CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0. Introduction
Greater social justice for FMs is the aim of this study which,
attempts to examine whether or not Johannesburg may be viewed as a `just city',
in terms of promoting values of social justice
for the least advantaged people, including refugees and
asylum seekers. It is about seeing whether or not Johannesburg is a
more inclusive city, where people from different cultural backgrounds
and countries can live in harmony with each other, sharing equal opportunities,
and having a similar vision for the future of their city, regardless
of their race, gender, and nationality.
In my opinion, CSOs based in Johannesburg may play a major role
in the coming together of such a `just city' given that, in the past, some CSOs
(such the Lawyers for Human Rights and
the Johannesburg Child Welfare) contributed to the
struggle against the apartheid; and for almost a decade now, they also
contributed in the redaction of the 1998 Refugees Act. But before explaining
how CSOs can promote greater social justice for FMs, it is important
to clarify my understanding of some key concepts or terms that seem
to be relevant to this report, such as forced migration, civil
society, social justice, and a `just city'. My understanding of
these concepts is based on some ideas presented by a range of scholars from
various disciplines, including sociology, forced migration studies, political
studies, and urban planning.
This chapter covers a range of writing relating to the
above-mentioned terms, and comprises three main parts. The first part will give
an overview of `forced migration' and will define the term `refugee' and
`asylum seeker' according to the 1951 United Nations (UN) Convention relating
to the status of Refugees and its Protocol of 1967, and the 1969
Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Convention relating to the status of
Refugees in Africa. The second part will present the literatures reviewed
on the notion of justice and social justice based on scholars such as
Rawls (1971), Harvey (1973), Healy (1996), and Oelofse (2003). The third part
will highlight the relationships between planning, civil society, as
well as the power
relation between planning and politics.
2. 1. The Concept of Forced Migration
`Forced migration' is a complex concept, particularly in the
developing world, where forced migration is often only thought to involve
cross-border migration. This section will define forced migration in
relation with different categories of people who may be viewed as FMs.
2.1.1. Definition of «Forced Migration».
According to Turton (2003), forced migration is a product
of wider processes of social and
economic change, processes that are normally referred to as
globalisation and which appear to
be creating an increasing economic North-South divide in
living standards, human security, access to justice, and human rights
protection; it therefore concerns cross-border flows as well
as transnational networks (Turton, 2003: 7). Turton's
definition emphasises the global, social, and economic characters of the
phenomenon of forced migration. It is a global phenomenon because it affects
both underdeveloped and developed countries. In the earlier 1970s, Castles and
Kosack (1973) emphasised that the phenomenon of forced migration was one of the
hotly debated public issues in Britain, in the sense that it was frequently in
the main headlines of the media (Castles and Kosack, 1973: 1).
The social and economic characters of the phenomenon of forced
migration refer to the causes
of movement around the world. In Africa, mobility and movement
are often linked to issues
of civil wars, political violence, natural disaster, poverty
and hunger. But, before talking about different causes of forced migration
in the African context, it is important to focus first on different
categories of forced migrants.
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