When the refugee status becomes an economic asset: how Malians in a Burkinabé City negotiate the “refugee” category

ABSTRACT

Since early 2016, part of the Malian urban refugees living in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, have to “capitalize” on their refugee status to make ends meet. By examining when, why, and how the refugee status transmutes into an economic asset, this article shows how the possibilities to negotiate with the refugee category vary significantly within this group of forced migrants. Indeed, categories are not only imposed on people, but are negotiated by the actors themselves in their interactions and within their social and political economies. My article shows how the refugees’ ability or possibility to participate in the co-construction of their category is shaped by both the social and political context in which they are, as well as by wider intersectional and structural dynamics in which their lives are situated, such as socio-economic class, gender and race.     

Colonial Constructions and African Initiatives: The History of Ethnicity in Northwestern Ghana

The article discusses the colonial construction of ethnic categories, their linkage with precolonial models of identity and the multiple meanings which ethnicity has assumed for different groups over the past decades, using the example of northwestern Ghana – a region which, in the precolonial period, was neither politically centralized nor knew distinct ‘tribes’. The article analyses how ethnic categories, boundaries and institutions were created and continually redefined by colonial officials, anthropologists, chiefs, labour migrants and educated elites, and how the different ethnic discourses fed into each other. It also draws on some of the older literature on ethnicity in Africa because it can still contribute to our understanding of the making of ethnic identities when framed in a deeply historical approach.     

Responsibilities in elderly care: Mr Powell's narrative of duty and relations

In Western countries a considerable number of older people move to a residential home when their health declines. Institutionalization often results in increased dependence, inactivity and loss of identity or self-worth (dignity). This raises the moral question as to how older, institutionalized people can remain autonomous as far as continuing to live in line with their own values is concerned. Following Walker's meta-ethical framework on the assignment of responsibilities, we suggest that instead of directing all older people towards more autonomy in terms of independence, professional caregivers should listen to the life narrative of older people and attempt to find out how their personal identity, relations and values in life can be continued in the new setting. If mutual normative expectations between caregivers and older people are not carefully negotiated, it creates tension. This tension is illustrated by the narrative of Mr Powell, a retired successful public servant now living in a residential home. The narrative describes his current life, his need for help, his independent frame of mind, and his encounters with institutional and professional policies. Mr Powell sees himself as a man who has always cared for himself and others, and who still feels that he has to fulfil certain duties in life. Mr Powell's story shows that he is not always understood well by caregivers who respond from a one-sided view of autonomy as independence. This leads to misunderstanding and an underestimation of his need to be noticed and involved in the residential community.     

Suffering from Water: Social Origins of Bodily Distress in a Mexican Community

This article is an ethnographic analysis of what it means to "suffer from water." Using a critical medical anthropology approach, the study examines how residents living in a foothill community of the Valley of Mexico experience bodily distress associated with water scarcity. Data for the study come from participant-observation of domestic water use and community drinking water management as well as interviews with local civil and religious officials who monitor the water distribution system. While the community discourse on suffering from water does not correspond to biomedical categories of illness, it does speak to the physical and emotional hardships and the social conditions that limit residents' access to an adequate supply of domestic water. By taking a broad view of water-related suffering, the study reveals some of the efforts made by people to address what they consider to be the social origins of their bodily distress.     

A screening tool to identify older people at risk of adverse health outcomes at the time of hospital admission

The proportional increase of the ageing population results in an ever growing percentage of elderly among hospitalised patients. Older patients have complex medical, social and psychological problems that could benefit from coordinated care or case management. Identification of high-risk older adults is mandatory to initiate a liaison geriatric management program. A simple screening tool is presented to identify older people at the time of admission who are at increased risk of adverse health outcomes. The instrument was validated during a period of 6 months when all (n = 618) older adults (> 70 year) hospitalised in non-geriatric departments of a general hospital were screened. This "Variable Indicative of Placement risk" (VIP) shows a good sensitivity (81%) and specificity (86%) and has a high Negative Predictive Value (97%). Furthermore, it shows a significant positive correlation with the length of stay (p < 0.001). The questionnaire turned out to be a very useful tool in the emergency department as well as in other wards because it probes premorbid frailty components with three simple questions. Due to its simplicity a nurse without geriatric training can complete it. Patients who are not at risk of an adverse outcome are easily recognised. A positive score indicates loss of functional independence and a risk of increased length of stay. Further geriatric assessment and intervention seem then appropriate.     

Divergence or disorder?: the politics of naming intersex

The conditions once known under the umbrella terms intersex and hermaphroditism are now generally being called disorders of sex development in medical settings. The terms might seem synonymous, but in fact there are significant differences with controversial consequences. Hermaphroditism, an older term that can still be found in many medical writings, is vague, demeaning, and sensationalistic, conjuring mythic images of monsters and freaks. In the 1990s, activists advocated intersex to describe discordance between the multiple components of sex anatomy, but that word alienated many parents of affected children, as it suggests a self-conscious alternative gender identity and sexuality. Disorders of sex development also refers to intersex, but it deemphasizes the identity politics and sexual connotations associated with intersex, avoids the degradation associated with hermaphrodite, and instead highlights the underlying genetic or endocrine factors that cause prenatal sex development to take an unusual path. I argue that using disorder is problematic, because it implies medical conditions in need of repair, when some intersex anatomies, though atypical, do not necessarily need surgical or hormonal correction. I advocate a less pathologizing new term, divergence of sex development, that might reduce some of the conflict over nomenclature and satisfy intersex people, their parents, and their doctors.     

