Gender, Nation and Diaspora: Annotations

This interdisciplinary collection examines constructions of nationalism, homeland, region, country and locality through the lens of gender. The leading theme of the book is the "United determination to locate and describe the performative space of interactions between women and nation. Such interactions, claim the contributors, can not be essentialized". Although the question of women and nation is not a new one, Parama Roy author of Indian Traffic: Identities in Question in Colonial Postcolonial India, states: "[the topic] has never before been engaged on such a scale or with such attentiveness to diverse disciplines, media and theoretical positions. The contributors engage in debate on the subjects of Islamic fundamentalism, Canadian gender formations, historic Chicana/o struggles, Israeli-Palestinian conflicts and Yucatan feminism. The book is divided into three sections. The first: "Whose Imaged Community" examines "constructions of nationalism and communities whose practices complicate these constructions." The second: "The production of Nationness: Reading Regulatory Practices" discusses "regulations of particular nation-states and how they affect the lives of women. The third "Transnational Subjects of Feminism: Critical Interventions in an era of Globalization" presents studies of "transnational identity formation" in which ideas of multicultural nationalism and global feminism are critiqued and analysed for how these movements may not be representing women's interests but rather bolstering the very formations they seek to subvert.

This book, focuses on stateless peoples and minorities of the Middle East, and the political and cultural movement between "homeland" and Diaspora, making the general point that "one cannot consider minorities (in the Middle East) without considering diasporas" (2). The definition of minorities and stateless peoples is laid out at the beginning of the collection. "Minority" refers to minorities both numerical minority communities (Jews, Baha'i, Christian, Alawi) as well as majority populations which are powerless (Iraqi Shi'a and Syrian Sunnis) and minority populations which hold power. Included amongst the stateless peoples are the Kurds, and Palestinians. This book discusses the ways in which minority populations deal with the social and political situations they face, both in and out of the "homeland". The chapters of the book are categorised into three broad themes: Law, Politics, and Culture. Within each section, various strategies, situations, and dilemmas of minorities are examined.

The National Association of Women and the Law offers a gender analysis of immigration and refugee protection legislation and policy in Canada. The report highlights the different impacts on women of immigration, refugee flight and resettlement and cites the transformation of women's family role, women's expanding economic contributions to the household, the devaluation of these contributions, the loss of social networks and support of the extended family, exposure to different social and cultural values, the need to acquire a new language, and the stress, frustration and isolation they might experience. They caution that gender-based analysis must be applied to policies which impact roles and relationships within the family, and in particular, sponsorship duration and requirements, professional and trades certification, and access to education and language training. They place considerable emphasis on the need to consider the impact of immigration and refugee protection legislation on relations within immigrant and refugee families. The Committee cautions that any effort to address the issues facing immigrant and refugee women's lives must explore the impact of race, citing that 79% of visible minority women living in Canada are immigrants.

"Of Gods and Monsters: National Security and Canadian Refugee Policy" recognizes the importance of the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and traces the politicization of Canada's immigration and refugee policies back to Confederation. Aiken maintains that Canada's record on refugee crises clearly demonstrates a preference for white Europeans. She makes the links between the racialization of Canada's public policy regarding refugee protection through the years since Confederation, and ideologically defined security considerations; and shows how when these are combined through public policy, the mechanisms for legitimating racial profiling are readily put in place. Aiken provides an analysis of Canadian immigration and asylum policy which clearly demonstrates how "a powerful narrative of the dangerous Other, assaulting the borders, aiming for society's civil foundations, is readily converted to laws and policies restricting access to immigration and asylum." The report includes specific information about Canada's immigration and refugee policy through the years, and provides numerous references to international conventions and laws.

In her submission to the House of Commons regarding Bill C-11 (September 24, 2001), Aiken argued that the Bill maintained and further reinforced a number of serious deficiencies present in the then-current Immigration Act with respect to national security and terrorism. In her brief to the House of Commons, Aiken provided an excellent resource for an understanding of some of the potentially brutal outcomes to refugees of the application of certain sections of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (2001). She listed the sections of the Act where terrorism/terrorist rhetoric abounds and demonstrated that terrorism/terrorist rhetoric was retained from previous incarnations of immigration/refugee policy, and that there was a new tightening of the mechanisms of state control. She pointed out that there is inconsistency between the CSIS Act, which attempts to define what a "threat" is, and is not; and subsequent immigration legislations, which leave the notion of "threat" open to interpretation, with especially harsh impacts on immigrants and refugees of colour.

