The Suffering of the Immigrant

This is a work of outstanding originality on a topic of fundamental importance: the experience of immigration and the kind of suffering involved in living in a society and culture which is not one’s own. With great sensitivity, the author unravels the contradictions stemming from the displaced existence of immigrants. These include the immense collective dishonesty through which immigration reproduces itself, where immigrants are compelled, out of respect for themselves and the group that allowed them to leave their country of origin, to play down the suffering of emigration and to encourage more of their compatriots to join them. These contradictions are present in the condition of the immigrant, away from his family, town, homeland, and weighed down by an uncomfortable guilt that results from being a victim of exclusion in a new society where he is seen merely as another member of the workforce. The author, Abdelmalek Sayad, was an Algerian scholar and close associate of the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. After Sayad’s death in 1988, Bourdieu undertook to assemble some of Sayad’s writings for publication: he selected the material, organised it into a coherent text and wrote a preface. This book is a major contribution to our understanding of the condition of the immigrant and it will transform the reader’s understanding of the issues surrounding immigration. Sayad’s book will be widely used in courses on race, ethnicity, immigration and identity in sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, politics and geography.