A is for Asylum Seeker: Words for People on the Move / A de asilo: palabras para personas en movimiento

by Rachel Ida Buff, Alejandra Oliva (Translator)

Overview

A clear and concise A-to-Z of keywords that echo our current human rights crisis

As millions are forced to leave their nations of origin as a result of political, economic, and environmental peril, rising racism and xenophobia have led to increasingly harsh policies. A mass-mediated political circus obscures both histories of migration and longstanding definitions of words for people on the move, fomenting widespread linguistic confusion. Under this circus tent, there is no regard for history, legal advocacy, or jurisprudence. Yet in a world where the differences between “undocumented migrant” and “asylum seeker” can mean life or death, words have weighty consequences.

A timely antidote to this circus, A is for Asylum Seeker reframes key words that describe people on the move. Written to correct the de-meaning of terms by rhetoric and policies based on dehumanization and profitable incarceration, this glossary provides an intersectional and historically grounded consideration of the words deployed in enflamed debate. Skipping some letters of the alphabet while repeating others, thirty terms cover everything from Asylum-seeker to Zero Tolerance Policy. Each entry begins with a contemporary or historical story for illustration and then proceeds to discuss the language politics of the word. The book balances terms affected by current political debates—such as “migrant,” “refugee,” and “illegal alien”—and terms that offer historical context to these controversies, such as “fugitive,” “unhoused,” and “vagrant.”

Rendered in both English and Spanish, this book offers a unique perspective on the journeys, histories, challenges, and aspirations of people on the move. Enhancing the book’s utility as an educational and organizing resource, the author provides a list of works for further reading as well as a directory of immigration-advocacy organizations throughout the United States.

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Un claro y breve abecedario de palabras clave que hacen eco en nuestra crisis humanitaria presente.

Mientras millones son forzados de huir de sus naciones de origen debido a peligro político, económico, y ecológico, racismo y xenofobia han llevado a políticas más y más severas. Un circo político en los medios oculta a ambas las historias de inmigración y las definiciones antiguas de palabras para personas en movimiento, creando confusión lingüística amplia. Bajo esta carpa de circo, no hay consideración para historia, defensa legal, o jurisprudencia. Pero en un mundo donde las diferencias entre “migrante indocumentade” y “solicitante de asilo” pueden ser la diferencia entre vida y muerte, palabras tienen consecuencias graves.

Un antídoto oportuno a este circo, A de Asilo re-enmarca palabras claves que describen a personas en movimiento. Escrito para corregir la de-significación de términos por retórica y políticas basadas en deshumanización y encarcelación lucrosa, este glosario provee una consideración interseccional e histórica de las palabras usadas en debate inflamado. Brincando a unas letras del alfabeto mientras repite a otras, treinta términos cubren todo desde Asilo a Tolerancia Cero. Cada artículo empieza con una historia contemporánea u histórica para ilustrar, y después discute la política alrededor de la palabra. El libro balancea términos impactados por debates políticos contemporáneos—como “migrante,” “refugiado” y “extranjero ilegal”—y términos que ofrecen contexto histórico a estas controversias, como “fugitivo” “sin casa” y “vagante.”

Escrito en inglés y español, este libro ofrece una perspectiva única en las jornadas, historias, retos, y aspiraciones de personas en movimiento. Aumentando la utilidad del libro como un recurso educacional y organizacional, la autora provee una lista de obras para más lectura, igual que un directorio de organizaciones de defensa de inmigrantes a través de los Estados Unidos.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823289158
Publisher:	Fordham University Press
Publication date:	08/04/2020
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Rachel Ida Buff (Author)
Rachel Ida Buff teaches history and comparative ethnic studies at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Author of Against the Deportation Terror: Organizing for Immigrant Rights in the Twentieth Century, she has also written for The Nation, The Washington Post, Truthout, and Jewish Currents.

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Rachel Ida Buff ensena historia y estudios étnicos comparativos en la Universidad de Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Autora de Contra el Terror de Deportación: Organizando para Derechos de Inmigrantes en el Sigo XX, también ha escrito para The Nation, The Washington Post, Truthout y Jewish Currents.

Alejandra Oliva (Translator)
Alejandra Oliva is Communications Coordinator at the National Immigrant Justice Center in Chicago. She is a freelance writer and editor and has served as a volunteer translator for the New Sanctuary Coalition of New York City.

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Alejandra Oliva es Coordinadora de Comunicaciones en el Centro Nacional de Justicia Para el Inmigrante, Chicago. Es escritora freelance y editora, y ha servido como traductora voluntaria para la coalición de Nuevo Santuario de Nueva York.

