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Rhoda Kanaaneh

The Right Kind of Suffering: Gender, Sexuality, and Arab Asylum Seekers in America

The Right Kind of Suffering: Gender, Sexuality, and Arab Asylum Seekers in America

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The asylum system in the United States is an exacting and drawn-out immigration process that results in suffering. Anthropologist Rhoda Kanaaneh learned how applicants were pushed to craft specific narratives to satisfy the system's requirements. Kanaaneh tells the stories of four Arab asylum seekers who sought protection in the United States on the basis of their gender or sexuality. These stories showcase the hardships they faced and the success stories of those whom the system failed.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 216 pages
Publication date: 03 January 2023
Publisher: University of Texas Press


The asylum system in the United States is an exacting and drawn-out immigration process that often leads to suffering. When anthropologist Rhoda Kanaaneh volunteered as an interpreter for Arab asylum seekers, she witnessed how applicants were pressured to craft specific narratives to meet the system's requirements.

Kanaaneh shares the stories of four Arab asylum seekers who sought protection in the United States based on their gender or sexuality: Saud, who relived painful memories of circumcision and police harassment in Sudan and learned to number and sequence these recollections; Fatima, who visited doctors and therapists to document years of spousal abuse without over-emphasizing her resulting mental illness; Fadi, who highlighted the homophobic motivations that led to his arrest and torture in Jordan while sidelining connected issues of class and racism; and Marwa, who showcased her private hardships as a lesbian in a Shiite family in Lebanon and downplayed her environmental activism.

The Right Kind of Suffering is a powerful portrait of Arab asylum seekers whose success stories stand in contrast to those whom the system failed. It sheds light on the challenges and complexities faced by these individuals as they navigate the complex asylum system and fight for their right to safety and freedom.

Weight: 332g
Dimension: 153 x 229 x 17 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781477326725

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