Migration and Xenophobia - by Kyle Farmbry (Hardcover)

About the Book

Building upon cases of the United States, South Africa, and Malta, this book examines issues of migration in the early twenty-first century. It explores dynamics of opposition to and acceptance of migrants and refugees as nations continue to experience cycles of human movement.

Book Synopsis

Building upon cases of the United States, South Africa, and Malta, this book examines issues of migration in the early twenty-first century. It explores dynamics of opposition to and acceptance of migrants and refugees as nations continue to experience cycles of human movement.

Review Quotes

"Shaped in equal parts by intellectual curiosity and an unsettled humanity, Farmbry's careful comparative account reveals what is most fundamental about migration in the 21st Century. He reminds readers that what matters is not the number of migrants, but why they move and how communities and countries respond to new arrivals. These reactions reflect openness and welcome, but also legacies of colonialism, imperialism, and resurgent racism. In an entangled and mobile era, protection and enclosure not only threaten migrants, but practices of tolerance, accommodation, and accountability necessary for democratic institutions to survive."

Dr. Farmbry's choice of three countries and three continents South Africa (Africa), Malta (Europe) and the United States (North America) each characterized by histories of migration and resistance to migrations that is hostile if not anti-human in its othering, offers a thought provoking nuanced critical analysis, that makes for an interesting if not unique contribution to growing studies of the complex dynamics of human movements across history. It certainly also as he suggests sets up the basis for a study of why people in circumstances that induce migration choose to stay.

Dr. Farmbry's Migration and Xenophobia: A Three Country Exploration has the reader go straight to the questions that many of us observe today: namely, why are more people from other shores coming into my community, or alternatively, why are more people within my community pressed to leave? In exploring these questions from his lived experience, that of his adopted land, South Africa, to a site of field research, Malta, and finally to his birth place, the United States, Dr. Farmbry offers his readers rich and raw insights on race and xenophobia in a more mobile world. As complex connections unfold, so too does a compelling clarity of thought and feeling rooted in the author's own journey. This book and its personal framing are important and timely contributions encouraging us all to consider migration as the story of ourselves. Migration and Xenophobia: A Three Country Exploration's exciting potential will be in its legacy for prompting others into similar self-reflection, and ultimately stimulating genuine and inclusive public discourse in changing communities, where as Dr. Farmbry accurately describes, a growing number grapple with "wavering degrees of hospitality".

Farmbry provides a riveting account of the causes of migration and xenophobia. It pins the narrative with a fundamental question missed by many - "Why do people leave?" Often mired in controversy, and fueled by fiery rhetoric, migration is the subject that rattles the status quo. The author neatly unpacks a complex phenomenon laden with tragedies, and presents a compelling case for legality and humanity. The result is an informed and scholarly argument on migration, and an attempt to explain the human toll of looking the other way. At the heart of this book is the study of human struggle for survival and adjustment, for adaptation and acceptance, of strife and renewal, of loss and hope. This is a much needed account. Non-Government Organizations, policy-makers, academics, practitioners, and the general audience, should find this book compelling, gripping and insightful. Indeed a timely contribution."

Farmbry's timely Migration and Xenophobia offers a wealth of historical context to anyone concerned with the responses to and representations of the current migrant/refugee crisis. Weaving together three distinct national experiences of migration--South Africa, Malta and the United States--Farmbry contextualizes migration and both its causes and responses as ongoing cultural dynamics, embedded within such texts as sacred books, oral traditions and reactionary legal code, rather than a sudden emergent crisis. Farmbry's valuable contribution to this crucial conversation can aid all stakeholders craft a more humane and sustainable response to the ongoing global discourse on migration and its representations.

About the Author

Kyle Farmbry is professor of public affairs and administration at Rutgers University, Newark.