Doctoral Dissertation Research: Legal Status and Civic Engagement Among Refugees

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Southern Methodist University doctoral student Shay Cannedy, under the guidance of Dr. Caroline Brettell, will undertake ethnographic research on how the retrenchment of political asylum and concomitant degrees of "partial legal membership" impact civic engagement among migrants. Specifically, in examining a sample of asylum seekers and refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who reside in Ireland, she will explore how migrants claim presence and legitimacy in society despite their legal and social exclusion. The project asks how migrants civically engage with their new surroundings and how bids for belonging are impacted by legal status, socioeconomic factors, and pre-migration experiences. The researcher will undertake 12 months of field research, and utilize a combination of social scientific methods that employ both explanatory and exploratory elements, which include: questionnaires to generate baseline data on demographics and overall trends in civic engagement; in-depth interviews to capture perceptions of citizenship and belonging, attitudes toward civic engagement, and ethnic identity; participant observation at a variety of community events such as voluntary association meetings, ethnic festivals, religious ceremonies, and political protests; and a content analysis of relevant media and immigration legislation and policy to understand how migrants are constructed in public discourse and immigration law.Findings from this research will contribute to social scientific understanding of how, in an era of heightened immigration control, refugees are claiming legitimate presence on their own terms through practice rather than law. Its focus on the socioeconomic dimensions of this process and how it intersects with legal status will yield greater insight into how migrants enter the public sphere to enact social change which is critical for theorists and policy makers alike. Funding this research also contributes to the education of a graduate student.