Blair Sackett – författare

Resettled refugees in America face a land of daunting obstacles where small things—one person, one encounter—can make all the difference in getting ahead or falling behind.  Fleeing war and violence, many refugees dream that moving to the United States will be like going to Heaven. Instead, they enter a deeply unequal American society, often at the bottom. Through the lived experiences of families resettled from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Blair Sackett and Annette Lareau reveal how a daunting obstacle course of agencies and services can drastically alter refugees’ experiences building a new life in America.  In these stories of struggle and hope, as one volunteer said, “you see the American story.” For some families, minor mistakes create catastrophes—food stamps cut off, educational opportunities missed, benefits lost. Other families, with the help of volunteers and social supports, escape these traps and take steps toward reaching their dreams. Engaging and eye-opening, We Thought It Would Be Heaven brings readers into the daily lives of Congolese refugees and offers guidance for how activists, workers, and policymakers can help refugee families thrive.

Resettled refugees in America face a land of daunting obstacles where small things—one person, one encounter—can make all the difference in getting ahead or falling behind.  Fleeing war and violence, many refugees dream that moving to the United States will be like going to Heaven. Instead, they enter a deeply unequal American society, often at the bottom. Through the lived experiences of families resettled from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Blair Sackett and Annette Lareau reveal how a daunting obstacle course of agencies and services can drastically alter refugees’ experiences building a new life in America.  In these stories of struggle and hope, as one volunteer said, “you see the American story.” For some families, minor mistakes create catastrophes—food stamps cut off, educational opportunities missed, benefits lost. Other families, with the help of volunteers and social supports, escape these traps and take steps toward reaching their dreams. Engaging and eye-opening, We Thought It Would Be Heaven brings readers into the daily lives of Congolese refugees and offers guidance for how activists, workers, and policymakers can help refugee families thrive.

This book examines how scholars and policymakers primarily characterize refugee resettlement as a humanitarian solution or a migration pathway. While these descriptions may be accurate, they are not comprehensive. This book examines how such framing influences understandings of resettlement's scope and impact, generating conceptual blind spots that limit critical inquiry.By reframing resettlement as an institution embedded in a complex network of actors, relations, and practices, the chapters in this book reveal how resettlement is not a passive process. They explore historical and contemporary questions about how resettlement influences refugee hosting countries in the Global South and its political dimensions as a "e;humanitarian"e; program offered by countries in the Global North. By including the experiences of refugees at various points along the resettlement trajectory, such as those who may never be resettled, the book's chapters demonstrate how refugees actively strategize to become resettle-able, advocate for others within their networks, or even reject resettlement altogether. Contributions centering perspectives from the Global South expand the discourse around resettlement by examining how it operates from Southern host countries. These dynamics underscore how the specter of resettlement shapes refugee experiences in enduring ways, even when the prospect of being resettled is unattainable.This book is invaluable for students, scholars, researchers, and practitioners in refugee studies, migration studies, human rights, development studies, international relations, humanitarian affairs, political science, and sociology.The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Ethnic & Racial Studies.

This book examines how scholars and policymakers primarily characterize refugee resettlement as a humanitarian solution or a migration pathway. While these descriptions may be accurate, they are not comprehensive. This book examines how such framing influences understandings of resettlement's scope and impact, generating conceptual blind spots that limit critical inquiry.By reframing resettlement as an institution embedded in a complex network of actors, relations, and practices, the chapters in this book reveal how resettlement is not a passive process. They explore historical and contemporary questions about how resettlement influences refugee hosting countries in the Global South and its political dimensions as a "e;humanitarian"e; program offered by countries in the Global North. By including the experiences of refugees at various points along the resettlement trajectory, such as those who may never be resettled, the book's chapters demonstrate how refugees actively strategize to become resettle-able, advocate for others within their networks, or even reject resettlement altogether. Contributions centering perspectives from the Global South expand the discourse around resettlement by examining how it operates from Southern host countries. These dynamics underscore how the specter of resettlement shapes refugee experiences in enduring ways, even when the prospect of being resettled is unattainable.This book is invaluable for students, scholars, researchers, and practitioners in refugee studies, migration studies, human rights, development studies, international relations, humanitarian affairs, political science, and sociology.The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Ethnic & Racial Studies.