Unsettled Cambodian Refugees in the Nyc Hyperghetto Review

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 · 101 ratings  · 12 reviews

Start your review of Unsettled: Cambodian Refugees in the New York Metropolis Hyperghetto

Aug 20, 2020 Ernest Keefer rated information technology really liked it

In my work/volunteering with refugee resettlement, I was reticent to think about the ways in which we enacted and connected settler colonial violence, specifically in the means where we go along with the demands of the state and its insistence on permanent settlement in the United States in ways that would eventually remove them from Medicaid and other social back up structures. This book demonstrates conspicuously the ways in which violence is enacted through social work and the systems surrounding thursday In my work/volunteering with refugee resettlement, I was reticent to think well-nigh the ways in which we enacted and continued settler colonial violence, specifically in the means where we go forth with the demands of the state and its insistence on permanent settlement in the United States in ways that would eventually remove them from Medicaid and other social support structures. This book demonstrates conspicuously the ways in which violence is enacted through social work and the systems surrounding that work and how through promoting the thought of 'refugee exceptionalism', resettlement agencies create sites of vulnerability for their clients. The violence that the country enacts on refugees is an extension of the style that the land enacts violence upon Black people in the class of incarceration, poverty and neoliberal solutions to the social ills of racism. How can refugee resettlement be done in a manner that does not exceptionalize? How can information technology be done in a way that seeks to destruct the systems of colonialism and violence that practise not terminate once the refugee reaches America'due south borders? Refugee resettlement is inherently intertwined with the land and agencies are forced to comply with the will of the state in order to receive funding, even if that means harming the very people the bureau seeks to protect. These agencies volition continue to promote violence, despite best intentions, as long equally they are tied to the Usa settler colonial project. The futurity of refugee resettlement, of welcoming the stranger, must sever its ties to land violence if it is to survive. It must imagine new possibilities of welcoming that do not serve as continual waves of violence. I'chiliad not sure what that will await similar. But it tin't expect like this. ...more

Apr xx, 2016 Victoria rated information technology information technology was amazing

cursory words- i'thou thinking virtually how when we talk about asian americans in the u.s.a. nosotros have to talk about blackness, about the refugee every bit constantly in motion and serving as collateral damage for u.due south. imperialism, about globalization, and virtually the distinctions between intergenerational silence/trauma of well-nigh migrants and the overtly felt, external state violence/trauma that never really ends for refugees (and is anything but silent). so all of that is messy just this work is very importa brief words- i'm thinking about how when we talk about asian americans in the united states we have to talk about blackness, well-nigh the refugee every bit constantly in motion and serving as collateral damage for u.s. imperialism, about globalization, and nigh the distinctions between intergenerational silence/trauma of about migrants and the overtly felt, external land violence/trauma that never really ends for refugees (and is anything just silent). so all of that is messy but this work is very of import, and i'd rec this 100% ...more

May 11, 2020 L rated it information technology was amazing

Just spectacular.

"However, refugee exceptionalism never really removes the refugee from hyperghetto spaces and institutions (certainly non in whatever material sense); on the opposite, information technology requires that she be held in perpetual captivity and so that she can be used over and over again." (14)

"I offer these methodological reflections neither to authorize my findings nor to brand axiomatic claims about the possibilities and limitations of ethnographic research...Ra and I certainly held a personal affinity for

Just spectacular.

"All the same, refugee exceptionalism never actually removes the refugee from hyperghetto spaces and institutions (certainly not in whatever cloth sense); on the opposite, it requires that she be held in perpetual captivity so that she can be used over and over again." (14)

"I offer these methodological reflections neither to authorize my findings nor to make axiomatic claims about the possibilities and limitations of ethnographic research...Ra and I certainly held a personal affinity for one another based on a mutual trust developed over several years. However, feelings of friendship and trust should not exist misconstrued as factors mitigating ability differentials." (26)

"Refugee resettlement in the United States was a affair of American largesse, not redress." (40)

"Why was I invested in the refugee's clean break, even if she herself had deemed it untenable and irrelevant?" (l)

"That RAND played a key role in Southeast Asian counterinsurgency and urban American postinsurrection research reveals the clear connections betwixt U.S. liberal warfare abroad and at dwelling house." (59)

