Articles by Eftihia Voutira
This paper offers a conceptual framework in terms of which the current Pontic Greek experience of... more This paper offers a conceptual framework in terms of which the current Pontic Greek experience of displacement from the Soviet Union can be interpreted in a historically informed way, by addressing two sets of issues: methodological and substantive. With respect to the former, I argue that 'refugeeness' is a modern phenomenon associated with the formation of nation states, entailing thus a necessary correlation between 'nationalism' and 'refugees'. This accounts for the mobility pattern of the Pontic Greeks from the Ottoman Empire to the Caucasus through the 19th century as an instance of migration rather than refugeeness. In turn, I seek to establish the historical and conceptual links between 'nationalism' and the cultivation of 'national identity' as part of the modern Greek state's irredentist policy which supports all current claims to 'repatriation' and the Greek homeland. Yet, this bears no necessary historical relation to 'ethnic identity claims' which show themselves to be contingently construed and relationally specified. Substantively, in view of these peoples' repeated uprootings, any attempt to define their movements in terms of volition is insufficient to capture the complexity of their experience which often acquires dramatic proportions, as in the recent case of the Greeks from Central Asia, which includes phenomena of social nmn^'i and historical gaps in the group's collective consciousness. Both features turn them into refugees.
The refugee convention at fifty: A view from forced migration studies, 2003
Refugees: whose term is it anyway? Emic and etic constructions of 'refugees' in Modern Greek. Eft... more Refugees: whose term is it anyway? Emic and etic constructions of 'refugees' in Modern Greek. Eftihia Voutira Introduction The title of my paper suggests that there is an issue of appropriation of the term 'refugee'. The implicit subjects in this debate are the main actors in most forced migration situations: namely, the host society as a whole, the displaced, and the international organizations whose role is to protect refugee rights. I raise this question not rhetorically but anthropologically; my aim is to argue that the concept 'refugee' not only has different connotations in different cultures but that the cultural meaning of the term 'refugee' is an essential component of the way the legal definition is perceived and applied in an international context. For the sake of argument, I will assume that there is an etic view of refugees, which is normally identified with the 'legal definition' enshrined in the 1951 Convention and recognised on the official level by all states that are signatories to the Convention. I call this view etic with special reference to the linguistic notion (e.g., phonetic/phonemic) as introduced by Kenneth Pike and elaborated by Marvin Harris, in order to denote the reference to the observer's attempt 'to describe behaviour from outside a particular system'. 1 In contrast, there is an informal and one might argue more 'muddled' use of the term in popular imagination. This use is largely predicated on an archetypal reference to flight or forced migration as an essential component of refugeeness independently of the other criteria that apply in determining refugee status. 1 Pike, K., Language in Relation to a Unified Theory of the Structure of Human Behaviour, 2 nd ed., (The Hague: Mouton, 1967) p. 37. Within anthropology and in its relation to linguistics, the distinction between etic and emic has a long history and addresses the epistemological assumptions of the discipline itself. It refers largely to the capacity to infer the way 'native people think' (emic) as opposed to offering an account of a culture in strictly observational terms (etic) (cf. Bloch, M., How We Think They Think: Anthropological Approaches to Cognition, Memory and Literacy, (Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1998). Here I am using the distinction to signpost the significance of looking at native constructions of 'refugee' in Modern Greek that are embedded within a set of cultural assumptions about Greece's 'refugee past'. The specific use of this emic/etic distinction assumes that the concept 'refugee' as defined by the Convention, which plays the role of a binding document among states, would have different emic constructions when seen from the standpoint of the different cultures. See also Pike, K., Talk, Thought and Thing: the emic Road Towards Conscious Knowledge, (Dallas, Texas : Summer Institute of Linguistics, 1993) ch. 5. As will be shown below, the term 'refugee' has positive connotations in Greece and is used as a term of honour, unlike contemporary constructions of the term based on negative stereotypes casting refugees as a burden and state liability. This positive connotation is largely due to the collective perception of the 'successful' integration and publicly acknowledged contribution of Asia Minor refugees to the twentieth-century Greek economic, social and cultural development. Specifically, the meaning of the term 'refugee' in Modern Greek is informed and mediated by the collective memory of the Asia Minor refugees as a national asset; i.e. as integrated refugees, after their rehabilitation and effective adaptation into modern Greek society. This particular form of anachronism is an essential component of collective social memory construction and one that, as Paul Connerton has noted, depends on the regular repetition and reaffirmation of the past in the present through commemorative narrative enactments of significant events that mark the identity of a society. 