An Interview with Professor Rebecca Hamlin

HomeTown

Today’s episode features Rebecca Hamlin, a professor of political science and legal studies at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Professor Hamlin’s research and teaching interests center on law and immigration, with a special interest in understanding how people who cross borders are categorized under the law and in public discourse.

In our discussion with Professor Hamlin, she explained her approach to teaching about global migration and underscored the legacy of colonialism and wealth inequality in much of global migration today. Drawing on her research, Rebecca Hamlin highlighted the variability of different countries’ systems for deciding who should receive asylum; key turning points in the history of immigration in the U.S.; and factors that drive global migration.

Her most recent book, Crossing, focuses on ways in which terms such as “refugee” and “migrant” are used in public discourse, as organizations and individuals endeavor to build support for specific policies and practices. In brief, her work provides much food for thought about the deeper questions that all societies must face as they determine who is deserving of safe haven, assistance, and access to essential resources. For those interested in learning more, we highly recommend these publications by Rebecca Hamlin:

• ‘Migrants?’ ‘Refugees?’ Terminology is Powerful, Contested, and Evolving. Migration Policy Institute, 2022. Accessible here.
• Crossing: How We Label and React to People on the Move. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 2021.
• Let Me Be a Refugee: Administrative Justice and the Politics of Asylum in the United States, Canada, and Australia. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2014.

As well as these related resources:

• E. Tendayi Achiume. “Re-Imagining International Law for Global Migration: Migration as Decolonization?” American Journal of International Law 111: 142-146. 2017.
• Eoin Colfer & Andrew Donkin. Illegal: A graphic novel telling one boy's epic journey to Europe. Illustrated by Giovanni Rigano. Hodder Children’s Books, 2018.
• Suketu Mehta. This Land is Our Land: An Immigrant’s Manifesto. New York: Penguin Random House, 2019.
• “The Left to Die Boat” (podcast). BBC World Service Documentary (2012) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0101r27 (53 Minutes)

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