People in Upheaval

The essays in this volume are the outcome of a year-long seminar given in the department of anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley from 1983 to 1984, led by Professors Elizabeth Colson and George DeVos, and attended by Professor James Anderson. They are written by anthropology and sociology graduate students and two social workers, with an introduction by Professor Colson. These essays deal with a major 20th century phenomenon – massive population displacements. Four themes that run through the case studies included in this volume are: the ambiguity of the line between refugee and voluntary migrant; the interplay between hosts and newcomers; the consequences of the growth of national and international agencies which now provide a major element in the environment with which refugees cope while in transit or on arrival in a new country; and the working out of the processes of uprooting and readjustment in what can be called the life cycle of resettlement.