Second Reading Responses 7/5
Arrival City
1. One point that stood out to me was that “Muslim” behavior
as Europeans see it are created by “Western-manufactured Islamic conservatism”
(231). The occurrences of Europeans calling Muslims (as a very large, diverse
group) as some foreign group highlight the depth of the “otherness” that is
often cast on them. Many Europeans do not recognize the full effect that their
own government policies have on the populations living here, and give full responsibility
of the others’ conditions on the others themselves. When cities accept their role
as an arrival city, then this is an indicator that some responsibility has been
taken by the European nations. As we have learned, Germany began to accept more
responsibility in 2015 with the refugee crisis, but received enough pushback to
slow or reverse the change.
2. I wonder if the arrival city situation can realistically
center around citizenship and physical possibilities within the city. At some
points, the author Doug Saunders presents those two pieces as what was missing
and what came together in Parla, Spain. All in all, he includes other points,
but I do wonder if there are other major components of successful arrival
cities that could have been included or at least mentioned. As I discussed with
Manuela, there sometimes isn’t a conclusion, and it seems that he gets close to
having a conclusion that is set in stone of what needs to happen for success in
an arrival city. The use of individual stories and cities contribute to a nuanced
approach to the subject because the author can focus on clarifying specific
situations and strategically choose when to bring the specifics into a more
general frame of mind. The approach allows us to learn from previous experiences
while avoiding most of the reduction of these situations into generalities.
3. I appreciate the idea of learning from previous situations
as they did in Parla, Spain and thus creating a better experience for
immigration to the area. Half of my question is what is making it difficult to
improve the situation in other countries once the less-than-ideal policies and
infrastructure is put in place. The other half is if there is something else
different about Spain compared to Germany and France as countries or societies that
facilitated this thoughtful arrival-city recognition that could be brought to
other countries.
The Figure of the Migrant
1. In contrast to our selection from Arrival Cities, our selection from The Figure of the Migrant does not go into details about particular
case studies. This makes sense as the introductions and conclusions of a philosophical
book, but much is left to the interpretation of the reader looking at this
section in isolation. There are relatively few examples and even within those
examples, the author does not reach specific details. This is part of building
a framework for future work to be built off of. However, for as interesting as
philosophy is, it is very informative to have real-life details of situations.
That is why each of our talks during this program, especially the one with
Mohammed, was so engaging and insightful for me. I was hearing about
experiences of the speaker through which we could discuss larger issues such as
the role of democracy. I wonder where philosophy plays a role in dealing with
the current refugee crisis.
2. I am wondering why the “expulsion” theory was presented
alongside the alternative, grassroots theories in this book. If it is to promote
a compromise and a broader level of discourse, I think it is an interesting idea.
It welcomes both academics and activists to the table to discuss this topic and
presents a range of ideas side-by-side to make clear comparisons possible.
Throughout our time with guest speakers, interviews and experiences in the
community, and learning at community partners, each person has a great and
unique perspective, but as often happens most are slightly disconnected from
all the rest because of each person’s different information and priorities. Perhaps
this strategy, in a publication or at a physical event like our presentations,
is an effective way to bring different priorities together to create well-rounded
discourse. For example, it could bring together the educational priorities of
the school social workers and the priorities of non-white academic discourse in
Germany of Dr. El-Tayib. The individual stories and memories of each person
represented in the publication or event would stand together to hopefully form
a more accepting narrative as well.
3. This idea of looking at movement instead of stasis is a
new concept for me. I think this connects to the popular saying that it’s not
about the destination but about the journey because in the case of a contemporary
migrant the destination has not been reached yet. Thus, the focus on the journey
provides more insight into their lives and allows for a focus on their goals
instead of what they are lacking.
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