Refugee California: Histories of Middle Eastern and South Asian resettlement in the
Golden State
Explore the resettlement stories that shape California’s diversity
Co-PIs: Stacy D. Fahrenthold (History)
Nicole Ranganath (Middle East/South Asia Studies)
Our mission
Refugee California is a year-long research cluster devoted to telling histories of resettlement in the Golden State. Our project is all about fostering collaboration among scholars to narrate the post-displacement experiences of Middle Eastern and South Asian diaspora communities who arrived in California because of forced migration, colonial partition, or ethnic cleansing in their homelands. We believe sharing these connected histories of arrival and resettlement will enable further collaborative research into California’s refugee history.
Why California?
This research cluster hypothesizes that a Californian lens can help us better understand the entangled histories of people arriving from multiple homelands in Middle East and South Asia.
Contributors consider Afghan, Assyrian, Indian, Punjabi, Pakistani, Syrian, Yemeni, and other refugee diasporas arriving in California from 1900 to the present. Traditionally, scholars writing about these diasporas have focused on individual ethnic groups. Instead, we’re curious about how these communities intersect, recognize their shared challenges, and form interethnic solidarities. How does California’s position as new home to overlapping diasporas shape its interethnic history?
Who is a Refugee?
As we examine the histories of resettled communities, it becomes evident that the term ‘refugee’ is not a neutral label describing a person’s mobility status, but a classification used to limit access to rights. Consequently, this research cluster asks how we should grapple with the refugee appellation in historical writing. We consider the historical legacy the refugee category has had on Middle Eastern and South Asian diaspora communities and examine its interethnic politics.
Our Vision
- Shared histories. Explore common threads that connect Middle Eastern and South Asian communities in California from the early 20th century to the present.
- Interethnic solidarities. Examine the bonds formed across lines of ethnicity, sect, and caste and narrate how communities come together in mutual support.
- Tackling discrimination. Contextualize the challenges of racial, religious, and caste discrimination these groups face in California and how they worked to overcome them.
- Working together. Work across disciplinary and area studies fields to constitute better understanding of South Asian and Middle Eastern communities in California, together.
Our Goals this Year
Refugee California will host events at UC Davis during the 2023-24 academic year to foster discussion among faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates, including artistic exhibitions, research-in-progress talks, and an invitational scholarly workshop. These meetings will lay the foundation for future research and publications.