Gender, Islam and asylum
Researcher(s): Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh
Dates: 2005–present
Donors: ESRC (2005–2009)
Drawing on Dr. Fiddian-Qasmiyeh’s research with and about Muslim asylum-seekers and refugees, including Sahrawis, Palestinians, Kurds and Afghans, this project examines the interconnections between gender, religious identity and practice, and refugeedom in relation to:
- Female and male, adult and child/adolescent refugees’ experiences in refugee camps and in urban host contexts;
- Internally- and externally-produced discursive representations of Muslim refugees across these locations; and
- State and non-state humanitarian and political responses to Muslim asylum-seekers and refugees in the global South and global North
Aims
The project aims to explore the experiences of, and diverse responses to, Muslim Middle Eastern and North African asylum-seekers and refugees in three main regions: within the Middle East and North Africa (especially Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria), in the Caribbean (especially Cuba), and in Europe (especially Spain, France and the UK).
Activities and impacts
As part of this project, Dr. Fiddian-Qasmiyeh's monograph, The Ideal Refugees: Islam, Gender and the Sahrawi Politics of Survival, will be published by Syracuse University Press in 2013.
In 2010-2011 she guest edited a Special Issue of the Journal of Refugee Studies on 'Faith-Based Humanitarianism in Contexts of Forced Displacement' (2011), which draws together a selection of papers presented at the RSC conference 'Faith-based humanitarianism: the response of faith-based communities and faith-based organisations in the context of forced migration', held in September 2010.
In January 2013, Elena was awarded the Lisa Gilad Prize by the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM) for 'the most innovative and thoughtful contribution to the advancement of refugee studies' in 2011 and 2012. The prize was awarded in recognition of her article 'The Pragmatics of Performance: putting 'faith' in aid in the Sahrawi refugee camps' which was published in the Special Issue of the Journal of Refugee Studies which she edited on Faith-Based Humanitarianism in Contexts of Forced Displacement in 2011 (vol. 24, issue 3).
Selected publications
Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. [under review] ‘Embracing Transculturalism and Footnoting Islam in Accounts of Arab Migration to Cuba.’ Under review by Interventions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies.
Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. [Forthcoming, 2014] “Gender and Forced Migration” in E Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, G Loescher, K Long and N Sigona (Eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies, forthcoming with Oxford University Press, 2014.
Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. [Forthcoming 2013/2014] "Conflicting Missions? The politics of Evangelical humanitarianism in the Sahrawi and Palestinian protracted refugee situations," in A Horstmann and J-H Jung (Eds.) Building Noah's Ark: Refugees, Migrants and Religious Communities, Palgrave MacMillan, 2013/2014.
Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. [Forthcoming 2013] The Ideal Refugees: Gender, Islam and the Sahrawi Politics of Survival, forthcoming with Syracuse University Press, Spring/Summer 2013
Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. and Qasmiyeh, Y.M. [Forthcoming 2013] “A Conversation between Refugee Camps and Cities,” in J. Garnett and Harris, A. (Eds) Rescripting Religion in the City: Migration and Religious Identity in the Modern Metropolis, Ashgate, 2013
Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. [Forthcoming 2013] “Inter-Generational Negotiations of Religious Identity and Practice: child, youth and adult perspectives from three cities” in J. Garnett and Harris, A. (Eds) Rescripting Religion in the City: Migration and Religious Identity in the Modern Metropolis, Ashgate, 2013
Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. (2013) ‘Transnational Childhood and Adolescence: Mobilising Sahrawi identity and politics across time and space.’ Journal of Ethnic and Racial Studies, Vol. 36, No. 5, May 2013
Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. (2013) ‘Transnational Abductions and Transnational Jurisdictions? The politics of “protecting” female Muslim refugees in Spain.’ Gender, Place and Culture
Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. (2012) Conflicting Missions? The politics of Evangelical humanitarianism in the Sahrawi and Palestinian protracted refugee situations, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity Working Paper, 27 April 2012
Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. (2012) ‘Transnational Childhood and Adolescence: Mobilising Sahrawi identity and politics across time and space.’ Journal of Ethnic and Racial Studies, iFirst article, January 2012
Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. (2011) 'Histories of Displacement: intersections between ethnicity, gender and class', Journal of North African Studies, Vol. 16, No. 1, 31-47
Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. (Ed.) (2011) Special Issue on "Faith-Based Humanitarianism in Contexts of Forced Displacement", Journal of Refugee Studies, Vol. 24, No. 3
Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. (2011) ‘The Pragmatics of Performance: Putting ‘faith’ in aid in the Sahrawi refugee camps.’ Journal of Refugee Studies, Vol. 24, No. 3, 533-547
Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. (2011) ‘Introduction: Faith-Based Humanitarianism in Contexts of Forced Displacement.' Journal of Refugee Studies, Vol. 24, No. 3, 429-439
Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. and Qasmiyeh, Y.M. (2010) ‘Asylum-seekers and refugees from the Middle East and North Africa: Negotiating politics, religion and identity in the UK.’ Journal of Refugee Studies, Vol. 23, No. 3, 294-314
Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. (2010) ‘Education, Migration and Internationalism: Situating Muslim Middle Eastern and North African students in Cuba.’ The Journal of North African Studies, Vol. 15, No. 2, 137-155
Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. (2010) “When the Self becomes Other: Representations of gender, Islam and the politics of survival in the Sahrawi refugee camps,” in D. Chatty and B. Findlay (Eds.) Dispossession and Displacement: Forced Migration in the Middle East and North Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. 171-196
Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. (2010) “Concealing Violence Against Women in the Sahrawi Refugee Camps: The politicisation of victimhood,” in H. Bradby and G. Lewando-Hundt (Eds.) Global Perspectives on War, Gender and Health: The Sociology and Anthropology of Suffering. Farnham: Ashgate. pp. 99-110
Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. and Crivello, G. (2010) “The Ties that Bind: Sahrawi Children and the Mediation of Aid in Exile,” in D. Chatty (Ed.) Deterritorialised Afghan and Sahrawi Youth: Refugees from the Margins of the Middle East. Oxford: Berghahn Books. Pp. 85-118
Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. (2010) ‘“Ideal” Muslim Refugee Women and Gender Equality Mainstreaming: “Good Practice” for Whom?’ Refugee Survey Quarterly, Vol. 29, No. 2, 64-84
Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. (2009) ‘Representations of Sahrawi Refugees’ ‘Educational Displacement’ to Cuba: Self-sufficient agents or manipulated victims in conflict?’ Journal of Refugee Studies, Vol. 22, No. 3: pp. 323-350
Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. (2006) ‘Relocating: The Asylum Experience in Cairo,’ Interventions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies, Vol. 8(2): 295-318.
Other Information
Elena is the co-editor and co-founder of the Religion and Global Migrations book series (with colleagues Susie Snyder and Jennifer B Saunders); the series was launched by Palgrave-Macmillan in February 2013
