Doctoral Dissertation Research: Economic Effects of Refugee Resettlement

该奖项支持的研究提出了一个问题：与冲突不断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。但为了有效地做到这一点，决策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。长途移民到欧洲已经成为最近的头条新闻，但难民更典型地逃往附近的国家，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进行谈判，为当今世界范围内的移民危机找到可持续和安全适当的解决方案已成为包括美国在内的世界各地关注的问题。这项研究将由纽约城市大学研究生中心人类学博士候选人中国·萨贾迪安进行，由曼达纳·林伯特博士担任顾问。Sajadian将在黎巴嫩进行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是流离失所的叙利亚人，这使得那里的被迫移徙影响变得显而易见，便于有针对性地收集和分析数据。Sajadian将通过两种主要方法收集数据。为了记录日常的劳动实践和难民定居的具体影响，她将进行人种学研究，包括观察和采访，在叙利亚-黎巴嫩边境附近村庄的250名农场工人中进行分层抽样。她还将从事有关该地区土地保有权，劳动力和移民历史的档案研究。这项研究的结果将告知政策制定者，季节性农场工人跨境流动的损失如何重新配置定居国的社会和经济关系。了解这些进程将有助于决策者制定处理难民问题的办法，这些办法注意边境地区的具体困境、生计需要和安全挑战。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值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.