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Forever 17
Coming of Age in the German Asylum System
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Forever 17
$5699
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Unavailable
Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
This book is ideal for readers interested in immigration, social policy, human rights, and ethnographic research. It offers valuable insights for academics, policymakers, and anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by young asylum seekers in Germany.
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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
An exploration of how age affects the experience and life prospects of asylum-seekers in Germany.
Heartbreaking images of children in distress have propelled some of the most urgent calls for action on immigration crises, and that compassion often affects how state asylum policies are structured. In Germany, for example, the immigration system is engineered to protect minors, which leads to unintended consequences for migrants.
In Forever 17, Ulrike Bialas follows young African and Central Asian migrants in Germany as they navigate that system. Without official paperwork or even, in many cases, knowledge of their exact age, migrants must decide how to present their complicated life stories to government officials. They quickly realise that their age can have an outsized effect on the outcome of their cases. A migrant under 18, for example, canβt be deported, but might instead be placed in a youth home, where they will be subject to strict curfew laws. An 18-year-old adult, on the other hand, can get permission to work, but not opportunities to go to school.
Regardless of their ageβactual or assumedβmigrants face great difficulties. Those classified as minors must live with the psychological burden of being treated like children, while those classified as adults must live without the practical support and legal protections reserved for minors. The significance of age stands in stark contrast to the ambiguities inherent in its determination.
Though Germanyβs infamous bureaucracy is designed to issue clear statements about refugees and migrants, the truth is often more complicated, and officials are forced to grapple with the difficult implications of their decisions. Ultimately, Bialas shows, policies surrounding asylum seekers fall dramatically short of their humanitarian ideals. Even those policies designed to help the most vulnerable can lead to outcomes that drastically limit the possibilities for migrants in real need of protection and keep them from leading fulfilling lives.
Series: Ethnographic Encounters and Discoveries
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An examination of how novice psychiatrists come to understand the workings of the mindβand the nature of medical expertiseβas they are trained in psychotherapy. While many medical professionals can physically examine the body to identify and understand its troublesβa cardiologist can take a scan of the heart, an endocrinologist can measure hormone levels, an oncologist can locate a tumourβpsychiatrists have...Paperback$5699Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Forever 17
An exploration of how age affects the experience and life prospects of asylum-seekers in Germany. Heartbreaking images of children in distress have propelled some of the most urgent calls for action on immigration crises, and that compassion often affects how state asylum policies are structured. In Germany, for example, the immigration system is engineered to protect minors, which leads to...Paperback$5699Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
Forever 17 is praised as an outstanding, original, and impeccably researched ethnography. Cecilia MenjΓvar highlights its deep engagement and lucid prose, noting its significant impact on policy debates and its challenge to assumptions about age as a social category. David Scott FitzGerald commends Bialas as a perceptive observer who reveals the complexity and unintended consequences surrounding the social construction of age within the asylum system.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780226830087
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 26 December 2023
Country: United States
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 15.0mm
Width: 152.0mm
Height: 229.0mm
Weight: 227g
Pages: 240
About the Author
Ulrike Bialas is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Socio-Cultural Diversity at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity.
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