Refugees, Humanitarian Emergencies, and the Politicization of Life

The concept of "humanitarian emergency" has come to be largely synonymous with contemporary refugee situations. The purpose of this paper is to critically explore the connections between the categorization of refugees as an "emergency" situation and the way in which "humanitarianism" has come to constitute a hegemonic discourse in which academics, policy-makers, international organizations, and refugee advocates must formulate their arguments and actions. Humanitarianism is often portrayed as posing a challenge to the codes and practices of state sovereignty because it is a form of action which is purportedly motivated by a sense of obligation and responsibility to "humanity" that goes beyond the responsibility one feels for fellow citizens. This paper analyzes a series of recent UNHCR representations of refugees to suggest that humanitarianism must instead be understood as an inherently political concept. Drawing upon the writings Giorgio Agamben, this paper demonstrates how humanitarianism is always already (bio)political to the extent that it relies on a conception of "bare human life" which is consistent with the practices of state sovereignty. From this perspective, framing the refugee phenomenon as a "humanitarian emergency" works to sustain constitutive practices which stabilize and reproduce statist resolutions to questions of political identity, community, and world order.Le concept d'« urgence humanitaire » est devenu une sorte de synonyme général de « situation contemporainedes réfugiés ». Le but de cet article est de procéder à une exploration critique des liens entre la catégorisation du refuge comme situation d'« urgence » et la façon dont l'idée d'« humanitarisme » en est venue à se constituer en discours hégémonique, dans le cadre duquel les universitaires, les décideurs, les organisations internationales, et les défendeurs des droits des réfugiés se voient obligés de formuler leurs arguments et leurs actions. L'humanitarisme est souvent dépeint comme posant un défi aux codes et pratiques de la souveraineté des états, car c'est une forme d'action qui serait motivée par un sens de la responsabilité et des obligations envers l'« humanité » qui outrepasserait les responsabilités que l'on aurait envers ses concitoyens. Le présent article analyse une récente série de représentations de réfugiés du HCR visant asuggérer que l'humanitarisme devrait plutôt être compris comme in concept fondamentalement politique. Fondé sur les écrits de Giorgio Agamben, le présent article démontre comment l'humanitarisme est toujours déjà (bio)politique dans la mesure où il se fonde sur une conception de la « vie humaine minimale » quiest conformeàles pratiques des états souverains. Dans cette perspective, formuler le phénomène du refuge en terme d'« urgence humanitaire» tend à perpétuer des pratiques constitutives qui stabilisent et reproduisent la résolution étatiste des questions d'identité politique, de commùnautés, d'ordre mondial

Roundtable Report “No One Is Illegal”: The Fight for Refugee and Migrant Rights in Canada

On 8 December 2002, a roundtable discussion was held with members of the Action Committee for Non-Status Algerians (Montreal), the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (Toronto), and No One Is Illegal (Montreal). In this transcription of the discussion, the non-status Algerian refugees share their experiences of living in Canada without formal status, a situation which they characterize as being degrading, unlivable, and absurd. The participants discuss the possibilities for organizing opposition to increasingly restrictive and repressive refugee and immigration policies. They examine the viability of anti-deportation campaigns, direct action casework, and the prospects for a broad-based movement in defence of refugee and migrant rights.Le 8 décembre 2002 a eu lieu une table ronde réunissant des membres du Comité d’action des sans-statut Algériens (Montréal), la Coalition ontarienne contre la pauvreté (Toronto) et No One is Illegal (« Personne n’est illégal ») (Montréal). Ce qui suit est une transcription des discussions qui ont eu lieu, au cours desquelles les Algériens sans statut partagent leur expérience de la vie au Canada sans un statut reconnu, une situation qu’ils qualifient de dégradante, invivable et absurde. Les participants examinent les possibilités d’organiser une opposition aux politiques en matière d’immigration et du traitement des réfugiés qui deviennent de plus en plus répressives et restrictives. Ils explorent la viabilité des campagnes anti-déportation, l’action directe et les possibilités d’organiser un mouvement rassembleur pour la défense des droits des réfugiés et des migrants