Identity and transculture in Vice Versa

Quebec's struggle between francophones and anglophones has deeply affected other immigrant communities' identitarian practices. Within Montreal's eighties and nineties nationalist environment some Italo-Quebecois worked as a bridge between the two groups through the transcultural magazine Vice Versa. The article presents some findings from a case study that looks at how Vice Versa challenged dominant perceptions of identity and its role in society. It assumes that identity is negotiated between individuals, that language and ethnicity are key factors for social mobility and symbolic power on the marketplace, and that these function through hegemony. Through its use of untranslated French, English and Italian and its articles' contents Vice Versa's discourse on transculture undermines the assumption that identity is necessary for social interaction and negotiates new categories that dissolve ethnic boundaries. Vice Versa is a unique example of the emergence of a counter-hegemonic movement questioning identity at its roots.     

"Race" and the Construction of Human Identity

Race as a mechanism of social stratification and as a form of human identity is a recent concept in human history. Historical records show that neither the idea nor ideologies associated with race existed before the seventeenth century. In the United States, race became the main form of human identity, and it has had a tragic effect on low-status "racial" minorities and on those people who perceive themselves as of "mixed race." We need to research and understand the consequences of race as the premier source of human identity. This paper briefly explores how race became a part of our culture and consciousness and argues that we must disconnect cultural features of identity from biological traits and study how "race" eroded and superseded older forms of human identity. It suggests that "race" ideology is already beginning to disintegrate as a result of twentieth-century changes.     

Focus: The Aging Brain: Social capital,health, and elderly driver status

Driving a car enables many people to engage in meaningful activities that, in turn, help develop and maintain personal social capital. Social capital, a combination of community participation and social cohesion, is important in maintaining well-being. This paper argues that social capital can provide a framework for investigating the general role of transportation and driving a car specifically to access activities that contribute to connectedness and well-being among older people. This paper proposes theoretically plausible and empirically testable hypotheses about the relationship between driver status, social capital, and well-being. A longitudinal study may provide a new way of understanding, and thus of addressing, the well-being challenges that occur when older people experience restrictions to, or loss of, their driver’s license.     

Doctors on Status and Respect: A Qualitative Study

While doctors generally enjoy considerable status, some believe that this is increasingly threatened by consumerism, managerialism, and competition from other health professions. Research into doctors’ perceptions of the changes occurring in medicine has provided some insights into how they perceive and respond to these changes but has generally failed to distinguish clearly between concerns about “status,” related to the entitlements associated with one’s position in a social hierarchy, and concerns about “respect,” related to being held in high regard for one’s moral qualities. In this article we explore doctors’ perceptions of the degree to which they are respected and their explanations for, and responses to, instances of perceived lack of respect. We conclude that doctors’ concerns about loss of respect need to be clearly distinguished from concerns about loss of status and that medical students need to be prepared for a changing social field in which others’ respect cannot be taken for granted.     

Medical Student Attitudes Towards People with Mental Illness in China: A Qualitative Study

Stigma towards people with mental illness is a worldwide concern. A five-nation survey of medical student attitudes towards people with mental illness recently reported far lower levels of social acceptance among Chinese medical students compared to those from the US, Brazil, Ghana, and Nigeria. This qualitative study presented recent Chinese medical school graduates with probes based on questions used in the aforementioned cross-national study to elicit their views of factors underlying the negative attitudes towards social acceptance of people with mental illness. One-hour interviews were conducted with twenty psychiatry residents in June, 2016. Of 241 coded responses concerning negative attitudes, 51.5% were coded as reflecting fear of violent behavior, 22.8% as loss of face (i.e. shame from interpersonal associations), 17.0% lowered social status, 4.98% nonconforming social behavior, and 3.73% the heritability of mental illness. Low levels of social acceptance of individuals with mental illness among medical students in China are largely related to fears of violence of and loss of face. Understanding the attitudes of medical students may inform efforts to reduce stigma through educational initiatives targeted at both medical students and the general public.     

The importance of oral health to older people's quality of life

Objectives This study was designed to determine whether older people perceive oral health as being important to Quality of Life (QoL) and if so, to identify the most important ways in which their lives are affected. In addition, to identify if subgroups of older people perceive its importance differently. Design: Nationwide qualitative face to face interviews with older people were carried out utilising the Office for National Statistics Omnibus survey in Great Britain. Subjects and methods 454 adults aged 65 or older took part in this study, part of a random probability sample of adults in the UK. Setting Respondents were interviewed in their homes. Results 72% (313) perceived their oral health status as important to their QoL through a variety of physical, social and psychological ways. Most frequently its impact on function: eating (29%, 126) and symptoms: comfort (14%, 59) were considered most important. Gender and social class variations were apparent (P<0.05). Conclusion Older people perceive oral health as being important to life quality in a variety of different ways. There are significant social class and gender variations which must be taken into consideration when assessing oral health needs of older people.     

