Destination Detroit : discourses on the refugee in a post-industrial city / Rashmi Luthra.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Luthra, Rashmi, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Political refugees--Cultural assimilation--Michigan--Detroit.

Political refugees.

Political refugees--Cultural assimilation--United States.

Political refugees--Michigan--Detroit--Social conditions.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 191 pages)

Place of Publication:

Ann Arbor, Michigan : University of Michigan Press, 2024.

Summary:

Deindustrialized cities in the United States are at a particular crossroads when it comes to the contest over refugees. Do refugees represent opportunity or danger? These cities are in desperate need to stem population and resource loss, problems that an influx of refugees could seemingly help address. However, the cities are simultaneously dealing with local communities that are already feeling internally displaced by economic and technological flux. For these existing citizens, the prospect of incoming refugee populations can be perceived as a threat to financial, cultural, and personal security. Few U.S. locations provide a more vivid case study of this fight than Metro Detroit, where competing interest groups are waging war over the meaning of the figure of the refugee. This book dives deeply into the discourse on refugees occurring among various institutions in Metro Detroit. The way in which local institutions talk about refugees gives us vital clues as to how they a defining and redefining themselves today. The figure of the refugee becomes a slate on which groups with varied interests write their stories, aspirations, and fears. Consequently, we can figure out from local refugee discourses the ongoing question of what it means to be a Metro Detroiter—and by extension, what it means to be a revitalizing U.S. city in this age.re negotiating competing pressures and how the city overall is negotiating competing imperatives. Indeed, this local discourse gives us a crucial glimpse into how U.S. cities are

A revealing analysis of how interest groups shape conversations about refugees in Metro Detroit.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction. The Refugee Story as Part of the Story of Metro Detroit

Chapter 1. Destination Detroit: The Refugee as a Means of Economic Revitalization

Chapter 2. Refugees Not Welcome: The Refugee as a Threatening Figure

Chapter 3. The Refugee as a Vote Getter: The Political Fight over the Figure of the Refugee

Chapter 4. Refugees Welcome: The Refugee as a Test of Our Collective Character

Chapter 5. Detroit as Deportation Central for Chaldean Refugees: Representation of a Refugee Group in Narrow Christian Terms

Chapter 6. Unsettling Refugee Discourse through Art and Culture: Attempting to Move beyond the Stock Figure of the Refugee

Concluding Thoughts

References

Index.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0-472-90462-0