Books & ideas

Summers in the Motherland

Yasmine Siblot — 2023-07-04T09:00:00Z

From the 1980s onwards, the practice of vacationing in the Maghreb homeland became widespread, and gradually replaced any hopes of resettlement. These summer vacations allowed people to return to their roots in a family setting and temporarily escape the subjugation and social labels they endured in France.

Becoming Assemblies in Contemporary Syria

Anne-Marie McManus — 2021-02-22T08:00:00Z

How can the collective exist in a country torn apart by civil war? In Jamhara/Assemblage Syrian artist Mohamad Omran and writer Odai al-Zoubi use ink drawings and words to envision unity in the midst of fragmentation.

Island of Refuge

Daniel Lee — 2019-05-23T07:00:00Z

During the first years of World War II, an escape route allowed political refugees to travel from France to Martinique. On the island, the interactions between exiles and the local population resulted in a rich intellectual cross-fertilization. E.T. Jennings' book is the first account of this exodus.

The Reception of Refugees

Ivan Jablonka — 2017-12-04T08:00:00Z

At a time when the refugee issue is highly topical, a collection of essays offers a history of asylum administration and its actors and practices. A first step towards a European history of asylum in the twentieth century.

Europe and its Political Refugees in the 19th Century

Sylvie Aprile & Delphine Diaz — 2016-04-18T07:00:00Z

The revolutions of the 19^th century led to the emergence of a new figure – that of the political refugee – and to new policies for receiving such individuals. But then as now, the uncertainty of the vocabulary used in this context reflected the contradictory position of European states in the face of the right to asylum, caught somewhere between the duty to protect and the fear of strangers.