Political Representation as Justice in #WelcomeRefugees

• In Event: 51.021 - Internationalization, Immigration, and Refugee Student Integration: Canadian Experiences and Perspectives

Abstract

In this paper, we will examine university policy aimed at addressing the issue of refugee forced migration from a perspective of justice (Fraser, 2009). We will argue that university institutional approaches to refugee education reflect neoliberal conditions in which higher education is constituted as human capital, meaning their policy responses construct the issue as a material injustice, whereby the solutions are predominantly limited to redistribution of resources. This is a concern because as Nancy Fraser theorized, the nature of injustices crosses into scales of economic, cultural and political realms that require fulsome responses. Drawing from findings from a mixed-method study examining the role of universities in #WelcomeRefugees, the Canadian federal government’s initiative to re-settle 40,000 Syrian refugees, we will discuss data collected and analyzed from Canadian university policy texts, interviews with actors involved with refugee education initiatives, and social media data surrounding the #WelcomeRefugees initiative on Twitter. While the initiatives emerged from concerns about the political injustice of refugee conditions, the institutional responses were focused on redistribution. In conclusion, we will compare the Canadian context to studies about European policy, making recommendations for institutional responses that reflect a broader consideration for the role of universities in democratic society.

Authors

• Melody Viczko, University of Western Ontario

• Yadira Lizama-Mué, University of Western Ontario