Book Review: Making Refuge: Somali Bantu Refugees and Lewiston, Maine by Catherine Besteman
In her review of Making Refuge: Somali Bantu Refugees and Lewiston, Maine by Catherine Besteman, Kelsey A. Dalrymple highlights the importance of historical frames, like the one Besteman uses, for understanding present-day EiE practice. Drawing from a seven-year ethnographic study, Besteman tells the story of Somali Bantu communities who were displaced to refugee camps in Kenya. They carried their histories of subjugation, enslavement, and minority status with them during their resettlement and attempts to assimilate in the United States. Dalrymple concludes that the book is an important reminder of the role education can play in refugee groups’ identity formation and in cultural change.