EpiCenter

The International Center for Migration, Ethnicity and Citizenship's Quarterly Newsletter

Welcome to the first issue of EpiCenter, the Newsletter for the International Center for Migration, Ethnicity and Citizenship

Visitors to the Center

One of the Center’s key goals is to serve as a contact point for researchers, policy makers and others in the United States and abroad who are concerned with issues having to do with immigration, migration, refugees and citizenship. To that end, we have been pleased to host a number of distinguished visitors from overseas. Our recent guests have included: Jochen Blaschke, Berlin Institute for Comparative Social Research; Agnes Callamard, Center for Refugee Studies, University of Toronto; Nicholas van Hear, Refugee Studies Programme, University of Oxford (UK); Jan Niessen and Beth Ginsburg of the Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe, based in Brussels; and François Jean, Médecin sans Frontières, Paris.

Center Updates

Guest lectures/presentations:

November 11, 1994

- Robin Cohen, Department of Sociology And Director, Center for Ethnic Studies, University of Warwick (UK) “Revisiting Babylon: Iconoclastic Conceptions of the Diaspora Experience” (jointly sponsored with MacArthur Program on Global Change and Liberalism)

December 13, 1994

- Public forum on "The New Politics of Immigration: Proposition 187 and Beyond," featuring the following panel discussants: Roberto Suro, Staff Writer, The Washington Post: David Rieff, Senior Fellow, World Policy Institute: Valerie Oltarsh, Executive Director, New York City Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (jointly sponsored with the World Policy Institute, NSSR)

February 23, 1995

- Galina A. Staravoitova, Head, Center for Ethno-Political Studies, Institute for Economy in Transition (Moscow) “Self-Determination of Nations and Russian Democracy” (jointly sponsored with the New School’s East & Central Europe Program)

February 27, 1995

- Srebrenka Kunek, Monash University (Australia) “Sheets from the Trousseaux: The Making of The Brides” (jointly sponsored with Committee on Gender Studies & Feminist Theory, Graduate Faculty, NSSR)

March 29 , 1995

- Dr. Michel Giraud, C.N.R.S. and Université des Antilles-Guyane (Martinique) “West Indians in France: Identity, Culture & Processes of Incorporation" and Dr. Ramón Grosfoguel, Rockefeller Foundation Fellow, Center for Puerto Rican Studies, Hunter College/CUNY, “Colonial Caribbean Migrants in France, the United States, Great Britain, and the Netherlands” (jointly sponsored with The Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University)

Workshops and Seminars:

April 7, 1995

- The Workshop on European Migration and Ethnicity: David Blatt, Cornell University, Gallya Lahav, Consultant, Mortality and Migration Section, Population Division, United Nations; Demitra Pappas, Princeton University; Dariusz Stola, Institute of Political Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences; Madeleine Tress, Director of Research, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society; Sara Weyland, University of Toronto

May 5, 1995

- Workshop on Graduate Consortium in Migration, Ethnicity and Citizenship

Workshop on European Migration and Ethnicity

On April 7, the New York Consortium for European Studies, in collaboration with the International Center for Migration, Ethnicity and Citizenship, hosted its annual workshop on European migration and ethnicity. The workshop, held at the New School's Graduate Faculty, featured a series of presentations by recent Ph.D.s and graduate students from the United States and abroad. The morning session was devoted to a discussion of new work on European migration. Dariusz Stola, a researcher at the Institute of Political Studies, Polish Academy of Science who was in residence at the Center as Visiting Fulbright Scholar during the spring of 1995, presented a paper on recent migration to and from Poland and the possible ramifications of these developments for Polish and European politics. {See separate article for abridged version of Mr. Stola's paper.} Madeleine Tress of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society provided an overview and analysis of recent Jewish migration from the former Soviet Union. Her discussion of recent declines in Jewish out-migration and the changing political context of their incorporation in different host societies sparked an interesting exchange of views among the workshop participants. In the last presentation of the morning, Gallya Lahav of the United Nations’ Population Division discussed the relevance of traditional political alignments and orientations in determining political positions on immigration in Europe. A discussion of the shifting European political spectrum and the increased politicization of the immigration issue in Europe and the United States closed the morning session.

The afternoon session focused on new work on immigrants and incorporation. David Blatt of Cornell University presented the results of his recent research on the development of immigrant organizations and mobilization in France. Demitra Pappas of Princeton University presented a complementary view of immigrant mobilization in France which focused more particularly on the importance of collective political and cultural memory as both a reflection and resource of popular mobilization. Sara Weyland of the University of Toronto followed with a presentation addressing the role of popular political mobilization and the significance of national identity structures and institutional factors in immigrant mobilization in France and Canada. The general discussion that followed these presentations revolved around the formulation and development of collective demands by immigrant groups in France and elsewhere, and the nature and significance of these social movements as agents of change.

CENTER CO-SPONSORS WORKSHOP ON RWANDA

On April 20, the Centre for Refugee Studies (CRS) at York University in Toronto and the International Center for Migration, Ethnicity and Citizenship jointly sponsored a workshop at the New School on “Early Intervention and Conflict Management: A Retrospective on Rwanda.” This workshop was convened as part of a larger study of the efficacy of the international response to and intervention in Rwanda which the CRS is carrying out at the behest of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on behalf of the OECD countries. Participants included representatives of the United Nations departments of humanitarian affairs and peacekeeping operations, the Norwegian Institute of International Relations, the Council on Foreign Relations, the New School and Columbia University. Readers interested in learning more about the CRS Rwanda project should contact Dr. Howard Adelman, Centre for Refugee Studies, York University, North York, ONT M3J 1PS, telephone (416) 533-5012; fax (416) 533- 3144.

NEW YORK COMMUNITY TRUST PROJECT FOCUSING ON KEY IMMIGRANT POLICY ISSUES

Although primarily oriented towards scholarly research and policy analysis addressing global population flows and the responses of nation-states and the international community to migration-related pressures, the Center also has a special interest in questions having to do with the impact of immigration on New York (especially New York City). In early June 1995 The New York Community Trust approved a grant to support the Center to convene a series of roundtables for government officials representing both the city and state of New York, representatives of local immigrant advocacy groups, and selected academics and policy analysts to examine key immigrant policy issues currently affecting New York, potentially including education, welfare and social services, and workforce/employment issues. The first in the series of roundtables -- to be convened in collaboration with the New School’s Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy -- will take place in the fall. The project will conclude with a local conference or symposium sometime in the spring or summer of 1996 at which the findings and recommendations emerging from the roundtable series would be shared with public officials, local non-profit organizations and other stakeholders, and the media. We will be providing updated information on the NYCT project in the next issue of EpiCenter.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Resource Directory Available for Your Use

For the past several months, the Center has been compiling a directory of individuals and institutions in the greater NYC area which are involved in research, advocacy or policy formation related to migration, ethnicity and citizenship. The number of individuals in this directory is in the hundreds, and growing every day. We are also compiling a substantial amount of information on organizations and institutions. The information in this directory is available to you. If you are interested in collaborating or communicating with other professionals who share a common research or policy interest, contact the Center and we will be happy to provide you with the names and addresses of individuals and institutions which may serve your needs.

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