About the Book
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 politico, economico, y ecologico, racismo y xenofobia han llevado a politicas mas y mas severas. Un circo politico en los medios oculta a ambas las historias de inmigracion y las definiciones antiguas de palabras para personas en movimiento, creando confusion linguistica amplia. Bajo esta carpa de circo, no hay consideracion 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 antidoto oportuno a este circo, A de Asilo re-enmarca palabras claves que describen a personas en movimiento. Escrito para corregir la de-significacion de terminos por retorica y politicas basadas en deshumanizacion y encarcelacion lucrosa, este glosario provee una consideracion interseccional e historica de las palabras usadas en debate inflamado. Brincando a unas letras del alfabeto mientras repite a otras, treinta terminos cubren todo desde Asilo a Tolerancia Cero. Cada articulo empieza con una historia contemporanea u historica para ilustrar, y despues discute la politica alrededor de la palabra. El libro balancea terminos impactados por debates politicos contemporaneos-como "migrante," "refugiado" y "extranjero ilegal"-y terminos que ofrecen contexto historico a estas controversias, como "fugitivo" "sin casa" y "vagante."
Escrito en ingles y espanol, este libro ofrece una perspectiva unica 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 mas lectura, igual que un directorio de organizaciones de defensa de inmigrantes a traves de los Estados Unidos.
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
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.
Review :
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
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
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
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
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
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
