Week 2: Migration and Displacement

Migration

The movement of people from one place to another, often across borders.

Forcibly displaced persons

As of today, 66 million forcibly displaced persons around the world.

Voluntary migration

Migration for work, education, family reunification.

Forced migration

Migration due to war, persecution, environmental disaster.

Internal displacement

Displacement within the country.

International migration

Migration across national borders.

Displacement

The condition of being uprooted from one's home, land, or community.

Refugees

People who have fled their countries to escape conflict, violence, or persecution and have sought safety in another country.

Internally displaced persons (IDPs)

Internally displaced people (IDPs) have been forced to flee their homes by conflict, violence, persecution or disasters, however, unlike refugees, they remain within their own country.

Stateless People

A person is 'stateless' if no State considers them a citizen.

Exile as Political Resistance

A state of being barred from one's native country, often for political or punitive reasons.

Forced exile

Exile that occurs due to expulsion or persecution.

Self-imposed exile

Exile that occurs due to escape from oppression.

Capitalism and Displacement

Capitalism produces labor migration by generating surplus labor and exploiting cheap labor.

Primitive accumulation

Displacement of people from land to create 'free' labor pools (Marx).

Neoliberalism

Cuts to social safety nets, privatization, and structural adjustment programs (SAPs) have caused mass displacement globally, especially in the Global South.

Development-induced displacement

Displacement caused by mega-dams, special economic zones, urban gentrification.

Climate displacement

Climate change disproportionately impacts formerly colonized nations and is directly linked to extractive capitalist practices.

Migration regimes

Reflect colonial hierarchies of humanity.

Fortress Europe

Racialized exclusion of migrants from the Global South.

Global care chains

Women as key participants in roles such as nannies, domestic workers, and nurses.

Capitalist labor demand

Often drives migrations alongside patriarchal structures at home.

Deserving vs. undeserving migrants

A binary that influences who is allowed to belong.

Media and political discourse

Often dehumanize displaced people, echoing colonial tropes.

Literature, film, and testimony

Challenge dominant narratives about migrants and exiles.

Abolitionist movements

Call to abolish borders, detention centers, and imperialist wars.

US detains

400,000 people each year, primarily related to criminalization and mass incarceration.

Decolonial perspectives

Reject the idea that mobility should be a privilege.

Grassroots organizing

Involves working by and with migrants.

Reimagining citizenship

Envisions belonging outside the nation-state.

Edward Said's definition of exile

Different from immigration or expatriation; insists it is not a romantic or heroic condition.

Said's paradox of exile

Exile is compelling to think about but terrible to experience.

Unhealable rift

Refers to the separation between a human being and their native place.

Exile's impact on identity

Shapes or distorts a person's sense of identity and creates tensions with host society.

Nation-state's role in exile

Produces exile and challenges its legitimacy or boundaries.

Responsibilities of intellectuals in exile

Political and ethical duties assigned by Said to exiled thinkers.

Cultural identity in the diaspora

Insights from Said help understand connections between exile and cultural hybridity.

Monarchy and the Old Order

Refers to Afghanistan from 1919 to 1973, during Amir and Hassan's childhood.

Saur Revolution

Coup that led to the Republic in 1973.

Communist Coup and Soviet Invasion

Period from 1978 to 1989 when Baba and Amir flee Afghanistan.

Mujahideen Victory and Civil War (1989-1996)

The period when Hassan is killed and Sohrab is orphaned, characterized by violence and ethnic targeting.

Rise of the Taliban (1996-2001)

Assef becomes a Taliban official, representing the regime's brutality.

U.S. Invasion (2001-2021)

Involves a temporary retreat of the Taliban and the emergence of Taliban insurgency.

U.S. withdrawal and fall of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

The transition back to Taliban rule.

Shahnameh

An epic full of maxims, adages, reflections on life's fluctuations, love stories, and ponderings on the conundrum of death.

Rostam and Sohrab

The story of Rostam, the Iranian Hercules, who unwittingly kills his own son Sohrab.

Amir's guilt and search for redemption

Explored through the film's portrayal, questioning if the visual medium enhances or weakens these emotional themes.

Simplification of political events

The film's approach to complex political events in Afghanistan, including potential downplaying or misrepresentation.

Pashtuns and Hazaras relationship

The film's depiction of the power imbalance and discrimination faced by Hassan.

Sohrab's voice and agency

Examines how Sohrab's portrayal shapes the viewer's perception of trauma and survival.

Representation of women

Roles of Soraya, Hassan's mother, and other women in the story compared to gender dynamics in Afghan society and the novel.

Landscape depiction

The portrayal of Afghanistan and the U.S. in the film, considering lighting, color, and camera work.

Portrayal of violence

The film's depiction of physical and emotional violence, highlighting powerful and disturbing scenes.

Role of music

Music's influence on the emotional and cultural atmosphere, supporting themes of nostalgia, loss, or redemption.

Theme of loyalty

Exploration of loyalty, especially between Hassan and Amir.

Representation of trauma

How trauma is represented for Sohrab and Hassan, and the sensitivity of its portrayal.

Amir's actions as justice or redemption

Discussion on the ethical limitations of Amir's journey at the film's end.

Western perceptions of Afghanistan

The film's contribution to or challenge of Western stereotypes and portrayals of Afghanistan.

Politics of exile and diaspora

Engagement with the portrayal of Afghan immigrants in U.S. scenes.

Intended audience of the film

Consideration of how different viewers (Afghan, Western, diaspora) might interpret the story differently.