2 Whether the reception of the Asia Minor refugees was truly a 'success' case depends not only on the time of assessment (long versus short term), but also on whose criteria are being applied and whether, to the extent that any received wisdom is sought to be reapplied elsewhere, the 'success' is transferable to other cases of refugee settlement in other regions or in the same country at a later historical time. 3 My main concern is not to make such an assessment, but rather to show the longer term consequences of Greece's 'refugee past' and to apply this to the case of Soviet Greek newcomers, the majority of whom are close relatives of those Asia Minor refugees that came from the Pontos during the 1918-23 period. I will show that this issue has relevance in the way these recent arrivals, through their cultural associations, construe their 'refugee' identity as an essential component of their financial expectations from the Greek state. The ethnographic context Focusing on the post-1989 arrivals from the former Soviet Union (FSU), I give examples of the newcomers' preference for being called, and using as a term of self-ascription, 'refugees'
This paper focuses on two historical moments in time and geographical locations, significantly si... more This paper focuses on two historical moments in time and geographical locations, significantly situated at the beginning and the end of the Cold War of the Pontic Greeks' recent past. The significance of these moments relates to the two encounters between the two formerly isolated groups of Pontic Greeks, separated by the Cold War divide: one in the East (FSU) and the other in the West (Greek nation state). It addresses the continuous reconceptualisation of state-family relations, including the Soviet policies of the state as family. The main hypothesis is that in the case of the Pontic Greeks 'repatriation', normally seen as 'return to a place', should be construed as 'affinal repatriation', meaning 'return to each other'. The paper considers alliance theory (affinity by marriage), thus expanding the traditional concept of kinship (as consanguinity) while maintaining the idiom of belonging, including ideological foes as defined by the Cold War Divide.
Refugee Participation Network, Issue 21, 1996
Most people involved in imparting knowledge encounter the response, 'This is too theoretical'. It... more Most people involved in imparting knowledge encounter the response, 'This is too theoretical'. It is easy
for academics to dismiss such remarks as expressing resistance to studying or learning, as outright laziness
of thought, or as demonstrating defensiveness in the face of new ideas or moral challenges. Since this
response is a significant bar to learning, however, it is worth some analysis. This article aims to examine its
underlying causes, as well as the multiple educational contexts that give rise to the syndrome. Finally, it
suggests how the gap between academics and humanitarian aid workers can be bridged without resorting
to a rejection of theory.
The challenge is fundamentally an educational one, involving teaching rather than training. The former is
understood as the activity of imparting knowledge through reason giving and explanation; the latter is an
activity that aims at imparting a skill presumed to be of some value and use. The educational challenge, it
will be argued here, arises in the context of redressing the balance between the intellectualist bias and
intelligent practice.
One assumption underlying this syndrome is that 'theory' is fundamentally irrelevant to issues faced by
people in the field of practice. A number of factors contribute to this view, which tends to be inculcated
among practitioners in ways which further reinforce the ostensible gap between themselves and
academics. It is the contention of this article that any attempt to transform existing practices without
attempting to transform attitudes towards education as a whole and vice versa is doomed to failure.
Journal of Refugee Studies, Vol. 5 (3-4), 1992
This paper examines the justifications, operational methods and results of the requirement to enu... more This paper examines the justifications, operational methods and results of the requirement to enumerate refugee populations prior to supplying food aid. The authors argue (1) that this practices in refugee assistance, forming part of ‘an ideology of control’ within aid programmes, and (3) that it fails to provide the ‘accountability’ sought by donors. In addition, the paper questions the usual notion of ‘fairness’ in the distribution of welfare goods in such contexts, in the light of the anthropology of gifts, the nature of patronage systems and philosophical theories of obligation and accountability. Postive suggestions are made for ways to increase both accountability and ‘client’ participation in refugee food distribution systems.
Journal of Refugee Studies, Vol. 20 (2), 2007
The paper traces the early history of refugee research and shows how, from originally being prime... more The paper traces the early history of refugee research and shows how, from originally being prime movers in the research, refugees today have largely been reduced to invisibility. In the South, access to refugees held in camps is controlled by local government bureaucracies and by lead agencies, and may be severely restricted or completely denied; in the North, refugees held in detention centres are equally difficult to access and even more disempowered. Examples are given of studies carried out in Sierra Leone, Sudan, Egypt, Kenya, Greece and the Former Soviet Union. The paper also considers barriers to disseminating refugee research, and concludes that now more than ever the duty of the researcher is to speak on behalf of refugees.