In an examination of women's organizing and public policy in two northern welfare states, Canada and Sweden, Briskin and Eliasson cover three broad areas: domestic policy (childcare, health, education, violence, and sexuality); vehicles for organizing (the state, political parties, and unions, highlighting the struggles around representation); and challenges to the boundaries of "nation" (immigration and regional integration through the European Union and the North American Free Trade Agreement). The book is a journey through the terrain of gendered public policies of Canada and Sweden, in the context of women's organizing efforts to challenge these policies, their application and impacts.

CLEO produces educational pamphlets, written in accessible language, regarding areas of public policy in Canada. The pamphlets are designed to bring important information about public policy to people at the community level. "Some Key Pieces" outlines important proposals for a new immigration and refugee law as presented in Bill C-11, pointing out that the Bill contains many restrictive measures affecting immigrants and refugees. It provides readers with web sites for additional information about Bill C-11 and immigration and refugee policy generally, as well as how to contact MPs and the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration for the purpose of contributing to the public debate regarding these policies.

In his introduction, Despond states unequivocally that "Since the 1980s, it has become increasingly apparent that Kurdish asylum seekers and refugee communities in the UK and Germany have been 'targeted' and 'criminalized' in a number of disturbing ways by state and non-state actors." He uncovers the significant role of the tabloid press, political parties, far-right groups, corrupt police, unaccountable security services and Turkish/Iranian/Iraqi security services in further targeting and/or criminalizing Kurdish asylum seekers and refugees. Despond provides detailed information regarding the implications of anti-terrorism legislation and public policy post-September 11, 2001, in the UK and Germany, and the impacts of these policies on Kurdish refugee communities. He looks specifically at the UK's Investigatory Powers Act, and the Terrorism Act, 2000, to uncover their application to criminalizing measures against Kurdish refugees. The report contains details about organizations who advocate for Kurdish and other refugees. It refers to specific court cases and highlights impacts on the PKK and the Iranian Democratic Party of Kurdistan, and it provides documented evidence of torture. The role of public institutions, government agencies, human rights organizations, NGOs, and community-based advocacy groups are explored in depth.

This critical report examines the socio-economic condition of racialized groups in Canada's urban centres. It presents an analysis of their economic performance based on their income and unemployment levels and indicators of poverty. It also reviews housing, health, education, contact with the criminal justice system, representation in the media, and political participation as indicators of social-economic performance. Galabuzi includes some of the realities of life for racialized groups in Canada's urban centres though narratives and the voices of members of these groups and of the organizations that advocate for them. The report highlights the challenge that Canada faces with the growing racialization of poverty, and the threat it represents to the country's stability and economic progress.

Hyndmas looks at two documents released by the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) in 1998-99: "Not Just Numbers: Immigration Legislative Review (ILR)" (1998); and "Building on a Strong Foundation for the Twenty-First Century: New Directions for Immigration and Refugee Policy and Legislation" (1999). Hyndmas argues that a gender analysis of these documents is needed because they represent a precursor to new immigration laws and policies which the government planned to introduce later. She makes the links between the government's interest in increasing access to the Canadian labour market for highly skilled immigrants, and increased economic integration and globalization, posing the question of the gender implications of the application, in legislation, of this trend. She addresses the gender implications of the ILR's proposal that immigration and refugee legislation be separated, and that immigration and citizenship acts be combined, suggesting that such a division sets refugees apart, as they are not then part of the citizenship trajectory.

This study seeks to define the scope and normative content of Iraq's social policy and to identify its objectives, both manifest and latent. The objectives are examined in terms of the ideological influences that have shaped social policy and structured the priorities adopted. The analysis has been undertaken for a twofold purpose: (1) to provide a systematic description of this neglected aspect of contemporary Iraq; (2) to stimulate comparative social policy analysis of Middle East countries.

Professor Carl James, Faculty of Education, York University (Canada), and Lecturer Bengt Spowe, Department of Teacher Training, Uppsala University (Sweden), discuss their respective ideas and experiences related to their work in the areas of multicultural and anti-racism education. They examine questions of equity, inclusivity and diversity relating to teaching in culturally diverse classrooms.

Razack argues that the dominant discourse about the need for identity documents and the legislated requirement that an applicant for refugee status must be in possession of identity documents, has internal coherence, an internal logic that is clear evidence of the racist underpinnings of these reforms. She demonstrates the centrality of the ideologies of racism to issues of globalization and notions of national security, and the historical and continuing role of the state in promulgating ideologically-based narratives regarding these issues and their impacts. Her position is that this racial story can be traced through the unequal structure of citizenship and immigration reform, particularly those reforms limiting the rights of refugees to asylum.