Re-Interpretation of Migrant and the Members of Established Society Relations: A Non-Binary Identity Reading of Social Inclusion

Abstract

The fundamental principles of integration are increasingly criticised while indicator informed-integration (III) remains an aspiration for policymakers. In contrast, this dissertation argues that integration and in particular its social variant cannot be measured through indicators. Instead, migrant integration is an everyday phenomenon that relates to the course of one's life in their new home country. This dissertation originates from a critique regarding the fallacy of measuring migrant integration through indicators. While it is critical about the relevancy of integration as a concept, it proposes the idea that resilience could be vital and more effective as a concept to capture the impacts of migration processes on both migrants and the members of established societies. It argues that the migrant/non-migrant dichotomy is misleading. Rather than accepting these terms as binary, we need to pursue anon-binary approach - informed by gender theory - to qualify people's narratives of belonging and the process of joint-identity formulation. This dissertation proposes that we need to understand the non-binary nature of socio-cultural identities through the self narratives and the process that involves the intimacies and convivial experiences generated by self-narrative-induced interactions. The main argument of this dissertation is that migration or integration research should pay more attention to the foundations of social interactions covering their essence, processes, and nature that make the migrant and established communities communicate with each other. This is hence not another migrant integration dissertation; rather, it captures a broader issue in social interaction literature through the lens of the literature that came out of gender studies. The main endeavour of this dissertation is to critically evaluate the existing migrant integration literature that builds around social integration. In order, it presents an explanation of elements of social interaction and it proposes a way to capture these elements in order to produce a deeper understanding of social interactions between migrants and the members of established societies. It advocates the idea that one's self-narratives grounded in their non-binary socio-cultural identities could provide the necessary understanding of their everyday social interactions with others to the migration scholars. Additionally, this dissertation argues that establishing a deeper understanding of social interactions could help migration scholars to capture the elements of resilience for both migrants and the members of established societies.

Date of Award	2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Glasgow Caledonian University
Supervisor	Umut Korkut (Supervisor), Sara Cantillon (Supervisor) & Maggie Laidlaw (Supervisor)