“Soy solo un refugiado”: inferioridad y temporalidad en las identidades en migración
"I am just a refugee": inferiority and temporality in migrant identities

Author(s): Rosella Bianco, Mónica Ortiz Cobo
Subject(s): Migration Studies, Identity of Collectives, Asylum, Refugees, Migration as Policy-fields
Published by: Transnational Press London
Keywords: Identity; refugees; Italy; social status; migration;
Summary/Abstract: Existing theories about the concept of identity associate the redefinition of the identity of migrants with the awareness of the social status they possess in their new environment. The formation of social status contributes to anti-immigration feelings that widen the gap between locals and refugees. In light of these premises, this study aims to deepen the issue of identity development in the migratory field, focusing on the case of refugees. In order to do so, ethnographic work has been carried out in the Italian context, conducting twenty-eight interviews with adult refugees in the Salento area in southern Italy. The results of this research refer to the social status of refugees in Italy, as well as the provisional nature of their identities. The temporality of identities lies both in the condition of the refugee itself and in the effects of anti-immigration policies.

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