"Alien WindS" presents the first critical analysis of U.S.
refugee processing centers in Southeast Asia. Based on twenty
months of work in refugee camps from 1983-1986 and an analysis of
documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, this book
challenges the widely held view that the refugee education program
results in successful resettlement. The author contends that in its
zeal to Americanize Southeast Asians, this program seeks to replace
ties to their traditional community with a commitment to the myths
of American success ideology and the moral principle of
self-sufficiency. He concludes that the program actually
disempowers the refugees by robbing them of their sense of
community, and often their dignity. Without regard to skills or
education, it prepares refugees for long term employment in dead
end minimum wage jobs. Of particular interest to teachers of
English as a second language and scholars in the fields of
education, sociology, anthropology, and Southeast Asian studies,
Alien Winds concludes with recommendations for overseas centers and
domestic resettlement programs.
From its inception the U.S. refugee resettlement program faced
difficult questions: What are the main difficulties facing
Southeast Asians in the United States? What do refugees need to
know in order to resettle successfully? How should successful
resettlement be defined? Should there be different notions of
success for different groups of people? What values do Americans
share? Must newcomers adopt these values? Alien Winds examines the
American answers to these questions as they are formulated and
conveyed to the refugees. It also explores the sources of these
answers. To this end it examines important assumptions about
immigrants that originated in educational programs during the early
part of this century. It further explores the aims and structures
of the organizations which created and operate the processing
centers. Finally, "Alien WindS" analyzes the role of the refugee
program in America's shared memory of Vietnam.
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