The Color of Asylum - by Katherine Jensen (Paperback)

About the Book

"In 2013, the world watched as Syrians desperate to escape a brutal war fled the country. Brazil took the remarkable step of instituting an open-door policy to all Syrian refugees. Why did Brazil-in contrast to much of the international community-offer asylum to any Syrian who would come? And how do Syrians differ from other refugee populations seeking status in Brazil, and why? In The Color of Asylum, Katherine Jensen provides an ethnographic look at the process of asylum seeking in Brazil, uncovering the different ways asylum seekers are treated and the racial logics behind their treatment. She focuses on two of the largest and most successful groups of asylum seekers: Syrian and Congolese refugees. While they obtain asylum status in Brazil at roughly equivalent rates, their journey to that status could not be more different. While Syrians travel to Brazil on visas and in airplanes, most Congolese refugees reach Brazil as stowaways on ships. Congolese migrants wait in long lines in unbearable heat to see immigration officials, while Syrians go through an expedited process. And while Syrian migrants reported a relaxed and comfortable environment while meeting with immigration officials, Congolese migrants were met with distrust and suspicion as they recounted the harrowing and traumatic stories of life in their home country. As Jensen shows, Syrians are treated so differently from other asylum seekers because the Brazilian state recognizes them as white. This dates back to Brazilian immigration policy that followed the abolition of slavery. Eager to "whiten" its population, Brazil welcomed a first wave of Syrian and Lebanese immigrants-a precedent that would affect the nation's policy toward Syrian refugees in the twenty-first century. On the other hand, anti-black racism shapes the experiences of Congolese and other African refugees and entrenches racial inequalities-even among those deemed worthy of safe haven. Jensen's comparative study arrives at an unexpected conclusion, however: even when migrants do obtain asylum status, Jensen finds that their lives remain largely unchanged, marked by struggle and discrimination"--

Book Synopsis

An ethnography of the difficult experiences of refugees in Brazil.

In 2013, as Syrians desperate to escape a brutal war fled the country, Brazil took the remarkable step of instituting an open-door policy for all Syrian refugees. Why did Brazil--in contrast to much of the international community--offer asylum to any Syrian who would come? And how do Syrians differ from other refugee populations seeking status in Brazil?

In The Color of Asylum, Katherine Jensen offers an ethnographic look at the process of asylum seeking in Brazil, uncovering the different ways asylum seekers are treated and the racial logic behind their treatment. She focuses on two of the largest and most successful groups of asylum seekers: Syrian and Congolese refugees. While the groups obtain asylum status in Brazil at roughly equivalent rates, their journey to that status could not be more different, with Congolese refugees enduring significantly greater difficulties at each stage, from arrival through to their treatment by Brazilian officials. As Jensen shows, Syrians, meanwhile, receive better treatment because the Brazilian state recognizes them as white, in a nation that has historically privileged white immigration. Ultimately, however, Jensen reaches an unexpected conclusion: Regardless of their country of origin, even migrants who do secure asylum status find their lives remain extremely difficult, marked by struggle and discrimination.

Review Quotes

"Through a comparative analysis of Syrian and Congolese refugees, Jensen meticulously shows how whiteness and anti-Blackness are constructed within the asylum process. The book makes important contributions across multiple fields, including immigration studies, race and ethnicity, and global and transnational sociology."-- "Social Forces"

"The Color of Asylum provokes important questions about racialized political violence and the ways in which seemingly inclusive regimes and policies can continue to produce racial domination. This book would greatly benefit those studying, among other topics, the racialization of migrants, the social and political construction of the refugee condition, the state's role in processes of migrant in/exclusion, the intersection of racial subordination and legal status, and the numerous ways that racism shapes migrant sociopolitical belonging. It would also be a strong entry point for those looking to teach or learn about race and migration beyond Europe or the United States."-- "Sociology of Race and Ethnicity"

"The Color of Asylum follows Syrian and Congolese escapees from their countries' wars to incisively describe how Brazil's asylum system differentially treats the two groups. This is the latest chapter in Brazil's long, fascinating, and racialized immigration history."

--Edward Telles, University of California, Irvine

"Brazil's high rate of granting asylum to Syrians and Congolese superficially suggests that a racial democracy is protecting refugees. Jensen's ethnographic deep dive shows that underneath the surface of simple statistics and public pronouncements, the asylum process is saturated with racial inequalities."

--David Scott FitzGerald, coauthor of The Refugee System: A Sociological Approach

"Grounded on an impressive array of archival data, legal materials, and the keenest of ethnographies, The Color of Asylum renders accessible the complexities of the asylum bureaucracy and is a critical contribution and a must-read."

--Cecilia Menjívar, University of California, Los Angeles

"With clarity and ethnographic rigor, The Color of Asylum documents how Brazil's seemingly open asylum policy follows the historical racial project of the nation-state. I highly recommend this book to readers interested in race matters in Latin America as well as to race scholars in general."

--Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, Duke University

About the Author

Katherine Jensen is assistant professor of sociology and international studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.