Negotiating Individualist and Collectivist Futures: Emerging Subjectivities and Social Forms in Papua New Guinean High Schools

This article explains the academic disengagement of a critical mass of high school students in Manus Province, Papua New Guinea, as resulting in part from emerging personal subjectivities and new social networks. Based on a year of ethnographic research in 1994–95, the article describes the authority these young people attributed to their own perceptions of the limited opportunity structures facing them and to the idealized village-based egalitarian student identity being circulated through peer networks. As such, it illuminates the educational implications of youth culture, and demonstrates how local and global processes are mediated through the social fields of high schools.     

Elderly and humor: a review

Ageing can be associated with physical, cognitive and/or social loss. Most older people, however, cope well with this loss, perhaps by using humour. In this review the research findings concerning humour were collected. Twenty six relevant publications were found. The sense of humour does not seem to be greater in older than in younger adults. There are no indications that humour appreciation or production is associated with longevity. In older people there is a correlation between humour on the one hand and well-being and morale on the other. It has not been proven, however, that the use of humour by the elderly people has a favourable influence on their health. In health care for older people humour is sometimes used as a therapy. Scientific evidence of any positive effects of humour on mental health was not found. It is perhaps better for caretakers to show appreciation for the humour of older people than to make jokes about older people oneself.     

Introduction: the language of inclusion and exclusion in the context of immigration and integration

Abstract

When migrant status and citizenship are defined by means of state categories, the language of inclusion and exclusion is key to an understanding of their contemporary shape and historical transformation. This introductory article provides an overview of some of the most relevant concepts in the discourse analysis of in- and exclusion, specifically with a view to the functioning of nation-state categories. It discusses forms of discursive problematization, such as defining, claiming, legitimizing, expanding, sensationalization and suggestion, and it connects these to the discursive drawing of boundaries discussed by the authors contributing to this issue. They focus on discursive constructions of ‘illegality’, race, class, gender, immigrant integration and transnationalism. We argue that, as state categorizations continuously differ, both the historical analysis of their genesis, functioning and transformation and the contemporary analysis of their effectuation in practices are crucial to an understanding of in- and exclusion.     

Muslim Youth in Canadian Schools: Education and the Politics of Religious Identity

This article provides an ethnographic analysis of the schooling experiences of Muslim youth in Canada who are committed to maintaining an Islamic lifestyle despite the pressures of conformity to the dominant culture. Little attention has been paid to how religious identity intersects with other forms of social difference, such as race and gender in the schooling experiences of minoritized youth. Using a case study often Muslim students and parents, this article demonstrates how Muslim students were able to negotiate and maintain their religious identities within secular public schools. The participants' narratives address the challenges of peer pressure, racism, and Islamophobia. Their stories reveal how Muslim students are located at the nexus of social difference based on their race, gender, and religious identity. The discussion further explores the dynamics through which these youth were able to negotiate the continuity of their Islamic identity and practices within schools despite the challenges that they faced. Building upon existing theories of identity maintenance and construction, this research demonstrates how the interplay of the core factors of ambivalence, role performance, and interaction and isolation are implicated in the way Muslim students negotiate the politics of religious identity in their schooling experiences.     

Mirrored boundaries: how ongoing homeland–hostland contexts shape Bangladeshi immigrant collective identity formation

Largely overlooked in the international migration literature, migration from the Muslim world can reveal how the combination of globalization and ongoing homeland tensions shapes immigrants’ collective identity formation in the hostland. Using the case of Bangladeshi Muslims in Los Angeles, this article ethnographically traces how ongoing and historic homeland, hostland, and global political–religious contexts shape immigrants’ everyday struggles over identity categories through two distinct but overlapping processes: (1) the immigrants’ exposure to a more expanded, diverse range of people in the hostland; (2) their import of homeland cleavages to the receiving society. It argues that through international migration, migrants both produce and experience globalization, consequently both reiterating and reconstructing their identity categories in the hostland. It also shows how the immigrants’ cross-border ties to not only their homeland and hostland but also to nation-states beyond shape their identity-work, thus revealing conceptual ambiguities about transnationalism and diaspora.     

National identity and social inclusion

In terms of our national identity, who we are and are judged to be in a particular context depends on how well our claims are regarded by those around us. Being considered not ‘one of us’ means being an outsider whether one wants to be or not. National identity may lead ultimately to social inclusion or exclusion. Using mainly 2005 survey data, this paper explores cultural markers such as ethnicity, birthplace, residence, accent and ancestry regarding claims to be ‘Scottish’. It shows that being born in Scotland enables people to make claims and to have them accepted. Claims to be Scottish by a white and a non-white person on the basis of various markers are received in much the same way. The cultural markers which people use to judge claims represent the raw materials of identity differences with the potential to become the basis of social exclusion under appropriate conditions.