Greek Review of Social Research, A. Athanasiou & G. Tsimouris (Eds.), SPECIAL ISSUE on Migration, Gender and Precarious Subjectivities in the Era of Crisis, 2013
This paper considers the emergence of a migration regime in the making at the
South-eastern borde... more This paper considers the emergence of a migration regime in the making at the
South-eastern borders of Europe with special reference to Greece and the role
of FRONTEX as the new European border guard often acting in lieu of the state.
Using a bio-political approach, we consider practices of human rights violations
at the Greek reception centres in Evros and identify the actors involved in policing
the borders. The key question is that of accountability: who guards the guards
guarding Europe’s borders?
FOCAAL Journal of Global and Historical Anthropology, Special Issue on the Black Sea, 2014
This article discusses the post-Cold War repatriation to the Black Sea of people deported to Cent... more This article discusses the post-Cold War repatriation to the Black Sea of people deported to Central Asia after WWII, Crimean Tatars and Pontic Greeks. It reflects on their novel ethnic and religious identifications, not available to them before their exile. Religious labeling is now used by officials as criteria for allocating people to places, and by people as expressions of loyalty and belonging. Politically, such labeling is used for negotiating appropriate sites for resettlement schemes for the two groups in the region. The Crimean Tatar strategy is to argue in favor of “indigenous group” status, while the Pontic Greeks opt for dual commitment between repatriation to their “kin state” (Greece) and their pre-WWII places of residence in the Crimea. The comparison of the dilemmas faced by the two communities upon repatriation elucidates the role of the Black Sea region in the pragmatics of “returning home” and people’s sentiments of belonging.
Anthropology today, Jan 1, 1992
Journal of Modern Greek Studies, Jan 1, 2006
Journal of Refugee Studies, Vol. 20 (2), Jan 1, 2007
The paper traces the early history of refugee research and shows how, from originally being prime... more The paper traces the early history of refugee research and shows how, from originally being prime movers in the research, refugees today have largely been reduced to invisibility. In the south, access to refugees held in camps is controlled by local government bureaucracies and by lead agencies, and may be severly restricted or completely denied; in the North, refugees held in detention centres are equally difficult to access and even more disempowered. Examples are given of studies carried out in Sierra Leone, Sudan, Egypt, Kenya, Greece and the Former Soviet Union. The paper also considers barriers to disseminating refugee research and concludes that now more than ever the duty of the researcher is to speak on behalf of refugees.
Espace populations sociétés / Space populations Societies, Jan 1, 2004
This paper considers the emerging policy framework, within which the ethnic Greeks from the forme... more This paper considers the emerging policy framework, within which the ethnic Greeks from the former Soviet Union (FSU) are singled out and allocated a privileged status when compared with other newcomer groups, e.g. other migrants and refugees. It argues that Greece does not have an immigration policy in place and that for the past fifteen years ethnic return migration of Greeks from the former Soviet Union (a total of 155.000 settled repatriates according to the 2000 official state census data) has functioned as an immigration policy in disguise.
Books by Eftihia Voutira
Anthropology in Humanitarian Assistance, 1998
Textbook used for the Network on Humanitarian Assistance (NOHA) launched in 1993 as part of the E... more Textbook used for the Network on Humanitarian Assistance (NOHA) launched in 1993 as part of the ECO and the Directorate General of the European Comission.
Book Reviews by Eftihia Voutira
Ethnic and Racial Studies, Vol. 19 (4), 1996
Book review on Anthony Richmond's book entitled 'Global Apartheid. Refugees, Racism and the New W... more Book review on Anthony Richmond's book entitled 'Global Apartheid. Refugees, Racism and the New World Order'.
Journal of Modern Greek Studies, 2009
Chapters in Books by Eftihia Voutira
1949 was a critical year. September 1949 marked the end of the military phase of the Greek Civil ... more 1949 was a critical year. September 1949 marked the end of the military phase of the Greek Civil War, while June 1949 the beginning of Stalin's deportations of Greek minorities from the Black Sea regions (e.g. Sokhumi, Batumi). The chapter considers the oral testimonies of survivors from the Stalinist repressions in Central Asia. It focuses on the encounter between Greek communist exiles from the Greek Civil War and the deportees (exiles) from the Black Sea regions of the former USSR in Tashkent. It addresses their competing conceptions of party loyalty and their notions of inherent "patriotism". It adopts an anthropological perspective in pursuing the logic of the encounter between the different Greek groups that found themselves in Central Asia under some form of exile.
