Bearing witness: Documenting detention and deportation through the lens of solidarity organizers

This presentation will present an analysis of a critical qualitative study (in progress) bearing witness to the struggles of undocumented immigrants in the United States. The objective of the study is to document the witnessing and experiences of grassroots organizers and activists working on the struggles for undocumented immigrants as they navigate the intersections of legal, political, economic, cultural and transnational implications. It will also discuss the complex ethical and moral dilemmas inherent in their work. This investigation was conducted to document the lived experiences of immigrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers through a unique lens of those witnessing it through their solidarity work. Findings provide nuanced insights for developing ethical and methodological guidelines for research involving immigration solidarity work. Grounding in richness of narratives and experiences, study also aims to understand and theorize the concept of “solidarity” (Honneth, 1996; Mohanty, 2003). That is, what it means to form genuine solidarity and to authentically join a political, economic, and social struggles for recognition and freedom? What does “engagement” mean against the backdrop of an uneven plain field, and a “contact zone” (Torre, 2009) of power and privilege. For theoretical development, analyses of structural violence (Galtung, 1969) is used in the context of migrants’ transnational experiences, taking into account historical, social, political, and economic perspectives and where they intersect. Last but not least, the aim is to make an impact on the ground with the general public toward critical consciousness raising (Feirie, 1968) through inclusion of artistic expressions. This project had a multi-fold foci: as a narrative encounter to bear witness, as an ethical concern to inform practices, as a theorizing endeavor to gain structural insights, and as an artistic embodiment to transform consciousness.

Exploring the treads of service providers working with refugees in Istanbul, Turkey.

The profession of interpreters, social workers, and lawyers working relentlessly with refugees has a monumental impact on their mental, social and psychological well-being. There is a paucity of research especially in the Turkish context, which receives a lot of immigrants.
The current research explores the lived affective and emotional experiences of service providers working with refugees. I interviewed social/case workers, volunteer coordinators and interpreters. The goal was to ascertain how certain personal and professional life experiences of the welfare providers evoke different emotions, and what are the motivational consequences of these experiences. It was hypothesised that the emotions of being moved, sadness and empathetic understanding play a significant role as a motivating factor to work as a service provider. These two emotions have been identified by previous work as social emotional drivers of caring.
Twelve participants were recruited through a snowball sampling technique from NGOs in Istanbul. All worked directly with and for refugees. They were interviewed for approximately 45 minutes based on a structured interview guide.
Thematic analysis and interpretive phenomenological analysis were used for generating six themes and ten subthemes. The six themes are as follows: (1) “Being moved factors serving as motivation”, (2) “Experience of sadness serving as motivation” (3) “Empathy serving as a motivating factor”, (4)“Personal experiences serving as motivation”, (5) “Finding meaning through experiences of others”, (6) “Challenges faced by service providers”. I hope to shed light on the social-emotional foundations of the motivation to care for refugees and to point to a lack of awareness about the need for self-care among people working with refugees

Young, Australian, and Muslim. Impacts of sociocultural climate on emerging identity.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed that Islam was one of the common religions in Australia and that the number of Muslims living in Australia is on the increase. The last decade has also seen an increase in the questioning and securitisation of Muslims. There has been an ongoing contradiction between Australia’s promise of a multicultural country that gives everyone a ‘fair go’ and the discrimination, racism, and xenophobia that minority groups in Australia such as Muslims are facing on both a social and institutional level. In addition to their religion, Muslims also inherit marginalised ethnic backgrounds which add to the complexity of their identity. The ongoing global as well as local sociocultural changes also add to complexity of identity. For a young Muslim who is emerging into adulthood, this critical transition brings a variety of different challenges and demands. While emerging into adulthood and searching for their identity, the individual may attempt to change themselves or direct themselves to be viewed a certain way by a certain-group. This is done to gain the approval of a group and feel a sense of belonging. The study explored the way in which young Muslims living in Australia emerge into adulthood while also carving their social identity and their sense of belonging through their experiences. An interpretative phenomenological methodology was utilised. In depth interviews were undertaken with eight emerging adults and four adults who work with emerging adults. Findings indicated that Muslims living in Australia and who are emerging into adulthood do face various hurdles of discrimination while they try to retain and represent their religious identity. Community volunteering seemed to be amongst the protective factors. Despite the unique challenges faced, they still feel a sense of belonging and identify as being Australian Muslims.

Refugee youth and their parents’ perception of being Australian

During cultural transition, developing a sense of belonging enables refugee-background people to feel accepted, secure and “at home” in their adopted society. A sense of belonging is especially important to those who have fled their countries of heritage and have been displaced in mostly hostile or unwelcoming environments. The notion of belonging or “home” however, can get complicated depending on contextual factors and the meanings attributed to them.

Using qualitative, semi-structured interviews with refugee-background youth, their parents and significant others, the aim of this presentation is to report on a study exploring participants’ perceptions of being Australian and their sense of belonging, after migrating to Australia.

Study participants included a multiethnic sample of 81 participants: 46 refugee-background youth, 15-26 years and 35 parents or significant others residing in South Australia. They had migrated to Australia from the Middle East (Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria), South Asia (Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar/Burma) or Africa (Sudan, South Sudan, DR Congo), between 1-15 years prior to being interviewed. We used a semi-structured interview protocol and data-based thematic analysis to collect and analyse interview data.

Analysing youth interviews, we identified several themes along a continuum, from reflective acceptance of an Australian identity, straightforward or anticipatory acceptance, ambivalence and confusion, to ‘simple’ or reflective rejection. Although we identified the themes of acceptance, ambivalence, confusion, and rejection of an Australian identity in both youth and parent interviews, youth were more eloquent and nuanced in their descriptions. While the vast majority of participants accepted an Australian identity and considered Australia their “home”, some opted for a dual identity combining identities of both Australia and heritage country. A few participants shared reflections on why they rejected an Australian identity although the majority accepted Australia as their “home” for reasons of safety, opportunities and support availed to them.

Together with a discussion of the various themes identified, we will also highlight implications for future researchers, practitioners, policy makers and Australian society at large.