Development & Diaspora: Gender and the Refugee Experience

Extrait de l'introduction : "The survival strategies and resilience of refugee women are vital to substenance and social change in their households, workplaces and communities. As we write this introduction, Rwandese women and men and their families are becoming refugees in huge numbers, just as in the past, people from Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Bosnia, Sudan, Mozambique ..., have moved into exile. News reports tell of the devastating circumstances that often await refugees : makeshift camps devoid of water, food, health care and other basic human needs, in addition to threats to security. The forced displacement of millions of people across the world indicates that to remain safely in one's home community and country is no longer a fundamental human right. It is difficult to step back from devastating images of refugees to see these women as individuals ... And it is equally difficult to distance oneself by theoretical and abstract analysis. But feminist praxis must always be informed by theory, and theory by praixs. In this book we work toward change by examining the position of various groups of refugee women - in history and theory, cross-culturally and across disciplines and professions."