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Grandmothers Behind the Scenes: Subordinate Integration, Care Work, and Power in Syrian Canadian Refugee Resettlement
Abstract by Dr. Rula Kahil
Coauthors: Maleeha Iqbal | Neda Maghbouleh
On Session VIII-19  (Muslim Diasporas in North America)

On Saturday, December 3 at 11:00 am

2022 Annual Meeting

Abstract
Research on grandparents in the Syrian Canadian diaspora, especially in the context of forced migration and resettlement, is lacking. Our goal in this paper is to further the emerging scholarship about the wellbeing of Syrian Canadians admitted via the Syrian Refugee Resettlement Initiative (SRRI) through a unique focus on transnational grandmothers resettled within their multigenerational families. Drawing on three waves of annual in-depth interviews and in-person and virtual qualitative field research, we show how the authority and status grandmothers once held in Syria may be undermined through their “subordinate integration” in Canada. Although post-migration configurations of power, care work and community may present some opportunities, the burdens and dependencies of subordinate integration mostly constrain grandmothers from reclaiming their authority and status.
Discipline
Sociology
Geographic Area
North America
Sub Area
Middle East/Near East Studies