Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Living in Liminality: Experiences of Displacement Among Involuntary Refugees

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Case Western Reserve University doctoral student, Nadia El-Shaarawi, working under the supervision of Dr. Eileen Anderson-Fye, will conduct research on how refugees who have not been resettled understand the nature of their displacement. The research will focus in particular on the role of the international institutions with whom the refugees interact in shaping refugee understandings, and the effects of these understandings on mental health. The research will be conducted among Iraqi refugees in Cairo, Egypt. The researcher will employ the social science concept of liminality to understand how refugees in Cairo experience and make meaning in a state of uncertainty between flight and a durable solution such as resettlement. The research project has three objectives: 1) to examine the relationships between Iraqi refugees in Cairo and international institutions and policies; 2) to understand how Iraqi refugees negotiate the uncertainty that pervades their lives in Cairo; and 3) to investigate the processes through which refugees construct and communicate narratives of displacement, and the effects, if any, of the construction of these narratives on mental health. The research methods used will include participant observation, ethnographic interviews, narrative analysis, and archival research. This research project will contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between refugees' experiences and their interactions with international institutions in a context of uncertainty. This research is important because it brings together an emphasis on refugee subjective experiences and an exploration of the institutions and policies that govern refugee lives. In addition, this project aims to contribute to policy debates about refugee health and the role of international institutions in forced migration. The research also will contribute to the education of a social scientist.