Page 100 - IJPS-9-3

International Journal of
Population Studies Refugees’ voices in Brazilian cities

these full citizenship rights, their effective integration can formulation and implementation of municipal public
be realized. policies aimed at them, thereby facilitating their effective
While the struggle of refugees and refugee applicants integration into the community.
may not readily fit the criteria of a genuinely social In this sense, the struggle for the recognition and
movement — the present paper does not even dare to do realization of the right to the city for refugees and refugee
so — it is connected to similar processes where collective applicants, achieved through full political participation
identities, driven by empathy and material organization, in the municipal sphere, seeks the recognition of these
aim for a common goal: The recognition and effectiveness individuals as real political subjects, becoming inhabitants
of the right to the city. Whether or not the actions of with rights and responsibilities — essentially, citizens. It
people in a situation of refuge can be classified as a social should be emphasized, however, that this paper has no
movement based on the recognition and realization of their pretension to exhaust the subject — nor could it, given
right to the city should not be considered an indispensable its complexity — but rather risks in a first analysis in the
condition for the legitimacy of their demand. This is expectation of inciting interest for further discussions.
primarily an academic consideration, relevant for the
purpose of scientifically and analytically studying this Acknowledgments
collective phenomenon. None.
The demand for the recognition and effectiveness of the
right to the city by refugees and refugee applicants is rooted Funding
in both their status as members of the broader population None.
and the recognition of the unique characteristics of their
group. This recognition serves to enhance the practical Conflict of interest
realization of this right while preventing any form of There are no conflicts of interest in this study.
discrimination. In this sense, one must always consider
the differences between this group and other groups, Author contributions
as these differences play a pivotal role in determining
the real effectiveness of their right to the city. Moreover, This is a single-authored article.
while addressing economic disadvantages through wealth Ethics approval and consent to participate
redistribution may “mitigate” the negative impacts of the
lack of recognition, it does not actually eliminate cultural Not applicable.
injustice, which persists in a subtle and “concealed” way.
For this reason, formal recognition of the right to the Consent for publication
city for refugees and refugee applicants is not only relevant Not applicable.
for the concrete realization of the (human) rights that
compose it but also indispensable for the affirmation of the Availability of data
identity of these individuals in the face of the false idea of an Not applicable.
abstract and universal political subject. Nevertheless, even
if the law configures an instrument for the reproduction Further disclosure
and maintenance of the “universal standard” and its This paper extends the contents presented in “The
consequent social, economic, and cultural injustices, it Welcoming of People in Search of Refuge in Brazil:
should not be abandoned but rather denied under the Citizenship and the Right to the City” (DOI: 10.12957/
conditions in which it is applied and reconstructed on a rdc.2022.52969).
new semantic basis.
In the same sense, institutionalized means of political References
participation should be used to empower individuals in Benjamin, W. (1994). O narrador: Considerações sobre a obra de
refugee situations to suppress subalternation and conquer Nikolai Leskov [The narrator: Considerations on the work
space for the enunciation of their authentic voice, even if of Nikolai Leskov]. Magia e técnica, arte e política: Ensaios
momentarily disguised under the “mask of the enemy.” sobre literatura e história da cultura [Magic and technique,
As protagonists and narrators of their own history, these art and politics: Essays on literature and cultural history].
individuals are better equipped to achieve the realization São Paulo: Brasiliense, p.197-221. [Article in Portuguese].
of their right to the city with respect to their specific Bidaseca, K. (2010). Perturbando el Texto Colonial: Los Estudios
identities. This guarantees their full participation in the (Pos)Coloniales en América Latina [Disturbing the Colonial

Volume 9 Issue 3 (2023) 94 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.438