Creating Space in the Archive for an Anti-oppressive Community Project: Recording Border Control and Subversion
Article
Hashem, R. 2021. Creating Space in the Archive for an Anti-oppressive Community Project: Recording Border Control and Subversion. Displaced Voices: A Journal of Archives, Migration and Cultural Heritage. 2 (1), pp. 74-81. https://doi.org/10.15123/uel.898y6
Authors | Hashem, R. |
---|---|
Abstract | Archives exist to record and preserve documents on historical and contemporary events, official and unpublished reports, collective memories, political narratives, and personal and unofficial documents including letters and other materials that embrace memories that could be otherwise lost. Archives also have the power to present a narrative “determined by the evidence that has survived, and “to empower a certain representation through the use of language” (Dudman and Hashem, 2015). Most archives preserve documents, but not many archives could make available the recorded documents to their users. Refugee Council Archives are one of those that made available documents when needed.2 However, the dilemma is, as notes the archivist Paul Dudman, that only some of us could access the archives. Most archives in the UK had failed the displaced in terms of representation when recording documents on immigration legislation, border control, resilience and subversion within the nation-state (Dudman, 2014). 3 How can the displaced be “re-installed on the historical record"? Casba Szilagyi correctly notes when writing about the experiences of refugees globally and the role of archivists in the sector that the Refugee Archives have particularly important roles in recording, creating, disseminating, “managing, preserving, authenticating and making available records documenting historical and contemporary” experiences of the displaced people and those on the move (2020:150). According to the Archives Hub database, there are several other archives in addition to the Refugee Council Archives for documenting lives of the displaced which co-exists in London and beyond. But who accesses these archives? Are refugee archives well-represented as regards to the preservation of lived experience of refugees and migrants? If not, why is this? Who get excluded from refugee-archives, and in what ways? How could we improve access to refugee research archives? Could archives be a creative space for undertaking anti-oppressive, accessible and representative research projects for and with the people in displacement? The above are some questions that we explored at the Refugee Council Archives through the collaboration of and working on a community project with refugees and irregular migrants prior to Brexit, in 2015. The project entitled, “Democratic Access or Privileged Exclusion? Civic Engagement through the Preservation of and Access to Refugee Archives,” was supported by the Library, Archives and Learning Services of the University of East London (UEL).4 In this article, I discuss how the project helped us to establish a successful collaboration with migrant communities in London, enabled the creation of an anti-oppressive space for documenting narratives of resilience and subversion, and made possible the development of a Living Refugee Archive which help preserve the narratives and make accessible the archives to all, including the displaced people globally. I also show how the project ensured representation of people in displacement within the archive. |
Journal | Displaced Voices: A Journal of Archives, Migration and Cultural Heritage |
Journal citation | 2 (1), pp. 74-81 |
ISSN | 2633-2396 |
Year | 2021 |
Publisher | Living Refugee Archive, University of East London |
Publisher's version | License File Access Level Anyone |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.15123/uel.898y6 |
Publication dates | |
Online | Jun 2021 |
Publication process dates | |
Deposited | 09 Jul 2021 |
Copyright holder | © 2021 The Author |
https://repository.uel.ac.uk/item/898y6
Download files
Explore this article
Explore this article
Guest Editorial: Twentieth Century Histories of Civic Society Responses to Crises of Displacement
Maguire, A. 2021. Guest Editorial: Twentieth Century Histories of Civic Society Responses to Crises of Displacement. Displaced Voices: A Journal of Archives, Migration and Cultural Heritage. 2 (1), pp. 1-2. https://doi.org/10.15123/uel.898x2Displacement and Emplacement of People in Our World: A Brief Reflection
