We're not that much different from you

Navigating Positions of Betweenness to Explore Solidarity, Care and Vulnerability in Refugee and Forced Migration Research

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4882885
AutoresRik P Huizinga (0000-0001-6443-5108, University of Groningen, autor de correspondencia)
Año2024
Volumen25
Número4
Páginas620-638
Fecha de publicación2024-04-20
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSocial & Cultural Geography (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1464-9365 • E-ISSN: 1470-1197
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14649365.2023.2186472
OpenAlexW4328129514
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas7
Referencias citadas46

This paper argues that through reflexive examination of positions of betweenness in research relationships, insights are gathered that help to understand and address the often-contested research spaces in refugee and forced migration research. Following the completion of a research project with Syrian male refugees in the Netherlands, I investigate how multiple identities and shifting social positions impact research relationships, ethical considerations and knowledge production. Over time, the Syrian men and I occupy various positions due to the intersections of gender, generation, religion, ethnicity and migration status, shifting emphasis between similarities and differences. I show that a focus on positions of betweenness within these relationships may lead to sites of trust and solidarity, mutual acts of support and care, and insights into mutual vulnerability. As a result, the paper first highlights positions of betweenness as a strategy to develop ethical research practices by speaking to wider contexts of social and cultural inequalities and to momentarily transfer some of the power in the research process to participants. Second, the paper demonstrates that novel insights into the dynamic and messy nature of refugees’ everyday lives are gained as insights into betweenness allow both the ‘normal’ and the ‘vulnerable’ to surface

Betweenness centrality · Computer security · Forced migration · Political science · Politics · Reflexivity · Refugee · Social science · Sociology · Solidarity · Vulnerability (computing · Gender Studies · Law · Migration, Health and Trauma · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Psychology · Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics · Social Psychology