Ourselves and Others, 1997
This paper redresses the exilic bias that characterizes much of the Greek research and scholarshi... more This paper redresses the exilic bias that characterizes much of the Greek research and scholarship on the Asia Minor refugee resettlement and assistance policies. It places these events in comparative perspective vis-a-vis parallel phenomena taking place in interwar Europe. The main argument is that although the Lausanne Treaty of 1923 and the exchange of population clause constitute an unusual phenomenon from the standpoint of the history of international human rights law, the particulars of the large scale resettlement and its social consequences were not weak. The paper compares the White Russian refugees fleeing the Russian Empire and the Asia Minor refugees from the Ottoman Empire. The first refused to assimilate, while the latter became integrated into their new state.
In M.M. Cernea and C. McDowell (eds.)., Risks and Reconstruction: Experiences of Resettlers and Refugees. Washinton D.C.: The World Bank., 2000
This chapter argues that the major obstacle to a reciprocal transfer of knowledge from refugee an... more This chapter argues that the major obstacle to a reciprocal transfer of knowledge from refugee and oustee settlement experience is not just conceptual, residing in one-sided research, it is institutional, originating in the practices of major agencies. There are separate bureaucracies operating under separate budgets that are responsible for these two categories of displaced people, and they maintain a radical division of labor between them. Moreover, they each define their roles and their relationships vis-a-vis the host and the donor states differently. They function under different legal and regulatory regimes, and, in some instances, promote incompatible long-term objectives as to what constitutes a "successful" solution for the particular beneficiary populations. Instances of good institutional cooperation, which overcomes the idiosyncrasies of separate bureaucracies, do exist, as Brown (see this volume) reports from post-conflict reconstruction work in Azerbaijan. However, we argue that such cooperation is not yet as frequent as it should be.
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Articles by Eftihia Voutira
for academics to dismiss such remarks as expressing resistance to studying or learning, as outright laziness
of thought, or as demonstrating defensiveness in the face of new ideas or moral challenges. Since this
response is a significant bar to learning, however, it is worth some analysis. This article aims to examine its
underlying causes, as well as the multiple educational contexts that give rise to the syndrome. Finally, it
suggests how the gap between academics and humanitarian aid workers can be bridged without resorting
to a rejection of theory.
The challenge is fundamentally an educational one, involving teaching rather than training. The former is
understood as the activity of imparting knowledge through reason giving and explanation; the latter is an
activity that aims at imparting a skill presumed to be of some value and use. The educational challenge, it
will be argued here, arises in the context of redressing the balance between the intellectualist bias and
intelligent practice.
One assumption underlying this syndrome is that 'theory' is fundamentally irrelevant to issues faced by
people in the field of practice. A number of factors contribute to this view, which tends to be inculcated
among practitioners in ways which further reinforce the ostensible gap between themselves and
academics. It is the contention of this article that any attempt to transform existing practices without
attempting to transform attitudes towards education as a whole and vice versa is doomed to failure.
South-eastern borders of Europe with special reference to Greece and the role
of FRONTEX as the new European border guard often acting in lieu of the state.
Using a bio-political approach, we consider practices of human rights violations
at the Greek reception centres in Evros and identify the actors involved in policing
the borders. The key question is that of accountability: who guards the guards
guarding Europe’s borders?
Books by Eftihia Voutira
Book Reviews by Eftihia Voutira
Chapters in Books by Eftihia Voutira
for academics to dismiss such remarks as expressing resistance to studying or learning, as outright laziness
of thought, or as demonstrating defensiveness in the face of new ideas or moral challenges. Since this
response is a significant bar to learning, however, it is worth some analysis. This article aims to examine its
underlying causes, as well as the multiple educational contexts that give rise to the syndrome. Finally, it
suggests how the gap between academics and humanitarian aid workers can be bridged without resorting
to a rejection of theory.
The challenge is fundamentally an educational one, involving teaching rather than training. The former is
understood as the activity of imparting knowledge through reason giving and explanation; the latter is an
activity that aims at imparting a skill presumed to be of some value and use. The educational challenge, it
will be argued here, arises in the context of redressing the balance between the intellectualist bias and
intelligent practice.
One assumption underlying this syndrome is that 'theory' is fundamentally irrelevant to issues faced by
people in the field of practice. A number of factors contribute to this view, which tends to be inculcated
among practitioners in ways which further reinforce the ostensible gap between themselves and
academics. It is the contention of this article that any attempt to transform existing practices without
attempting to transform attitudes towards education as a whole and vice versa is doomed to failure.
South-eastern borders of Europe with special reference to Greece and the role
of FRONTEX as the new European border guard often acting in lieu of the state.
Using a bio-political approach, we consider practices of human rights violations
at the Greek reception centres in Evros and identify the actors involved in policing
the borders. The key question is that of accountability: who guards the guards
guarding Europe’s borders?