DYNAMICAL BEHAVIOR OF A HEAT PUMP COAXIAL EVAPORATOR CONSIDERING THE PHASE BORDER’S IMPACT ON CONVERGENCE

Using a dynamical mathematical model, we investigated transient behavior of a water-water heat pump’s evaporator. The model consists of time and space dependent partial differential equations of water, pipe wall and refrigerant. Mathematically the thermal expansion valve (TEV) and compressor are described with lumped parameters and represent the boundary conditions. During the numerical solution of this system of equations the problem emerged of divergence of solutions. It was determined that the cause of the divergence solution was in the location of phase change of the refrigerant. The aim of this paper is, firstly, to display and propose a new approach to the elimination of divergence. In addition, it examines dynamic behavior of the heat pumps’ coaxial evaporator

Controlling and continuous budget control at the Hungarian Financial Supervisory Authority

One of the primary objectives of the Hungarian Financial Supervisory Authority's (HFSA) strategy, which was approved in 2005 under the title Efficient supervision – 2005–2010, is the efficient utilisation of resources. For the achievement of this objective the HFSA has restructured its internal financial management, and introduced new controlling methods that were not previously used in the supervisory work. For the HFSA, the efficient utilisation of resources means the full implementation of riskbased, integrated and process oriented, problem preventing supervision, and tailoring supervision to the supervisory rules and actual operation of financial management. We wish to adjust the limited supervisory resources (personal, material, etc. resources) to the actual risks. Therefore, resources used for the supervision of activities and organisations that do not pose significant risks to consumers must be reduced to the minimum, while resources used for organisations and processes that imply risks must be maximised. The strategy of the HFSA points out that rational resource management can be implemented successfully only if planning, measurement and accounting become clear and systemic in public administration, too. This requires the creation of the most important conditions of resource management, especially the functions ensuring the comparison of planning, implementation and efficiency, as well as the criteria of the measurement and evaluation of efficiency, i.e. controlling activity in the public institutions, too. During the development of the controlling system, the following primary objectives were set: •supporting the internal decisions of the budget owners and managers, feedback on operational performance and control, •increased “real time” monitoring/reporting, •the required information is determined by the managers in line with the strategic and operational needs of the organisation

In solitary, in solidarity

This article assesses the challenges to a key 'anti-policy' within anti-terrorism: the detention of terror suspects. It analyses the global response to the 2005 kidnapping of a Christian Peacemaker Team in Iraq. Particular focus is given to how detainees in the 'War on Terror' emerged as key spokespeople in the attempt to influence the actions of the kidnappers. So-called 'terror detainees' in the UK and Canada made several appeals for mercy and wrote letters establishing their solidarity with the CPT hostages. Drawing on the political theory of Jacques Ranciere, the article analyses examples of detainee or hostage solidarity as acts of political subjectification. Detention is analysed as a site where key political dynamics are enacted. For detainees to articulate a grievance as an equal or enact an international solidarity is a radical political moment that serves to disrupt the routines and normalizations of the anti-policy of detention

The thinking citizenship series

The introduction to the new series of articles in Citizenship Studies

Installation instructions for GLiMR version 1.pdf

Here, we describe and demonstrate a geographic information systems-based lithic morphometric research (GLiMR) software approach. GLiMR accurately and rapidly handles a sequence of ArcGIS procedures to extract geometric morphometric data from 2D and 3D scan files of lithic artifacts. GLiMR generates three main types of geometric properties: shape data, topographic data and domain aggregate data. These data can be extracted in ways that support other analyses of artifact form, including Generalized Procrustes Analysis, Principal Components Analysis and Cluster Analyses. We illustrate the use of GLiMR by presenting a basic case study that compares the geometric morphometry of Western Stemmed Tradition projectile points found in two cache features at Idaho’s Cooper’s Ferry site and from other sites in the Columbia River Plateau region of the Pacific Northwest. This collection also includes the XYZ scan files for artifacts used for case study analysis