Table of Contents

Introduction | xiv
Introducción | xv

Translator’s Note | xxxii
Nota de Traductora | xxxiii

Asylum Seeker | 2
Asilo | 3

Accompaniment | 10
Acompañamiento | 11

Camp | 18
Campamento | 19

Caravan | 26
Caravana | 27

Citizen | 32
Ciudadana | 33

Climate Refugee | 40
Refugiada Climática | 41

Denizen | 48
Habitante | 49

Deportee | 56
Deportade | 57

Detainee | 64
Detenide | 65

DREAMer | 72
DREAMer | 73

Enemy Alien | 80
Extranjero Enemigo | 81

Expatriate | 88
Expatriada | 89

Foreign-Born | 96
Nacides en el Extranjero | 97

Fugitive | 104
Fugitivo | 105

Guest Worker | 112
Trabajador Invitado | 113

Illegal Alien | 118
Extranjero Ilegal | 119

Immigrant | 124
Inmigrante | 125

Itinerant | 130
Nómade | 131

Know Your Rights | 138
Conozca Sus Derechos | 139

Migrant | 144
Migrante | 145

People on the Move | 152
Personas en Movimiento | 153

Refugee | 160
Refugiade | 161

Sanctuary | 168
Santuario | 169

Unaccompanied Minor | 176
Menor Desacompañade | 177

Undocumented | 184
Indocumentado | 185

Unhoused | 192
Sin Casa | 193

Vagrant | 200
Vagante | 201

Visa | 208
Visa | 209

Xenophobia | 216
Xenofobia | 217

Zero Tolerance | 226
Tolerancia Cero | 227

Epilogue: The Right to Stay Home | 234
Epilogo: El Derecho de Quedarse en Casa | 235

Acknowledgments | 242
Agradecimientos | 243

Works Cited | 247

Para Leer Más | 257

Resources for People on the Move /
Recursos Para Personas en Movimiento | 259

Editorial Reviews

The old saying that ‘sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me’ is completely wrong. Words hurt. Words start wars. Words have been used to dehumanize and demonize the immigrant population. Thousands of people are detained, separated from their families, their loved ones, deported. Children are ripped from their parents, they are kept in cages. People are dying in the desert. But words can also stop wars, heal, and build solidarity. A is for Asylum Seeker is a great resource, a tool to help us change the way we use language and create a place where we can all live in dignity.—Ravi Ragbir, Executive Director, New Sanctuary Coalition

A unique and stimulating perspective on the intersectional journeys, histories, challenges and aspirations of different types of migrants in the world, with an emphasis on the United States. This book uplifts the fundamental humanity at the core of the migrant experience regardless of nationality, religion, race, or economic purpose.—Isabel Sousa, Florida Immigrant Coalition

An essential primer for the era of forced migration, militarized borders, detention centers and for-profit carceral systems. Rachel Ida Buff’s profound, readable new book is filled with clarity, context and critical guidance for all who 'dream in the many languages of liberation.'—Rabbi Brant Rosen, Wrestling in the Daylight: A Rabbi's Path to Palestinian Solidarity

This is just the book we need right now. It will draw you in and hold you, from the first word to the last. It is so much more than a historical glossary. It is a reminder that words have power. They create the world around us. Each word in this book is an offering, a reclamation, a seed of liberation.—Jennifer Gugliemo, Living the Revolution: Italian Women's Resistance and Radicalism in New York City, 1880-1945

Rachel Ida Buff’s A is for Asylum Seeker is a marvelously conceived, highly relevant, and eminently readable abecedary that confronts our growing inability to recognize the humanity of people forcibly displaced from their homes. In this book, Buff is not only exploring the lexicon of displacement but is also building a language of resistance to the dehumanization of migrants worldwide, and that itself is a feat almost beyond mere words.—Moustafa Bayoumi, How Does It Feel To Be a Problem? Being Young and Arab in America

Words matter. Political conflict often drives changes in their meaning. In this brilliant work of activist scholarship, Rachel Buff provides a primer on the changing meanings of words shaping today’s debates. Advocates for a new vocabulary supporting the human right to move more freely will want to build on her firm foundation.—Donna Gabaccia, Professor Emerita, University of Toronto

From the Publisher

Words matter. Political conflict often drives changes in their meaning. In this brilliant work of activist scholarship, Rachel Buff provides a primer on the changing meanings of words shaping today’s debates. Advocates for a new vocabulary supporting the human right to move more freely will want to build on her firm foundation.

Donna Gabaccia

Rachel Ida Buff’s A is for Asylum Seeker is a marvelously conceived, highly relevant, and eminently readable abecedary that confronts our growing inability to recognize the humanity of people forcibly displaced from their homes. In this book, Buff is not only exploring the lexicon of displacement but is also building a language of resistance to the dehumanization of migrants worldwide, and that itself is a feat almost beyond mere words.

How Does It Feel To Be a Problem? Being Young and Arab in America - Moustafa Bayoumi

An essential primer for the era of forced migration, militarized borders, detention centers and for-profit carceral systems. Rachel Ida Buff’s profound, readable new book is filled with clarity, context and critical guidance for all who 'dream in the many languages of liberation.'

Wrestling in the Daylight: A Rabbi's Path to Palestinian Solidarity - Rabbi Brant Rosen

This is just the book we need right now. It will draw you in and hold you, from the first word to the last. It is so much more than a historical glossary. It is a reminder that words have power. They create the world around us. Each word in this book is an offering, a reclamation, a seed of liberation.

Jennifer Gugliemo

The old saying that ‘sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me’ is completely wrong. Words hurt. Words start wars. Words have been used to dehumanize and demonize the immigrant population. Thousands of people are detained, separated from their families, their loved ones, deported. Children are ripped from their parents, they are kept in cages. People are dying in the desert. But words can also stop wars, heal, and build solidarity. A is for Asylum Seeker is a great resource, a tool to help us change the way we use language and create a place where we can all live in dignity.

Ravi Ragbir

A unique and stimulating perspective on the intersectional journeys, histories, challenges and aspirations of different types of migrants in the world, with an emphasis on the United States. This book uplifts the fundamental humanity at the core of the migrant experience regardless of nationality, religion, race, or economic purpose.

Isabel Sousa