"R was adamant to go the landlord's attention, however. Her life in the military camp had taught her the value of being boisterous, of being the type of convict who harangued administrators at every turn." (68)

"I would be difficult-pressed to detect a sociological rendering that recognizes the refugee camp as the periphery and the hyperghetto as its core. My point in calling for this kind of earth-systems interpretation is to insist not on a one-size-fits-all rendering of global migration but on an assay that accounts for the refugee'due south deliberate routing to the hyperghetto. In other words, I call for an analysis of refugee migration that moves across refugee exeptionalism'south suggestion that the refugee is merely incidentally in the hyperghetto toward a serious consideration of the centrality of the hyperghetto to the global circuit of avant-garde commercialism. Such an analysis too encourages us to have seriously the liberal warfare carried out in the hyperghetto- to understand that housing, castigating welfare, policing, and mass incarceration are non just domestic problems just global contradictions." (127)

"Refugee temporality is non another way of stating that the refugee is haunted by the past—through trauma or survivor guilt. Instead, information technology is the distinct manner in which refugees know that the ability of their by captivities remains in the nowadays—in the supposed land of conservancy that promised them rubber and freedom." (173)

...more

Jun 25, 2021 Brendan Ryan rated it information technology was amazing

This books is fantabulous in so many ways, but what I found most enjoyable about it is that it blends academic writing with storytelling. I tend to not enjoy overly bookish works, but I found the prose in this really approachable and learned so much in the process of reading it.

Feb 26, 2019 Gabriella rated information technology really liked it

***NOTE: these reviews are reading responses that are slightly amended from my course assignments for CPLN 624: Readings in Race, Poverty, and Identify.

Eric Tang's Unsettled is an do in "activist-oriented scholarship", where he partners with a woman, Ra Pronh, to share her experience equally a Cambodian immigrant and resident of various parts of the Northwest Bronx, a place he and other academics call the "hyperghetto."

Eric explains that the hyperghetto is a "neo-plantation," or the modern cont

***Notation: these reviews are reading responses that are slightly amended from my course assignments for CPLN 624: Readings in Race, Poverty, and Place.

Eric Tang'south Unsettled is an do in "activist-oriented scholarship", where he partners with a woman, Ra Pronh, to share her experience as a Cambodian immigrant and resident of various parts of the Northwest Bronx, a place he and other academics call the "hyperghetto."

Eric explains that the hyperghetto is a "neo-plantation," or the modern continuation of slavery due to the style this location captures people of color in an unrelenting organization of punishment and poverty. He argues that the hyperghetto is a place order believes only Blackness people can (permanently) reside in. This, he argues, is why despite their immense struggles, Cambodian refugees were subject to "refugee exceptionalism", a miracle where policy makers, landlords, and social workers believed they were "in the hyperghetto, simply not of it."

In many means, this book unravels the peachy, progressive narrative of resettlement often touted for Asian-Americans: because of our land's deep disfunction, each yr in America bore even more setbacks for Ra. We come up to understand that she sees her deportation from Cambodia due to genocide and her many displacements in New York equally a continual land of warfare: against the Khmer Rouge, then Bronx slumlords, then the welfare system, and so on. Eric defines this continual country every bit refugee temporality, the refugee's cognition that each displacement/resettlement draws on an sometime form of ability that is continually cemented in their lives. Embracing this alternative sense of time helped Ra "resist the salvation narratives" people asked her to tell about her experiences with imperialism and the hyperghetto.

For me, the most heartbreaking role of Eric and Ra's necessary breakdown of this "false timeline" was the generational challenges of second and third-generation Cambodians. This is commencement clear in the generational differences in Cambodian activism. Eric describes how teen activists wanted to brand diverse demands of the welfare organization, and their parents essentially warned them that change is only possible by moving away from your event. This resignation is the wisdom of people who have lived and suffered nether the hands non only of Communist armies, but also under capitalist governments. By the terminate of the story, we see that the start-generation refugees' belief in the neverending downward motion of life has extended to their children and grandchildren, who have their ain host of economic, incarceration, and other challenges. Despite Eric and the Pronhs all meeting through customs organizing, it's securely upsetting to hear that only Eric was able to proceed this work, largely because he has a task that pays him to do so. The limited mobility of many people of color (even those not living in the hyperghetto) is something more researchers are starting to address. However, every bit Unsettled shows, nosotros are a long mode off from giving people reason and time to trust that our system can ever exist reformed.

