Views and Viewpoints
Nurses on the Move: The Migration of Nigerian Nurses to the United Kingdom, 1930-1970
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Mosunmola Ogunmolaji
In 1948, Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) was established. Following the end of World War 2, the recruitment campaigns to fill post-war shortages and rebuild the economy encouraged Africans from the Commonwealth to settle in Britain. Working in the NHS became a viable career path and training opportunity for nurses from former colonies. Yet, historical evidence shows the presence of Nigerian nurses in the United Kingdom as early as the 1930s. This paper explores the dynamic relationship between the professionalization of nursing in Nigeria and the migration of these nurses to the United Kingdom (UK). Drawing on labor and migration reports, newspapers, photographs, and oral interviews in Nigeria and the UK, I present a case for centering the everyday experiences of migrant nurses in national and transnational histories. By situating the histories of nurses in global migration, I trace the historical trajectory of nursing across colonial terrains. Despite the growing literature on African migrations, scholars primarily focus on the ‘illegality’ of such a process. This paper addresses an understudied aspect of African migration to Europe- professional migrants. Thus, this paper argues for integrating the history of nursing and African migration into global histories.
Immigration and Theological Discourse: Using Judaism, Christianity, and Islam to Welcome the Migrant
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Robert Doyle
This paper surveys the connection between theological ethics and immigration. Through a systematic study of the theological underpinnings of ethics in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam the research examines the dimensions of immigration in the United States. This study includes a comparative analysis of these three traditions and their perspectives which shape rhetoric regarding immigration, including asylum seekers and refugees. We share a framework for addressing philosophical and theological issues related to the rights of passage, including an interdisciplinary examination of the legal, economic, and political aspects of movement across borders. Conceptual foundations are analyzed and cases discussed. The first part explores various philosophical and theological principles and theories that provide a methodological basis for the study of theological ethics and immigration. The second part presents various applications and issues on which this endeavor may focus and where this discourse may head in the future, including an assessment of the distinctive theological implications of immigration.
Migration, Pantheonization, Globalization: The Case of Josephine Baker
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Sabine Loucif
France’s most prestigious memorial institution, The Pantheon, has opened its doors to great men and women at a frequency higher than usual under President Macron. While other presidents have left their mark through the museums and monuments built during their presidency, Emmanuel Macron has dedicated himself to the building/re-building of the image of the French Republic by offering the Pantheon as a resting place to Simone Veil, Josephine Baker and more recently, Missak Manouchian. While Macron’s speeches during the ceremonies at the Pantheon are targeting citizens of France, they are also aiming to build/ restore the image of France for the global world. As a specialist of literature and sociology of culture, I study the speech delivered by Macron for the Pantheonization of Josephine Baker, who “migrated” to France from the United States, in an attempt to identify its various targeted audiences, within France and globally.
Inequalities in Democratic Practices: Migrants’ Right to Speak during Policy Labs Meetings
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Antonella Capalbi
Multistakeholder Policy Labs are initiatives promoted by the European Parliament to improve citizens’ participation in the elaboration of policies on specific themes, through the collaboration of citizens, stakeholders, and decision-makers, within plenaries and small groups discussions, coordinated by at least two facilitators. This paper concerns a European project in which Policy Labs were set up in six cities with the aim of supporting migrants' participation in the development of new local policies; this addresses the need to create conditions for active citizenship in migratory contexts, within the framework of global migration flows. Specifically, the study concerns the Policy Labs held in Modena (Italy) and shows both effective and ineffective ways of facilitating migrants’ contributions, voices, and exercise of agency. It is based on (1) the video-recordings of these meetings, in which the different social actors interlaced their narratives, and (2) the participants’ narratives on these meetings produced during interviews and a focus group. The video recordings show that several migrants were active in participating and producing narratives despite language barriers, due to their interest in telling stories about their specific condition as migrants; on the other hand, local stakeholders tried to be helpful in defining problems and proposals, but they amplified the barriers to migrants’ participation, producing long personal narratives or speaking in the place of migrants. These aspects also emerge from the interviews and the focus group: participants state that, despite the role of facilitators, the migrants’ participation was hindered by the contribution of the stakeholders and their epistemic authority.
