Renegotiating Identity and Agency in Everyday Oppression: Experiences of Forced Migrant Youth in Malaysia
This study explored how forced migrant youth in transit renegotiated their identity and agency after fleeing their homes and sociocultural connections, and while enduring ongoing precarity in a new, oppressive sociopolitical environment in Malaysia. As Malaysia is a non-signatory state that denies l...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-08-01
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| Series: | Social Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/8/296 |
| _version_ | 1797522024575270912 |
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| author | Debra Torok Jessica Ball |
| author_facet | Debra Torok Jessica Ball |
| author_sort | Debra Torok |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study explored how forced migrant youth in transit renegotiated their identity and agency after fleeing their homes and sociocultural connections, and while enduring ongoing precarity in a new, oppressive sociopolitical environment in Malaysia. As Malaysia is a non-signatory state that denies legal status to forced migrants, youth face significant structural barriers that constrain their capacities to participate in society and explore their identity. Using an innovative Peer Mediated Storyboard Narrative method (PMSN), thirteen adolescents visually depicted and then explained how their experiences of forced migration affected their sense of self, belonging, and future. Participants were receiving non-formal education and services from a migrant-serving agency in Malaysia while awaiting UNHCR adjudication of their application for resettlement. Youths’ transcribed narratives were the focus of analysis using constructivist grounded theory (CGT). Youth described a process whereby renegotiating identity was inextricably linked to (re)claiming agency, if only in situated ways, as they navigated oppression, discrimination, and rejection. Their renegotiation of identity involved (re)evaluating loss and opportunity, (re)constructing belonging, and working through prescribed identities. As youth renegotiated identities, they continuously sought to recreate agency, or a sense of ownership, over their experiences and stories. Their agency was situated within seemingly ordinary assertions of preserving and expanding their identities, forging spaces of belonging, and defining their own narratives rather than accepting prescribed identities. Perceived family support, duration of stay in Malaysia, and experiences as a girl or boy within their communities were key elements that shaped youths’ negotiation. Far from being passive recipients of circumstance, forced migrant youth strategically navigated systemic oppression and actively strove to reconstruct their identity and ownership over their experiences. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T08:23:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b274e8d6e4974eaeaa00f50262dc98db |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-0760 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T08:23:41Z |
| publishDate | 2021-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Social Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-b274e8d6e4974eaeaa00f50262dc98db2023-11-22T09:44:44ZengMDPI AGSocial Sciences2076-07602021-08-0110829610.3390/socsci10080296Renegotiating Identity and Agency in Everyday Oppression: Experiences of Forced Migrant Youth in MalaysiaDebra Torok0Jessica Ball1Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, CanadaSchool of Child and Youth Care, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, CanadaThis study explored how forced migrant youth in transit renegotiated their identity and agency after fleeing their homes and sociocultural connections, and while enduring ongoing precarity in a new, oppressive sociopolitical environment in Malaysia. As Malaysia is a non-signatory state that denies legal status to forced migrants, youth face significant structural barriers that constrain their capacities to participate in society and explore their identity. Using an innovative Peer Mediated Storyboard Narrative method (PMSN), thirteen adolescents visually depicted and then explained how their experiences of forced migration affected their sense of self, belonging, and future. Participants were receiving non-formal education and services from a migrant-serving agency in Malaysia while awaiting UNHCR adjudication of their application for resettlement. Youths’ transcribed narratives were the focus of analysis using constructivist grounded theory (CGT). Youth described a process whereby renegotiating identity was inextricably linked to (re)claiming agency, if only in situated ways, as they navigated oppression, discrimination, and rejection. Their renegotiation of identity involved (re)evaluating loss and opportunity, (re)constructing belonging, and working through prescribed identities. As youth renegotiated identities, they continuously sought to recreate agency, or a sense of ownership, over their experiences and stories. Their agency was situated within seemingly ordinary assertions of preserving and expanding their identities, forging spaces of belonging, and defining their own narratives rather than accepting prescribed identities. Perceived family support, duration of stay in Malaysia, and experiences as a girl or boy within their communities were key elements that shaped youths’ negotiation. Far from being passive recipients of circumstance, forced migrant youth strategically navigated systemic oppression and actively strove to reconstruct their identity and ownership over their experiences.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/8/296forced migrationadolescenceidentityagencygrounded theory |
| spellingShingle | Debra Torok Jessica Ball Renegotiating Identity and Agency in Everyday Oppression: Experiences of Forced Migrant Youth in Malaysia Social Sciences forced migration adolescence identity agency grounded theory |
| title | Renegotiating Identity and Agency in Everyday Oppression: Experiences of Forced Migrant Youth in Malaysia |
| title_full | Renegotiating Identity and Agency in Everyday Oppression: Experiences of Forced Migrant Youth in Malaysia |
| title_fullStr | Renegotiating Identity and Agency in Everyday Oppression: Experiences of Forced Migrant Youth in Malaysia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Renegotiating Identity and Agency in Everyday Oppression: Experiences of Forced Migrant Youth in Malaysia |
| title_short | Renegotiating Identity and Agency in Everyday Oppression: Experiences of Forced Migrant Youth in Malaysia |
| title_sort | renegotiating identity and agency in everyday oppression experiences of forced migrant youth in malaysia |
| topic | forced migration adolescence identity agency grounded theory |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/8/296 |
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