Doctoral Dissertation Research: How Refugees Can Shape National Boundaries.

面向大众的项目说明：全球社会目前正经历前所未有的被迫移民；全世界有5950万人因冲突、侵犯人权和其他形式的迫害而被迫流离失所。本研究项目考察当地收容人口如何受到难民涌入的影响，特别是在收容公民的民族认同、对国家提供的公共产品和服务的需求以及对移民政策的偏好方面。研究考察了难民是否会加强附近本地公民的民族认同和团结。它涉及对坦桑尼亚公民的调查，这个国家在收容各种难民群体方面有着悠久的历史。这项调查将比较生活在难民收容地区的公民与生活在没有难民的类似地区的公民的态度和行为。更多技术描述：难民如何影响当地的收容环境？本研究项目的理论是，被迫移民的外生冲击可能对东道国的民族主义和国家建设产生意想不到的积极影响。难民可能会加强附近当地居民的民族主义，因为民族认同是当地人与难民的明显区别。此外，流入难民营的国际和政府援助往往与附近收容社区缺乏当地公共产品形成鲜明对比。难民通过挑战国界和突出福利不平等，可以在不经意间刺激东道国公民团结在他们的民族认同周围，更好地合作提供和要求公共产品和服务。这项调查随机改变了难民的突出程度，并使用新的方法来衡量国家认同和移民威胁的复杂维度。

Project description for general audience:The global community is currently experiencing unprecedented levels of forced migration; 59.5 million individuals around the world have been displaced involuntarily owing to conflict, human rights violations, and other forms of persecution. This research project examines how the local, host population is affected by an influx of refugees, specifically with regards to host citizens' national identity, demand for state-provided public goods and services, and preferences over immigration policies. The research examines whether or not refugees may strengthen nearby native citizens' national identity and solidarity. It involves a survey with citizen respondents in Tanzania, a country with an extensive history of hosting various refugee groups. This survey will compare attitudes and behaviors of citizens living in refugee-hosting districts to those in similar districts without refugees.More technical description:How do refugees impact their local, host environments? This research project theorizes that the exogenous shock of forced migration may have unintended yet positive consequences for nationalism and nation-building in the host country. Refugees may strengthen nearby native citizens' nationalism as national identity is the obvious point of difference between natives and refugees. Additionally, the influx of international and government aid into refugee camps often stands in contrast to the lack of local public goods in nearby host communities. Refugees, by challenging national borders and highlighting inequalities in welfare, can inadvertently spur host citizens to rally around their national identity and better cooperate in providing and demanding for public goods and services. The survey randomly varies the level of salience of refugees and uses new methods to measure the complex dimensions of national identity and migrant threat.