Doctoral Dissertation Research: Economic Effects of Refugee Resettlement

该奖项支持的研究问：与冲突频发的国家接壤的农业地区如何受到强迫移民的影响？社会科学家越来越认识到，流离失所往往是长期的。因此，政策制定者必须寻求临时难民营的替代方案。但要有效地做到这一点，政策制定者需要更多关于流离失所人口如何影响他们定居地区的经济和社会状况的信息。前往欧洲的长途移民最近登上了新闻头条，但难民更多的是逃往附近国家，通常是他们或他们的亲属以前有社会关系的地区。随着各国政府就安置这些流离失所人口的责任分配问题进行谈判，为当今的全球移民危机找到可持续的、适合安全的解决方案已经成为包括美国在内的世界各地都关注的问题。这项研究将由纽约市立大学研究生中心人类学博士生中国·萨贾迪安进行，曼达纳·林伯特博士提供建议。Sajadian将在黎巴嫩进行为期12个月的研究，因为黎巴嫩是世界上人均难民人数最多的国家。黎巴嫩四分之一以上的人口由流离失所的叙利亚人组成，这使得在那里被迫移徙的影响适当地可见，以便有针对性地收集和分析数据。萨贾迪安将通过两种主要方法收集数据。为了记录日常劳动实践和难民安置的具体影响，她将对叙利亚和黎巴嫩边境附近村庄的250名农场工人进行人种学研究，包括观察和采访。她还将对该地区的土地保有权、劳动力和迁徙的历史进行档案研究。这项研究的结果将使政策制定者了解季节性农场工人跨界流动的丧失如何重新调整定居国家的社会和经济关系。对这些过程的了解将有助于政策制定者制定处理难民的方法，关注边境地区的具体困境、生计需求和安全挑战。这项研究的结果也将通过学术出版物和会议报告进行传播。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The research supported by this award asks: how are agrarian regions that border conflict-ridden countries affected by forced migration? Social scientists increasingly recognize that displacement is often long-term. Therefore, policy makers must pursue alternatives to temporary refugee camps. But to do this effectively, policy makers need more information about how displaced populations affect the economic and social conditions of the regions where they settle. Long-distance migrations to Europe have garnered recent headlines, but refugees more typically flee to nearby countries, often to regions where they or their kin have previous social relationships. As governments negotiate the distribution of responsibility for hosting these displaced populations, finding sustainable and security-appropriate solutions to today's worldwide migration crisis has become a matter of concern everywhere, including in the United States.The research will be conducted by City University of New York Graduate Center anthropology doctoral candidate, China Sajadian, advised by Dr. Mandana Limbert. Sajadian will undertake 12 months of research in Lebanon because Lebanon hosts the highest number of refugees per capita in the world. Over one-quarter of Lebanon's population is comprised of displaced Syrians, which makes the effects of forced migration there appropriately visible for targeted data collection and analysis. Sajadian will collect data with two primary methods. To document everyday labor practices and the specific effects of refugee settlement, she will conduct ethnographic research, including observation and interviews, among a stratified sample of 250 farmworkers in villages adjacent to the Syrian-Lebanese border. She also will pursue archival research about the history of land tenure, labor, and migration in the region. Findings from this research will inform policy makers about how loss of cross-border mobility for seasonal farmworkers reconfigures social and economic relations in the country of settlement. Knowledge of these processes will help policy makers develop approaches for dealing with refugees that are attentive to the specific predicaments, livelihood needs, and security challenges of borderland regions. Findings from the research also will be disseminated through academic publications and conference presentations.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.