Overview
- Debunks stereotypes about the education level and work experiences of refugees who emigrate to Canada and other English-dominant countries.
- Addresses the challenge of integrating highly trained professionals into the profession for which they are trained.
- Suggests that public knowledge and policy changes are needed to help English-dominant countries attract highly skilled professionals and increase national wellbeing in the long-term
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About this book
The focus of this book is on the experiences of government-sponsored refugees in the early stages of integrating into Canadian society. Combining data gleaned from a longitudinal study of relatively recently arrived refugees in Calgary, Canada, with a close focus on the case of a physician from Colombia and his family, this volume illustrates how the cultural and social capital of refugees is marginalized and, in some cases, erased by the undervaluing of their education, training, credentials, and other knowledge. The findings presented in the book underscore the importance of addressing the challenge of integrating highly trained professionals into the professions for which they are credentialed.
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Keywords
Table of contents (6 chapters)
Reviews
“This book is intended for researchers, teachers, and language policies makers. It demystifies the linguistic, social, and economic conditions of refugee families in Canada. It is an excellent example for researching the changes in the social and cultural capital of migrants, indigenous peoples, and transnational families in other countries.” (Lorena Córdova-Hernández, Language Policy, Vol. 21, 2022)
“This sensitively written volume by Ricento uncovers a host of policy concerns around immigrants and refugees in Canada and offers what all excellent policy research should: a complex, grounded picture of humans and language communities working to resettle in their new homelands. Assuming a bottom-up approach, he pulls back all veils to explore how issues regarding foreign credentials, the non-recognition of knowledge capital accumulated in other countries, and larger ideologies of liberal universalism emerge from policies that demand scrutiny and accountability.”
--Vaidehi Ramanathan, Professor of Linguistics, University of California, Davis
“In Refugees in Canada: On the Loss of Social and Cultural Capital, Tom Ricento places extensive quotations from four unforgettable refugees -- from Colombia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo -- into their complex economic, political and historical context. As the four individuals vividly describe and analyze their experiences, readers will better understand the major shortcomings of resettlement policies and practices in Canada. Anyone who cares about developing more humanitarian migration policies will value this timely book.”
--James W. Tollefson, Professor Emeritus of English, University of Washington
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Thomas Ricento is Professor and Research Chair Emeritus in Education at the University of Calgary, Canada.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Refugees in Canada
Book Subtitle: On the Loss of Social and Cultural Capital
Authors: Thomas Ricento
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76453-1
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)
Copyright Information: The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-76452-4Published: 22 July 2021
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-76455-5Published: 23 July 2022
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-76453-1Published: 21 July 2021
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XX, 137
Number of Illustrations: 5 b/w illustrations
Topics: Migration, Social Policy, Politics of the Welfare State, Social Work and Community Development, Comparative Social Policy, Public Policy