Alice Bloch | The University of Manchester (original) (raw)

Papers by Alice Bloch

Benefits 2005 13 116 118, 2005

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 2017

This paper draws on qualitative interviews to explore the educational experiences amongst the UK ... more This paper draws on qualitative interviews to explore the educational experiences amongst the UK born adult children of refugees from Vietnam, Sri Lanka (Tamils) and Turkey (Kurdish). Second generation from refugee backgrounds are characterised by diversity and as a group are increasing numerically. However, little is known about the specificity of their experiences as they have been either subsumed within or have fallen between the research agendas on new migrants, refugees, asylum seekers and the body of research on larger established minorities. This paper sets out to fill a gap in the literature by exploring the perspectives of second generation from refugee backgrounds. We examine the impact of policyparticularly dispersal and mobilityon education, the ways in which inter-generational relations and the aspirations of both parents and their children can be shaped by refugee histories, how schools fail to alleviate barriers to parental participation and racism within school settings, especially though not exclusivelywithin schools that are less ethnically diverse. We conclude that the policy context and refugee backgrounds shape educational experiences and aspirations but also significant are the structural divisions that reproduce class and race based inequalities.

Ethnic and Racial Studies, 2016

This paper explores the language practices, attitudes to languages and the intergenerational tran... more This paper explores the language practices, attitudes to languages and the intergenerational transmission of heritage languages amongst the UK born adult children of refugee parents. The paper draws on empirical data from a research project based on 45 qualitative interviews with three groups of 'second generation' refugees, whose parents came as Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka, Kurdish refugees from Turkey and as refugees from Vietnam. The paper explores the ways in which language is central to political discussions and to national policies on race, cohesion, diversity, 'Britishness' and citizenship. These debates and policies ignore and often silence the positive role of heritage languages. This paper highlights the importance of heritage languages as a signifier for a number of wider issues of identity, which intersect with race and refugee backgrounds in complex ways.

Race and Ethnicity in the 21st Century, 2010

We have edited Race and Ethnicity in the 21st Century with two core objectives in mind. First, we... more We have edited Race and Ethnicity in the 21st Century with two core objectives in mind. First, we see it as a resource for students and scholars of race and ethnicity. It is for this reason that we have sought to cover what are seen as the substantive core issues in the making of race and ethnic relations in contemporary societies. Second, we wanted to bring together authors who could write with a sense of depth and authority about the specific issues covered by their chapters. All the authors included in this volume have carried out extensive empirical and conceptual research in their main areas of scholarship and this is reflected in the individual chapters. More generally, however, we see this volume as helping readers to think about key facets of contemporary race and ethnic relations on the basis of current research and utilising a range of theoretical and conceptual perspectives. Another way to make this point would be to say that we wanted to raise questions for our readers and help them to think about them from a range of angles rather than provide them with a uniform perspective. In the current climate there is both intense public debate and mobilisation around the issues we cover in this book. This is evident in the heavily politicised debates we see about such questions as immigration, asylum, policing, education, public housing and related issues. It is also evident in the social constructions of migrant and minority communities as 'social problems' or 'enemies within' as well as in the seemingly common-sense acceptance of the argument that many Western societies have become 'too diverse' for their own good (Hansen 2007; Hartmann and Gerteis 2005). In this climate of fear and uncertainty it has also been evident that there has been a loss of historical perspective about both the background to current preoccupations and the reasons why multiculturalism as a set of policies and initiatives emerged in the first place. The various chapters in this book seek to address this loss of perspective by situating the present situation within a broader historical context. In doing so they give voice to the need to see debates about racial and ethnic inequality

Critical Social Policy, 2002

This article provides the context for the Special Issue. It outlines the differential eligibility... more This article provides the context for the Special Issue. It outlines the differential eligibility for welfare rights experienced by people with varying citizenship statuses and notes the increasing exclusion and marginalization of asylum seekers in European countries of asylum. In this article, we also examine the robustness of the arguments that have been used to justify the curtailment of welfare in some European countries; namely, that welfare acts as a magnet for asylum seekers. Linked to this is the use of asylum seekers as a political tool. We also explore the consequences of this which include racism and xenophobia. Finally, the article outlines the themes arising from the contributions in the Special Issue.

International Migration, 2000

This article presents an overview of the legal and policy issues affecting refugee and asylum-see... more This article presents an overview of the legal and policy issues affecting refugee and asylum-seeking women in European host societies. First, it explores the unique types of persecution experienced by women and shows that the asylum determination process, along with the status of women relative to men, mitigates against the effective protection of women. The legal basis for asylum, the evidential requirements and the procedural norms all reduce the protection which is likely to be conferred upon asylum-seeking women.

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 2000

... who become long-term unem-ployed are in danger of not integrating (Valtonen 1994 ... as they ... more ... who become long-term unem-ployed are in danger of not integrating (Valtonen 1994 ... as they come into the country because without status you cannot think of integration. ... The data demonstrates that the insecurity which asylum-seekers experience while waiting for their cases ...

Thesis Eleven

The impact of the Holocaust on the descendants of survivors and the ways in which they embrace, e... more The impact of the Holocaust on the descendants of survivors and the ways in which they embrace, embody and memorialise their family histories is the subject of this paper. The paper explores intergenerational storytelling and silences about the Holocaust through the lens of the number that was tattooed on the bodies of inmates in the Auschwitz complex and has been replicated on the bodies of some survivor descendants. The number has become a symbol of the crimes of the Holocaust though its meaning has changed during different periods of Holocaust remembrance. Using the genealogy of the tattoo, this paper explores its meaning in relation to private and public memorialisation for the descendants of survivors living in Israel who have replicated the number on their own body. An earlier version of this paper was presented in December 2020 at La Trobe University’s Agnes Heller Annual Sociology Lecture.

Ethnic and Racial Studies

Comparative migration studies, 2018

This paper explores transnational activities among the UK born second generation from three refug... more This paper explores transnational activities among the UK born second generation from three refugee backgrounds: Tamils from Sri Lanka, Kurds from Turkey and Vietnamese. Drawing on qualitative interview data from 45 interviews, the paper explores the views and experiences of the second generation but also their reflections and interpretations of their parent's histories and transnational activities. The paper takes a comparative and inter-generational approach. It compares transnationalism among second generation with that of the refugee generation and highlights generational differences. The intersections of refugee histories with transnationalism are brought to the forefront of the analysis and in so doing demonstrates the significance of refugee backgrounds on transnational practices.

Living on the Margins, 2016

Vulnerability, Exploitation and Migrants, 2015

Refugees, Citizenship and Social Policy in Europe, 1999