Browsing by Subject "Critical refugee studies"
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Item Making Laos in DFW : Laotian community building, mutual aid, and identity formations(2021-05-06) Link, Ashley Lynn; Hsu, Madeline Yuan-yinThis thesis examines the history of Laotian migration to Dallas-Fort Worth, how Laotian people established themselves here, and how they negotiated their sense of belonging in the U.S. Drawing from interviews, ethnography, and autoethnography, I argue that mutual aid systems, emerging nonprofits and cultural centers, and reinterpretations of gender in the Laotian community are significant sites that reveal how Laotian refugee experience of displacement and resettlement are not simply experiences of hardship, but also that of creative community building, networks of care, and knowledge production and theorizing. I explore the various ways Laotian refugees have maintained or asserted their ethnic identities and culture and argue that these processes cannot be separated from United States’ decimation of Laos nearly half a decade prior and refugee policy. Through this project, I aim to fill a critical gap in Asian American Studies and highlight the important stories, experiences, and histories of Laotian refugees and honor a community that continues to fight against the legacies of U.S. war-makingItem The educational experiences of Lao Americans impacted by deportation(2021-05-08) Bourommavong, Monica A.; De Lissovoy, Noah, 1968-In February 2020, Southeast Asian community organizations learned that the Government of Laos and the US State Department and the Department of Homeland Security made a verbal agreement to accept Lao deportees from the US (Southeast Asian American and Asian American Organizations Across the Country Denounce Trump Administration's Move to Increase Deportations to Laos 2020). Lao Americans with orders of removal had been waiting in limbo, because Laos previously did not accept deportees from the US. This development brought more urgency to Lao American deportation, and rallied organizing, advocacy, and research efforts. Unique to the experience of Lao American deportation is the fact that many are facing deportation today because of crimes that they committed in their adolescent to young adult years. As much of adolescence in the US is spent in school, it is important to examine the possible connections between the experiences of schooling and deportation of Lao Americans impacted by deportation. Through semi-structured interviews, three Lao Americans impacted by deportation shared their experiences of migration, K-12 education, incarceration, and facing deportation. This study will examine their experiences through the lenses of critical race theory in education, critical refugee studies, and Southeast Asian critical theory. Their stories present counternarratives (Solórzano & Yosso, 2006) that resist dominant narratives that simultaneously designate Lao Americans the model and deviant minority (Ngo, 2006; Chung, n.d.), and share alternative narratives of resistance, success, and hope. These counternarratives diversify the current understandings of Asian American identities, lived experiences, and education. This study will broaden the understanding of Lao American, Southeast Asian American, immigrant and refugee education, and presents implications for school educators, youth and immigration advocates, and immigration and education policymakers.