Refugee women's volunteering as resistance practices to micro-aggressions and social exclusion in the UK
Refugee women's volunteering as resistance practices to micro-aggressions and social exclusion in the UK
In an increasingly hostile environment for refugees in the UK and the “everyday bordering” that creates exclusionary effects for refugees and migrants, this article examines how refugee women of diverse backgrounds enact resistance practices through volunteering to challenge everyday microaggressions and social exclusion. We draw on in-depth qualitative research with members of a support group for refugee women established by a local charity in England. We find that the support group not only allows the refugee women to foster a strong sense of solidarity in the face of everyday microaggressions; it also facilitates the women’s volunteering activities in the local community. Applying the concept of “differentiated embedding,” we argue that such activities enable these women to build wider social connections and skills for future employment and, crucially, develop emotional and linguistic resources to critique dominant exclusionary discourses and policies towards refugees through the idea of “contribution” and “giving back.” In so doing, we contribute to renewed interest in the concept of integration to highlight the agency of refugee women in creating differentiated embedding in a hostile environment.
critical incorporation, differentiated embedding, hostile environment, integration, microaggression, racism, refugees, resistance, volunteering
69-79
Shah, Bindi
c5c7510a-3b3d-4d12-a02a-c98e09734166
Low, Carolynn
468587a5-cd4a-4545-b60b-b79715bcad67
18 April 2023
Shah, Bindi
c5c7510a-3b3d-4d12-a02a-c98e09734166
Low, Carolynn
468587a5-cd4a-4545-b60b-b79715bcad67
Shah, Bindi and Low, Carolynn
(2023)
Refugee women's volunteering as resistance practices to micro-aggressions and social exclusion in the UK.
Social Inclusion, 11 (2), .
(doi:10.17645/si.v11i2.6309).
Abstract
In an increasingly hostile environment for refugees in the UK and the “everyday bordering” that creates exclusionary effects for refugees and migrants, this article examines how refugee women of diverse backgrounds enact resistance practices through volunteering to challenge everyday microaggressions and social exclusion. We draw on in-depth qualitative research with members of a support group for refugee women established by a local charity in England. We find that the support group not only allows the refugee women to foster a strong sense of solidarity in the face of everyday microaggressions; it also facilitates the women’s volunteering activities in the local community. Applying the concept of “differentiated embedding,” we argue that such activities enable these women to build wider social connections and skills for future employment and, crucially, develop emotional and linguistic resources to critique dominant exclusionary discourses and policies towards refugees through the idea of “contribution” and “giving back.” In so doing, we contribute to renewed interest in the concept of integration to highlight the agency of refugee women in creating differentiated embedding in a hostile environment.
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SI 11(2) - Refugee Women's Volunteering as Resistance Practices to Micro-Aggressions and Social Exclusion in the UK
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Accepted/In Press date: 23 January 2023
Published date: 18 April 2023
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Funding Information:
We would like to thank all the participants who shared their experiences as part of this research. We would also like to thank the two anonymous reviewers and the edi‐ tors for their insightful suggestions in refining this article. This work was supported by the ESRC SCDTP (grant num‐ ber ES/P000673/1), as part of the first author’s MSc and subsequent doctoral research. Due to ethical concerns, supporting data cannot be made openly available.
Keywords:
critical incorporation, differentiated embedding, hostile environment, integration, microaggression, racism, refugees, resistance, volunteering
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Local EPrints ID: 476472
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/476472
PURE UUID: 6b7d4142-e149-4c04-bf84-858a63264307
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Date deposited: 03 May 2023 16:59
Last modified: 24 May 2023 01:40
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Author:
Carolynn Low
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