Ata, A. 2021. Displacement and Emplacement of People in Our World: A Brief Reflection. Displaced Voices: A Journal of Archives, Migration and Cultural Heritage. 2 (1), pp. 8-10. https://doi.org/10.15123/uel.898x3Notions of Gender: Rehabilitating Refugee Women in Partition’s Aftermath
Kana, S. 2021. Notions of Gender: Rehabilitating Refugee Women in Partition’s Aftermath. Displaced Voices: A Journal of Archives, Migration and Cultural Heritage. 2 (1), pp. 11-18. https://doi.org/10.15123/uel.898x4Refugee Organisations in London Remembered
Loakthar, Z. A. 2021. Refugee Organisations in London Remembered. Displaced Voices: A Journal of Archives, Migration and Cultural Heritage. 2 (1), pp. 19-26. https://doi.org/10.15123/uel.898x6Arriving and Belonging: Stories from the St Albans Jewish Community
Singer, H. 2021. Arriving and Belonging: Stories from the St Albans Jewish Community. Displaced Voices: A Journal of Archives, Migration and Cultural Heritage. 2 (1), pp. 27-35. https://doi.org/10.15123/uel.898x7Qisetna: Preserving Syrian Oral Heritage One Story at a Time
Barker, S. 2021. Qisetna: Preserving Syrian Oral Heritage One Story at a Time. Displaced Voices: A Journal of Archives, Migration and Cultural Heritage. 2 (1), pp. 36-38. https://doi.org/10.15123/uel.898x8Meaningful Participation as an Approach to Trauma Healing? Reflections from the VOICES Network
Ciftci, Y. and Agbaso, L. 2021. Meaningful Participation as an Approach to Trauma Healing? Reflections from the VOICES Network. Displaced Voices: A Journal of Archives, Migration and Cultural Heritage. 2 (1), pp. 39-43. https://doi.org/10.15123/uel.898x9Juan delGado’s Drifting Narratives: Injecting Agency into Refugee Stories
Andrews, D. 2021. Juan delGado’s Drifting Narratives: Injecting Agency into Refugee Stories. Displaced Voices: A Journal of Archives, Migration and Cultural Heritage. 2 (1), pp. 44-50. https://doi.org/10.15123/uel.898xqReview: Eleuterio Toro, Exiliado en Buckingham Palace (An Exile in Buckingham Palace)
Miqueles, G. 2021. Review: Eleuterio Toro, Exiliado en Buckingham Palace (An Exile in Buckingham Palace). Displaced Voices: A Journal of Archives, Migration and Cultural Heritage. 2 (1), pp. 51-52. https://doi.org/10.15123/uel.898y0Confronting the Homelands: The Role of Literature in Second Generation Refugee Identity Struggles
Concha Bell, C. 2021. Confronting the Homelands: The Role of Literature in Second Generation Refugee Identity Struggles. Displaced Voices: A Journal of Archives, Migration and Cultural Heritage. 2 (1), pp. 53-56. https://doi.org/10.15123/uel.898y1From Women’s Rights Lawyer in Pakistan to a Precarious Life in Australia: Learning From Lived Experience
Babar, Mrs., Hartley, L., Burke, R. and Field, R. 2021. From Women’s Rights Lawyer in Pakistan to a Precarious Life in Australia: Learning From Lived Experience. Displaced Voices: A Journal of Archives, Migration and Cultural Heritage. 2 (1), pp. 57-60. https://doi.org/10.15123/uel.898y2‘But You Don’t Look Like a Syrian’: Migrant Narrative Beyond the Dichotomous Divide in Migration Studies
Fadel, L. 2021. ‘But You Don’t Look Like a Syrian’: Migrant Narrative Beyond the Dichotomous Divide in Migration Studies. Displaced Voices: A Journal of Archives, Migration and Cultural Heritage. 2 (1), pp. 61-65. https://doi.org/10.15123/uel.898y3Review: Becky Taylor, Refugees in Twentieth-Century Britain. A History
Maguire, A. 2021. Review: Becky Taylor, Refugees in Twentieth-Century Britain. A History. Displaced Voices: A Journal of Archives, Migration and Cultural Heritage. 2 (1), pp. 66-68. https://doi.org/10.15123/uel.898y4Review: Annabelle Wilkins, Migration, Work and Home-Making in the City. Dwelling and Belonging among Vietnamese Communities in London
Dudman, P. V. 2021. Review: Annabelle Wilkins, Migration, Work and Home-Making in the City. Dwelling and Belonging among Vietnamese Communities in London. Displaced Voices: A Journal of Archives, Migration and Cultural Heritage. 2 (1), pp. 69-73. https://doi.org/10.15123/uel.898y5The Seventieth Anniversary of the Refugee Council: Voluntary Action, Living Archives and Refugee Voices
Dudman, P. V. 2021. The Seventieth Anniversary of the Refugee Council: Voluntary Action, Living Archives and Refugee Voices. Displaced Voices: A Journal of Archives, Migration and Cultural Heritage. 2 (1), pp. 82-90. https://doi.org/10.15123/uel.898y7263
total views115
total downloads0
views this month1
downloads this month