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A Special Issue On Immigration
With the global economic crisis leading to a rise in anti-immigrant sentiment, particularly in North America and Western Europe, Swans editor Gilles d'Aymery proposed publishing a special issue on immigration. The result is 15 contributions by writers of various nationalities and ranging from political to cultural, photographic to poetic, and beginning with Aymery's introduction to the articles that represent the quality, diversity, and creativity that Swans presents every fortnight. We hope that you will then be inspired to contribute to our annual fundraising drive and we welcome your Letters to the Editor on this special edition and the issue of immigration.
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Gilles d'Aymery: Introduction To This Special Issue On Immigration
An introduction to Swans special issue on immigration, with 15 contributions from the U.S., Europe, and Africa and ranging from political to cultural, photographic to poetic. More...
Louis Proyect: A History Of The Passport System
An overview of the history of passports, the right to travel freely and restrictions on free travel, the exploitation of cheap labor, and the contemporary trade agreements that put workers at a crossroad between unity and feudalism. More...
Michael Barker: Anti-Immigration's Malthusian Knights In Green Armour
A review of the intimate connections between mainstream conservationists and racist anti-immigration activists. More...
Maxwell Clark: Territory, Identity, And Capital
Short meditations upon the confluences and divergences of the spatial and linguistic; or, on a much grander scale, questions of territory and identity. More...
Graham Lea: Migration: Opening Pandora's Box Reveals Much Evil, But Little Hope
For every immigrant there is an emigrant: A consideration of the anti-immigrant sentiment throughout Europe and the conditions leading people to emigrate. More...
Harvey E. Whitney, Jr.: American History As World History
An overview of significant immigrant streams in US history and the current Draconian limits that deny human beings the right to improve their lives. More...
Jan Baughman: We Are All Immigrants
Before we can change the anti-immigration sentiment in America we must understand its source, as well as the country's historical treatment of immigrants. More...
Jonah Raskin: Immigrants On My Mind
Immigrants are not the cause of the US recession or the global economic crisis, but rather the victims of it. More...
Bo Keeley: Everyone Wins, Mexican Style: Americans Beware
A photo essay that puts human faces on the plight of immigrants riding the Mexican freight trains to a better life. More...
Marie Rennard: Rainbow: The Colour Of France
A review of the history of French immigration, the exploitation of immigrants, access to French nationality, and the current president's recipe for scapegoating immigrants in a time of scandals, unemployment, and economic crisis. More...
Walter Trkla: Chauvinism In The Age Of Immigration
Racial intolerance in Canada can be traced to the 19th century and the arrival of Europeans who sought to bring civilization to the backward people yet one cannot ignore the contributions of immigrants to the wider community. More...
Femi Akomolafe: On People's Migration
A Nigerian immigrant in Ghana, the author shares his experiences with political oppression in Nigeria, racism in Europe, the beauty and humanity of his continent, and his grandmother's guiding advice: never stay in a place where there are no strangers. More...
Peter Byrne: The Door That Won't Be Closed
A short story on immigrants to Italy, and a series of vignettes on the historical to contemporary scapegoating of "the other" in which no one is immune from the prejudices. More...
Christine Spadaccini: Macaroni (In memory of Paolo S.)
A short story of an Italian immigrant who settled in France intertwined with a fable about a poor shoemaker and the persimmon tree. More...
Fabio De Propris: Apricot
A short story on an Italian's indignance over the mistreatment of a gypsy girl and his silence on the matter, similar to what happened in Nazi Germany. More...
Guido Monte: Boats Of Death From Africa
Guido Monte describes the horror of the "boats of death," migrants that daily try to reach the Italian island of Sicily from Africa, with many pains and deads. More...
"Much valuable" or "left-wing drivel"? Gilles d'Aymery's The Economy Is Not Coming Back; and some thoughts on the limits of electoral politics from the Bureau of Public Secrets. More...
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