, Emigration and Immigration. Fenómenos migratorios y los determinantes sociales de la saludResumen: Analizar el perfil de producción de estudios científicos sobre los fenómenos mundiales de migración masiva que se realizaron desde la perspectiva de los supuestos de salud colectiva. Revisión del alcance desarrollada en el protocolo Joanna Briggs. Se leyeron títulos de literatura y resúmenes, se leyeron textos completos y se seleccionaron los artículos que se adhirieron a la propuesta de estudio. La estrategia resultó en 212 publicaciones de las cuales 15 artículos fueron elegidos para componer la revisión. Los artículos analizados señalan la hegemonía de la visión funcionalista y el conocimiento médico hegemónico. Las publicaciones en el área de la salud pública que estudian los fenómenos migratorios mundiales se realizan desde la perspectiva positivista.Descriptores: Salud Pública, Determinantes Sociales de la Salud, Emigración e Inmigración.