Introduction: Ambivalence and the social processes of immigrant inclusion

Boccagni, Paolo; Kivisto, Peter

doi:10.1177/0020715219835886

Cited by 14 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…(Van Bochove et al, 2010, p. 345) Belonging is assumed to be a zero-sum game and migrants' spatially multiple belonging is contested (Erdal, 2021). Ambivalence of migrant belonging (Palmberger, 2019;Boccagni & Kivisto, 2019;Erdal, 2021) is ignored. As Erdal (2013) argues, although studies of migrant transnationalism on the one hand and integration of migrants on the other hand potentially have much in common, in the existing studies, these two literatures have opposing points of departure.…”

Section: Varieties Of Belongingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Varieties of Belonging Among Migrants: Turkish Migrants in Norway

Yılmaz Şener

2023

jecs

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This article examines different ways of belonging among migrants of Turkish origin who were born in Türkiye and are currently living in Norway (in/around Oslo and Drammen). The discussion in the article is based on the findings of semi-structured interviews conducted between March 2019 and August 2020 with 71 Turkish migrants as part of a qualitative study. Different categories of responses to the questions about belonging and the meanings respondents attached to belonging/not belonging are discussed. The paper aims to demonstrate the heterogeneity and complexity of feelings of belonging among the members of an ethnic group that is assumed to feel belonging to their country of origin rather than the destination country in the context of Europe. Additionally, the paper also aims to elaborate on what migrants actually mean when they talk about their belonging (or not belonging) to territories such as the country of origin or destination country, and collectivities like nations. Here it is argued that questioning and criticizing migrants' feelings of belonging (especially to their countries of origin) as a part of civic integration agendas is an effort to intervene in and have control over their emotions. This claim to the right to intervene in migrants' emotional lives is approached critically.

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Section: Varieties Of Belongingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Varieties of Belonging Among Migrants: Turkish Migrants in Norway

Yılmaz Şener

2023

jecs

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“…Ambivalence has relatively recently been rediscovered as a subject for sociology (e.g., Boccagni & Kivisto, 2019;Arribas-Ayllon & Bartlett, 2014;Wegar, 1992;Baumann, 1991;Billig et al, 1988). Most significantly, Robert K. Merton borrowed the concept from psychology (originally psychoanalysis) making "sociological ambivalence" insofar as it is "built into the structure of social statuses and roles" (1976, p. 5) fruitful for sociological theory.…”

Section: Supposed "Failed" Migratory Adventures and Sociological Ambi...mentioning

confidence: 99%

»Failed« Migratory Adventures?

Schultz¹

2022

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success can bring even more advantage and prestige (p. 187). The returnee is supposed to be a hero indeed.Deportations and the supposed ''failure'' of the migratory adventureRestrictive migration policies and multifold borders are what interrupt, stop, redirect, or reverse these migratory journeys (Drotbohm & Hasselberg, 2015) converting them into "new confinements and modes of exploitation" (Glick-Schiller & Salazar, 2013, p. 190). Deportation is generally understood as a legal, political, and socio-economic measure involving the forceful removal of a migrant from a national territory to another country (cf. Drotbohm & Hasselberg, 2015). There is a tendency to consider it as forced removal by air, but research is increasingly considering cross-border removal by land as well (Sylla & Cold-Ravnkilde, 2021; Alpes, 2020;Kleist, 2017a;Mensah, 2016).Deportations and involuntary returns produce the opposite of the heroic homecomings expected. They violently cut the journey to potential economic success and socio-cultural recognition. Particularly in the West African context, deportations are to be seen in relation to the adventurers' deep social embedding and relationality, before, during, and after the journeys (cf. Pian, 2010, p. 97). Here, the extended family plays a significant role in any aspect of life: West Africans experience themselves not as "having" relationships but as "being" relationships (Piot, 1999), an idea that I will develop, particularly in Chapter 5, and consciously construct their families across (inter)national and continental boundaries (cf., e.g., Drotbohm, 2015Drotbohm, , 2009. Deportations thus produce potential "failures" in light of the collective expectation of success and a triumphant homecoming. Against this background, the informants portray themselves as distressed and empty-handed, like Salif: at best with a plastic bag shuffling from the airport to some relative in Bamako. This powerful image emblematically embodies the drama of the unwanted return. As Éliane de Latour puts it: "Failure on the journey is worse than immobility on the spot: from being poor at the start, the warrior becomes poverty-stricken" (Latour, 2003, p. 187; transl. S.U.S.), 13 though in fact such a symbolic and charged depiction does not adequately mirror the realities on the ground."Failure," like the term "adventure," emerged in my research as an emic term first of all. Former deportees and their close contacts speak of "l'échec" or "maloya," the Bambara word for shame. More often, deportees and their circle will say "mon objectif n'était pas atteint" ("My objective was not attained"), or "je n'ai pas réussi" ("I did not succeed"), or, more explicitly, "j'ai échoué" ("I failed"), "c'était un échec" ("It was a failure"). However, the line taken by most of the men is that tounga man ja ("the travel did not work out") and "there are other ways of getting on" (Chapters 5 and 6). 13S.U.S. stands for the initials of the book's author Susanne Ursula Schultz. 17 This differs from the terminology of "state-induced" re...

