Description
This thesis examines the ways in which the Pakistani urban refugee communities in Bangkok, Thailand utilize social capital to address their lack of access to education. Bangkok's urban refugees find themselves in a precarious and unstable environment with no legal right to healthcare, education, or employment. Considered illegal immigrants, urban refugees are vulnerable to arrest, indefinite detention, refoulement, exploitation, extortion, and poverty. It is in this context that members of the Pakistani urban refugee population have initiated community learning centers (CLCs) to help provide education to their children. Through the use of bridging social capital, members of the Pakistani urban refugee communities have gathered resources such as volunteers and donations from individuals, groups and organizations external and internal to their communities to establish many of the CLCs. While the CLCs do not replace the advantages of traditional schools, they help to provide access to education where no other avenue may exist. The CLCs, therefore, are not only an expression of the Pakistani urban refugees' self-determination and ability to conduct community development, but they have also helped to transform their adverse environment. The role of the CLCs among the Pakistani urban refugee population is substantial. However, the CLCs and the Pakistani urban refugee communities face many challenges, including limitations in their bridging and linking social capital, which cannot only hinder the progress of the CLCs but may also undermine their existence.
