TY - JOUR
T1 - Regulating immigrant identities: The role of government and institutions in the identity construction of refugees and other migrants
AU - Losoncz, Ibi
AU - Marlowe, Jay
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - This interdisciplinary paper explores the role of governments in the identity formation of people of resettled refugees. Using ethnographic data collected from 32 South Sudanese Australians and 9 professionals who work with this community, the paper outlines how participants face a range of systemic barriers and threats from government institutions relating to the cultivation of self-identity. We demonstrate how institutions poorly respond to the three typologies of self: moral, democratic, and status-seeking, and forward alternative institutional responses and possibilities. We conclude by arguing that rather than delivering a cohesive society, the regulation of cultural values and moral identities threatens the development of positive self-identities among resettled refugees and their children.
AB - This interdisciplinary paper explores the role of governments in the identity formation of people of resettled refugees. Using ethnographic data collected from 32 South Sudanese Australians and 9 professionals who work with this community, the paper outlines how participants face a range of systemic barriers and threats from government institutions relating to the cultivation of self-identity. We demonstrate how institutions poorly respond to the three typologies of self: moral, democratic, and status-seeking, and forward alternative institutional responses and possibilities. We conclude by arguing that rather than delivering a cohesive society, the regulation of cultural values and moral identities threatens the development of positive self-identities among resettled refugees and their children.
U2 - 10.1007/s12134-019-00700-0
DO - 10.1007/s12134-019-00700-0
M3 - Article
SN - 1488-3473
VL - Online
SP - 1
EP - 16
JO - Journal of International Migration and Integration
JF - Journal of International Migration and Integration
ER -