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The Open University

Who counts as a refugee?

The Open University via OpenLearn

Overview

The words 'refugee' and 'asylum seeker' have a wide variety of connotations in Britain, many of them negative. This free course, Who counts as a refugee?, explores how changing social policy and terminology help to shape, and are shaped by, the experiences of people seeking asylum in the UK.

Syllabus

  • Introduction
  • Learning outcomes
  • 1 The aspects and meanings of citizenship
  • 1 The aspects and meanings of citizenship
  • 2 Personal lives
  • 2 Personal lives
  • 3 Social policy and citizenship
  • 3 Social policy and citizenship
  • 4 Refugees, asylum seekers and citizenship
  • 4 Refugees, asylum seekers and citizenship
  • 4.1 The context and significance of the historical moments under consideration
  • 4.2 Feminist perspectives: who counts as a refugee?
  • 5 Citizenship, identity and belonging
  • 5 Citizenship, identity and belonging
  • 5.1 Post-structuralist perspectives: the production of social meaning
  • 5.2 National identity and diasporic citizenship
  • 5.3 Legal status and belonging
  • 5.3. 1 What would you include in such a test?
  • 6 Citizenship and access to welfare
  • 6 Citizenship and access to welfare
  • 6.1 ‘Maybe you can look, but you cannot touch’: asylum and restricting access to welfare
  • 6.2 ‘No-choice’ dispersal
  • 6.3 Shopping with ‘vouchers’
  • 7 Citizenship as ‘participation in social life’
  • 7 Citizenship as ‘participation in social life’
  • 8 Knowledge and evidence
  • 8 Knowledge and evidence
  • 8.1 How is ‘knowledge’ about refugees and asylum seekers produced and reproduced?
  • 8.1.1 What kind of evidence has been used in this course?
  • 8.1.2Why do you think the Home Secretary did not draw on this research when interpreting the asylum statistics presented in the February 2003 press release?
  • 9 Conclusion
  • 9 Conclusion
  • 10 Further resources
  • 10 Further resources
  • References
  • Acknowledgements

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