Refugeehood and belonging: Processes, intersections and agency in two Hmong resettlement communities
Author(s):
Nibbs, Faith G.
Format:
Thesis
Degree granted:
Ph.D.
Publisher:
Ann Arbor : Southern Methodist University, 2011.
Pages:
432
Language:
English
Abstract:
The goal of this dissertation is to examine the process by which refugees perceive belonging at different scales as they reestablish their lives in the course of western resettlement, and to examine the networks of social relations and word wide circulating ideas of identity making that occur within that process. The methodological agenda of this thesis strived to adopt a scalar perspective in mapping the differentially positioned and simultaneously experienced social arenas of the local, national, and diasporic spaces that impede and facilitate the process of refugee belonging. I addressed these questions through a comparative case study of two of the smallest Loa-Hmong refugee resettlement communities who resettled in communities with markedly different approaches to welcoming them—one that draws more on the assistance of Non-Governmental Organizations that encourage a rapid transition to autonomy and independence (Texas, United States) and the other whose approach to resettlement involves more active state processes (Gammertingen, Germany). While these different scales were my units of analyses, the variables that I investigated within them were the complex, multi-faceted, populations of the Hmong refugees, the mainstream nationals, member-makers (who I define as those working within agencies to fulfill state-sponsored integration goals), member making institutions (such as churches, schools, and town structures), and diasporic spaces created through associations, political activisms, celebrations, media technology, and ritual performances. The data analyzed in this dissertation were collected during eighteen months of fieldwork, eight intense months in Germany, and ten in Dallas/Fort Worth. The methodology involved loosely structured interviews, participant observation, focus groups, decision models, content analysis of local newspapers over the past thirty years, and pile sorts. The ethnographic analysis reveals that refugee belonging is a multifaceted phenomenon that overlaps, intersects, and often conflicts with other social arenas where perceived togetherness is also desired. They demonstrate that the way in which these relationships play out is very contextual, and that they are shaped by the historic, economic, sociopolitical and cultural situations and characteristics of a refugee's place of origin, destination, and diaspora. The data also suggest that refugees can construct a sense of belonging in ways that do not correspond to either local or national policies nor reflect notions of national identities.