Background Knowledge

Online seminar for volunteering at Europe's (external) borders

 

4. The meaning of terms

What language and terms are used influences how we think about what is said. It is therefore important to look at what terms are used. We have created a small glossary to outline what we mean by the terms we use.
 
 
 

Why are language and the choice of terms we use important?

  • Terms are not neutral words that describe reality as it is. Instead, they always create a picture in the mind's eye and convey a lot of information that is sometimes more, sometimes less hidden in the term. Language is therefore very powerful and defines the people, things and phenomena we talk about.
  • It is therefore important to deal with language and terms consciously, especially because language has also developed in a racist context. This means that it provides a framework for continuing to practise racism (even unconsciously). At the same time, language can also be an expression of counter-narratives. This means that language and terms can also be used to point out and counter racism.

This glossary contains only a small selection of terms that are important in the context of volunteering with refugees. The explanations reflect our respective understanding of the term.

 
 
Asylum seeker

Legally, the term "asylum seekers" refers to people who have applied for asylum, i.e. protection, or intend to do so, but who have not yet been granted official protection status. However, the term is also used synonymously with "refugees".
Eurocentrism

Eurocentrism refers to an attitude that unquestioningly places European ways of life, norms and values, or those understood as 'Western', at the centre and as the standard of thought and action.

See Unit 2 for more information on Eurocentrism.
Forced displacement

Forced displacement or flight is the escape from a life-threatening predicament. Fleeing is rarely a linear process; instead, refugees usually move in stages: They often start by hastily fleeing to the nearest town or another place of refuge in the immediate vicinity that appears to be safe, then move on to relatives and acquaintances in a neighbouring region or country, or go to an informal or regular camp.

Some reasons for flight are recognised in the asylum system, such as fleeing political persecution. Other reasons, such as fleeing poverty or environmental disasters, are not covered by law. The fact that the considerations for leaving one's home country are usually much more complex and not based on single reasons is often not recognised by European authorities, which is why the definition of the term "flight" or “forced displacement” in the context of asylum is questionable in our view.
Refugee

The term "refugee" is a legal term for people who have been assigned a protection status by the state or the UNHCR (the United Nations Refugee Agency). In everyday language, the term is often used independently of any legal status.
Refugee

We apologise for the duplication. In the German language there are two terms for refugee and technichally in the English version of the Website we could not delete the second term.
Global South & Global North

The political classification of Global South and Global North refers to the different experiences with colonialism and exploitation - on the one hand as profiteers and on the other hand as primarily exploited. The term Global South is used to describe the social, political and economic position of societies and countries which are today disadvantaged in the global system as a result of colonialism and imperialism. The Global North, on the other hand, defines the position of global advantages and economic power. While terms such as ‘developing countries’ express a certain illusion of global developmental stages which some societies have already fulfilled while others haven’t, the terms Global South and North attempt to name the overall different political, economic and cultural positions. The division into South and North is only partially a geographical division. Australia, for example, just like Germany, belongs to the majority of the Global North, because the majority of the population enjoys a privileged economic position. But in both countries there are also people who are part of the Global South, for example Aboriginal Australians or illegalised persons in Germany. Inversely, also in countries that are mostly part of the Global South, there are people who enjoy the privileged position of the Global North - be it because they are white and/or because they belong to the globally privileged class due to economic resources.
Borders

Borders separate two sides from each other. This separation of territories, but also of different identities, is not naturally given, but man-made. Moreover, these territories and identities are only created by the borders by separating them from each other. This demarcation is often accompanied by violence.
Intersectionality

Intersectionality (deriving from the term intersection) refers to the interweaving of different forms of discrimination. A person can be discriminated against on different grounds: Gender identity, sexuality, origin, language, residence status, appearance, age, social origin and status, body, ability(ies) and disability(ies), etc. Discrimination means that people have fewer opportunities: They are offended, not as likely to find a good education or job, are seen as less good, or non-belongers, etc. This intersection of intersectionality names the experience of multiple discrimination mechanisms at the same time. Often the term multiple-discrimination is used here. However, the discrimination mechanisms do not add to each other, but intersect. In these intersections and connections, own, so to speak new discrimination mechanisms emerge. This is what intersection wants to express. A term that describes these different levels, i.e. dimensions, would be multidimensional discrimination.
Irregular

The term 'irregular' or 'irregular migration' is used to emphasise when people do not have regular residence status The French term 'sans-papiers' (without papers) is also frequently used. However, it should not be forgotten that those affected usually have papers and documents, just not a European residence permit. The term 'illegal' is deliberately avoided as it stigmatises and portrays 'irregular' migrants as criminals. Nevertheless, the term "irregular" must also be used with caution, as it is often associated with "illegal". On the other hand, it is sometimes used as a blanket term for people who cross European borders and cannot yet have regular residence status because they have not yet had the opportunity to apply for asylum.
Lager

We mostly use the term "Lager" instead of "Camps" for the accommodation of refugees in large centres, (especially in German) because in our view the term "Camp" is euphemistic for the inhumane conditions that prevail there. The term "Lager" is meant to draw attention to precisely these conditions.
Migrant

