Dr. Tanya Basok Professor Department of Sociology and Anthropology Director, Centre for Studies in Social Justice B.A. (1981, York, Social Anthropology), M.A. (1983, York, Social Anthropology), Ph.D (1988, York, Sociology)

Watch Dr. Basok speaks about her research:

York University – Oct. 1-3, 2009 
MIGRATION, WORK AND CITIZENSHIP:
Toward Decent Work and Secure Citizenship

Migrant Rights Movements as the Mobilization of a Counter-Hegemonic
Rights Discourse



Dr. Tanya Basok research focuses principally on migration and migrant rights. She has conducted research on violations of human rights in Central America, refugee movements, refugee settlement in Central American countries, the Canadian refugee policy and its application, professional certification of former Soviet Jewish physicians in Canada, anti-Semitism and nationalism in the former Soviet Union, volunteer retention in community agencies concerned with Social Justice, Mexican migrant workers in Canada, organized labour’s and grassroots advocacy for migrant rights in Canada and the U.S. and, more recently, the rights of female migrants in Latin America and the Caribbean. She is particularly interested in how the notions of citizenship rights and human rights have been articulated and negotiated by grassroots and international organizations to advance the rights of migrants.

Tanya Basok teaches courses on Social Justice, International Development, and Migration.



CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECT
Advancing the Rights of Female Migrants

Funded by the International Development Research Council of Canada, this project focusses on migration of Peruvians to Chile, Bolivians to Argentina, Nicaraguans to Costa Rica, Guatemalans to Mexico, and Haitians to the Dominican Republic. Specifically, we will explore: (1) knowledge and understanding of civil, economic, and social rights by female migrants and their descendants; (2) the role of organized labour, human rights, women’s rights, and migrants’ organizations - national, international, and transnational - in advancing the rights of female migrants; and (3) the impact of various forms of national, international, and transnational advocacy on respect of the rights of female migrants in various Latin American countries.

The major goals of this study are to: 1) make contribution to our understanding of processes that inhibit or advance the social and economic integration of female migrants into the host society; 2) identify specific forms of migrant rights advocacy and migrant rights struggles (strategies and discourses), in the context of effective international protection mechanisms, that are most conducive to improving the rights of female migrants; and 3) and to engage with relevant national, regional and international institutions in promoting women migrants’ rights.

For more detail, please see: http://www.advancingmigrantrights.org



RECENT PUBLICATIONS

2010. Basok, Tanya and Carasco, Emily. Advancing the Rights of Non-Citizens in Canada: A Human Rights Approach to Migrant Rights, Human Rights Quarterly, 32(2): 342-366

2009. Basok, Tanya, Counter-Hegemonic Human Rights Discourses and Migrant Rights Activism in the U.S. and Canada., International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 50 (2): 179-201.

2008. Basok, Tanya, Constructing Grassroots Citizenship for Non-Citizens, Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice, 20 (3): 265-272.

2008. Basok, Tanya, The Intersections of the Economic and Cultural in the U.S. Labors Pro-Migrant Politics, Social Justice, 35 (4): 12-32

2006. Basok, T. and Suzan Ilcan “In the Name of Human Rights: Global Organizations and Participating Citizens,” Citizenship Studies, 10 (3), 309-328

2004. Ilcan, Suzan and Tanya Basok “Community Government: Voluntary Agencies, Social Justice, and the Responsibilization of Citizens” Citizenship Studies, 8 (2): 129-144

2004. Basok, Tanya "Post-national Citizenship, Social Exclusion and Migrants Rights: Mexican Seasonal Workers in Canada," Citizenship Studies 8(1): 47-64

2003. Basok, Tanya and Suzan Ilcan "The Voluntary Sector and the Depoliticization of Civil Society: Implications for Social Justice" International Journal of Canadian Studies, 28: 111-129

2003. Basok, Tanya “Mexican Seasonal Migration to Canada and Development: A Community-Based Comparison.” International Migration, 41 (2), pp. 3-25

2002. Basok, Tanya. Tortillas and Tomatoes. Mexican Transmigrant Harvesters in Canada. McGill-Queen’s Press

2002. Basok, Tanya. “Fragmented Identities: The Case of Former Soviet Jews in Toronto,” Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research 2 (4), pp. 341-360

2000. Basok, Tanya. “Obstacles to Productive Investment: Mexican Farm Workers in Canada," International Migration Review, 34 (1), pp. 79-97

2000. Basok, Tanya. “He Came, He Saw, He... Stayed. Guest Worker Programs and the Issue of Non-Return,"International Migration, 38 (2), pp. 215-238

1999. Basok, Tanya. “Free to Be Unfree: Mexican Guest Workers in Canada,” Labour, Capital and Societ, 32 (2), pp. 192-221