...more

Aug 03, 2018 Laurel rated information technology liked it

This is an enlightening, provocative, and important book. I similar how Tang traces Ra Pronh's life experience from Cambodia to the United states based on years of enquiry with her. Yet, Tang left me behind when he used specialized jargon or fabricated arguments refuting previous scholars' piece of work I wasn't familiar with. Of course Ra does not think of herself in the context of neoliberalism or late caplitalism. Similar almost of us, she's unaware of these terms/eras. I also need to educate myself about how prevalent t This is an enlightening, provocative, and important volume. I like how Tang traces Ra Pronh's life experience from Cambodia to the US based on years of inquiry with her. Even so, Tang left me behind when he used specialized jargon or made arguments refuting previous scholars' work I wasn't familiar with. Of grade Ra does not call back of herself in the context of neoliberalism or late caplitalism. Like almost of u.s., she'due south unaware of these terms/eras. I also need to educate myself nigh how prevalent the idea is that slavery continues to this day, but in a new form. I didn't ever concord with Tang's conclusions or bespeak of view but notwithstanding appreciate his piece of work and the questions it engendered in my own mind. ...more

Mar 26, 2021 Enkuush rated it it was amazing

astonishing volume. came upwards in two classes: ane about Asian Americans, another on refugees. difficult recommend for anyone interested in urban spaces, SE Asian history, refugees and more mostly, the lives of people who exist on the margins.

Interesting and incredibly important issues to be aware of. It was somewhat repetitive.

Jun 30, 2016 Pam rated information technology it was ok

This is an interesting and needed book; I only gave information technology two stars because of its repetitiveness and excessive apply of academic jargon. That said, however, this volume fills an important gap -- a long-term follow-up looking at how refugees resettled in the The states (in this case, from Kingdom of cambodia) actually fare. Although the stories in this book are specific to Cambodia, some useful parallels are fatigued in the finish to subsequent waves of refugees. And even more usefully, challenges common to these "n This is an interesting and needed volume; I only gave it ii stars because of its repetitiveness and excessive use of academic jargon. That said, however, this book fills an of import gap -- a long-term follow-up looking at how refugees resettled in the United states of america (in this instance, from Cambodia) actually fare. Although the stories in this book are specific to Cambodia, some useful parallels are drawn in the end to subsequent waves of refugees. And even more usefully, challenges mutual to these "new Americans" and African-Americans are articulate. ...more

Nov 16, 2016 James Huynh rated it it was astonishing

Thoroughly enjoyed this volume and learning near Ra Pronh's story within the contexts of the nation-state construction of refugee. Tang pushes back on the nation of linearity that exists in the refugee-resettlement framework. Thoroughly enjoyed this book and learning almost Ra Pronh'due south story within the contexts of the nation-state structure of refugee. Tang pushes back on the nation of linearity that exists in the refugee-resettlement framework. ...more

Nov 07, 2019 Noah rated it really liked it

Guilt doesn't fifty-fifty begin to describe what has been done. Guilt doesn't even begin to describe what has been done. ...more

Eric Tang is an Acquaintance Professor in the African and African Diaspora Studies Department and director of the Center for Asian American Studies. He also directs the undergraduate major, Race, Indigeneity, and Migration. His starting time volume, titled Unsettled: Cambodian Refugees in the NYC Hyperghetto (Temple University Printing, 2015), is an ethnographic account of refugee life in some of New York City'due south Eric Tang is an Associate Professor in the African and African Diaspora Studies Section and manager of the Center for Asian American Studies. He too directs the undergraduate major, Race, Indigeneity, and Migration. His get-go book, titled Unsettled: Cambodian Refugees in the NYC Hyperghetto (Temple Academy Press, 2015), is an ethnographic account of refugee life in some of New York City's nearly impoverished and socially marginalized neighborhoods. A onetime community organizer, Tang has published several articles on race and urban social movements, including award-winning writing on post-Katrina New Orleans. ...more

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