A person moves to another country and lives there.
Migrant self-organisation

Migrant self-organisations are organisations founded by migrants for exchange and joint work with other migrants.
Paternalism

Paternalism is when supporters of refugees see themselves as 'helpers' and refugees as 'help recipients'. The problem is that the 'help recipients' are perceived as powerless, helpless and unable to take action themselves. This can lead to 'helpers' patronising refugees and deciding instead of them what is best for the other person. In this way, 'help recipients' are disenfranchised by 'helpers'.
People/Person of Colour (PoC)

The term People of Colour is used by people who experience racist discrimination in white majority societies as a common political self-denomination. The positive use of the term has its origins in the Black Power movement in the USA at the end of the 1960s. People of Colour is not translated into other languages because the term does not refer to "coloured" but to the diversity of experiences, biographies and origins. Political self-designations emerged from a resistance and still stand for the struggles against these oppressions and for more equality. The term BIPoC, which is also frequently used, comes from the US context and stands for "Black, Indigenous and People of Colour".
People on the Move

The term describes people who are on the move. It is used to describe people regardless of their reasons for moving, their objectives and their legal categories. The focus is on the people rather than the reasons for their movement. The term also does not define who the people are, as is the case with the term "refugee", but describes the condition - being on the move - in which people find themselves.
Push-Back

"Push-backs" refer to the unlawful and often violent pushing back of people seeking protection at borders - exercised from the country the people want to enter - back to the country the people want to leave. See also this Video.
Pull-Back

"Pull-backs" refer to the illegal and often violent return of people seeking protection at borders - exercised by the country from which the people want to leave. Often, "pull-backs" and "push-backs" cannot be clearly separated because countries on both sides of the border are involved.
Racism

Racism is a global social phenomenon that cannot be viewed isolated from its historical connection with colonialism, enslavement, economic exploitation and the emergence of capitalism, which impacts today’s society in large.

See Unit 2 for more information on racism.
Person seeking protection

see "Asylum seekers”
Black & white

We use the terms Black and white here as terms that represent political and social constructions: They do not refer to the colour of people's skin, but their position in a society. This describes the matter of an unequal distribution of power, in which white can assert structural interests over Black in a society. “Black” is one of the self-designations of people affected by racism, as alternatives to numerous racist terms (which need not be mentioned here). As a political term, we therefore write black in capital letters. We write white in italics to indicate the dominant position of power, which otherwise usually remains invisible, because if only parts of humans are named "explicitly" and given an additional category, as is unfortunately often the case, then the other parts are implicitly considered "normal".
"Safe Third Countries"

So-called "safe third countries" are countries designated by EU member states as supposedly safe. People who enter the EU via a "safe third country" are denied the fundamental right to asylum because they are supposedly safe in the third country. However, many countries are included in the list of "safe third countries", such as Turkey, even though human rights violations have been documented there.
Solidarity

In addition to the ideal of equality of all people concerned, the concept of solidarity additionally includes the critique of structures that produce inequality. These structures affect us all, albeit to different degrees. Solidarity means discussing values and goals together, exploring common ground, supporting engagement against these structures: Together one tries to identify and bridge discriminations that prevent the person affected from making choices for their own life in an equal way. Thus, solidarity is also a striving for social and political change. [...] Practical solidarity means listening to all those concerned and taking their needs into account, self-critically questioning one's own actions and reducing the unequal power relations within and between groups.
Voluntourism

A special phenomenon of international volunteering today is so-called voluntourism, i.e. a combination of 'volunteering' and 'tourism', with the emphasis on the latter. Providers are usually agencies that promote volunteering as part of an exciting trip or adventure. Volunteers' qualifications and suitability for the project are less important here than their financial means to finance the journey and the provider.

See Unit 2 for more information on voluntourism.
white

See "Black and white
White Saviourism

White saviourism describes the idea or belief that it requires the intervention of white people from the Global North to "save" other (non-white) people (groups) from their oppression or simply from a seemingly inadequate living situation.

See Unit 2 for more information on White Saviourism.
 
 

Sources:

glokal e.V.: Willkommen ohne Paternalismus. Hilfe und Solidarität in der Unterstützungsarbeit (Welcome without paternalism. Help and Solidarity in support work).

Jochen Oltmer (2017): Globale Migration. Geschichte und Gegenwart (Global migration. History and present) In: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung

Mediendienst Integration (2023): Was bedeutet „irreguläre" oder "illegale Migranten“ oder „Sans-Papiers“? (What does "irregular" or "illegal migrants" or "sans-papiers" mean?

Migrationsrat Berlin e.V.: Begriffsglossar (glossary of terms)

Neue deutsche Medienmacher: Glossar (glossary)

Susan Arndt & Nadja Ofuatey-Alazard (Hg.) (2019): Wie Rassismus aus Wörtern spricht. (K)Erben des Kolonialismus im Wissensarchiv deutsche Sprache. Ein kritisches Nachschlagewerk (How racism speaks in words. Heritage (notches) of colonialism in the German language knowledge archive. A critical reference book). Münster

 
 
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