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“…Like many diasporic cohorts, Coptic Orthodox youth in Mississauga experience what I call diasporic "ambivalence" (Boccagni and Kivisto 2019); caught between two nations and two cultures, they struggle with a prolonged sense of liminality. To navigate their diasporic ambivalence, my interlocutors seek to become citizens of Heaven 3 (Ramzy 2015) through a grassroots revival movement that aims to separate "pure" and "authentic" Orthodox piety from "external" Egyptian cultural influence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Children of Day: Diasporic Ambivalence and Religious Revival Among Coptic Orthodox Youth in Mississauga, Ontario

Markos

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In this thesis, I examine a local religious revival movement among Coptic Orthodox youth in Mississauga, Ontario, with the aim of understanding what it means for my interlocutors to seek a faith-based identity as an alternative to national belonging in the diaspora. Like many diasporic cohorts, Coptic youth in Mississauga experience what I call diasporic ambivalence. Caught between two nations and two cultures, they struggle with a prolonged sense of liminality between Canada and Egypt. Drawing primarily on the works of Saba Mahmood (2004, 2016), Carolyn Ramzy (2014Lara Deeb (2006), I argue that my interlocutors ameliorate their ongoing sense of diasporic ambivalence between Canada and Egypt by detaching themselves from "earthly" cultural identities and instead understanding themselves as "citizens of Heaven." Based on ethnographic evidence, field research, interviews, and my own autoethnography, I illustrate that, through this religious revival, Coptic Youth in Mississauga shed earthly cultural attachments to the "World" and focus on what Orit Avishai calls an "authentic religious subjecthood" (2008:409) in pursuit of a "heavenly citizenship" (Ramzy 2015). In this religious revival movement, youth draw on ancient exegetical texts called the "patristic canon" to inspire "authentic piety" and challenge the older generation's attachments to Egyptian culture. Women navigate an additional layer of gendered liminality by employing texts about women in ancient Christianity to forge a "more authentic" vision of feminine piety that does away with what they perceive to be Egyptian cultural norms that keep them marginalized within the Church. By examining the case of Coptic Orthodox youth in Mississauga, this study aims to better understand the role of religion in mediating questions of identity and belonging in diasporic contexts. 4My analytical commitment to specificity follows Lila Abu-Lughod's (2008) call to "write against culture" as "untouched," 7 "timeless," 8 "static, homogenous, and bounded," 9 by attending to the local negotiations, tensions, and contradictions of Coptic Orthodox life in Mississauga. Through this work, I hope to challenge scholarly and popular romantic notions of Coptic Orthodox Christianity as a static ancient religion and of Coptic people simply as living repositories of pharaonic DNA. 10 The value of this specificity is not in its claim to ascertain generalizable trends, but in its ability to help us see how broad concepts like "heavenly citizenship," "piety," "femininity," and even "the Church," are not simply transposed onto the blank lives of "automatons programmed according to 'cultural' rules or acting out social roles," 11 but are filtered through the complex kaleidoscope of my interlocutors' relationships, dreams, fears, desires, needs, opinions, and fluid social positions as they navigate life in a diaspora. An Ethnographic Map of the Coptic Orthodox Community in MississaugaCoptic Orthodox Christians are the largest Christian minority in the Middle East and are indigenous to Egypt. Th...

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Introduction: Ambivalence and the social processes of immigrant inclusion

Cited by 14 publications

References 38 publications

Varieties of Belonging Among Migrants: Turkish Migrants in Norway

Varieties of Belonging Among Migrants: Turkish Migrants in Norway

»Failed« Migratory Adventures?

Children of Day: Diasporic Ambivalence and Religious Revival Among Coptic Orthodox Youth in Mississauga, Ontario

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