Doctoral Dissertation Research: Resource Mobilization and Network Formation within Forced Migrant Communities

该项目对研究生进行实证性、科学性的数据收集和分析方法的培训，探索被迫流动人口中的网络形成和生存策略。由于冲突、自然灾害或环境灾难以及饥荒等事件而在国内和跨国界流动的被迫移民是世界人口中特别脆弱的一部分。大多数人往往生活在新社会的边缘，生活在贫困中，面临着艰难的未来。在整个美国，被迫移民被重新安置到不同的地方，但他们在重新安置过程中面临的具体挑战往往没有得到很好的认识。更好地了解被迫移民是如何经历流离失所的，以及他们依靠什么资源来保障生计和改善他们的福祉，对于制定计划和政策以改善重新安置工作的结果并帮助在美国国内外建立强大的社区至关重要。调查结果将被传播给研究和管理被迫移民的原因、后果和复杂性的援助组织。这项研究还促进了国际科学合作，并将扩大代表不足的群体在科学领域的参与。丹尼尔·约瑟夫将在肯塔基大学的克里斯汀·门罗博士的监督下，研究面临无国籍和不稳定的社会和经济状况的流离失所者采取了哪些战略，以在其社区内和社区之间调动资源。这项研究的基础是Anse-à-Pitres，这是海地与多米尼加共和国接壤的一座城市，目前有数千名流离失所的人住在那里的临时营地。这些人是海地非法移民和无证海地血统的多米尼加人，他们于2015年8月被迫离开多米尼加共和国。研究人员将在为期12个月的时间里，在不同的地点进行参与者观察和半结构化访谈，包括营地、教堂、市场、公共集会和食品分发地点。将通过与现场救济组织的协调，促进与流离失所者的关系和建立网络。这项研究将有助于超越司法法律框架的代理理论和公民身份的概念化。此外，这项研究的见解将有助于制定旨在增强难民和国内流离失所者能力的方案和政策。

This project, which trains a graduate student in methods of empirical, scientific data collection and analysis, explores network formation and survival strategies among forced migrant populations. Forced migrants who move within and across national borders as a result of events such as conflict, natural or environmental disasters, and famine are a particularly vulnerable part of the world's population. Often living in the margins of their new societies, most live in poverty and face a difficult future. Throughout the U.S., forced migrants are resettled into diverse places but often the specific kinds of challenges they face through the resettlement process are not well recognized. A better understanding of how forced migrants experience displacement and what resources they rely on to secure livelihoods and improve their well-being is critical for developing programs and policies that will improve the outcomes of resettlement efforts and help to build strong communities both in and beyond the U.S. Findings will be disseminated to aid organizations that explore and manage the causes, consequences, and complexities of forced migration. The research also fosters international scientific cooperation, and will broaden participation of an underrepresented group in the sciences.Daniel Joseph, under the supervision of Dr. Kristin Monroe of the University of Kentucky, will examine what strategies are deployed by displaced persons, facing statelessness and precarious social and economic conditions, to mobilize resources within and across their communities. This research is based in Anse-à-Pitres, a Haitian city along the border with the Dominican Republic where thousands of displaced people currently live in makeshift camps. These people, illegal Haitian migrants and Dominicans born of undocumented Haitian descent, were forced from the Dominican Republic in August 2015. The researcher will conduct participant observation and semi-structured interviews over a period of 12 months in different locations including camps, churches, market places, public gatherings, and food distribution sites. Relations with the displaced people and the establishment of networks will be facilitated through coordinating with an on-site relief organization. This research will contribute to theories of agency and conceptualizations of citizenship beyond the juridico-legal framework. Furthermore, insights from this research will help to develop programs and policies aimed at the empowerment of refugees and internally displaced persons.