Charishma Ratnam
Biographic Data
| ID | 270631 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Charishma Ratnam |
| GIVEN NAMES | Charishma |
| FAMILY NAME | Ratnam |
| SIGNATURE | RATNAM C |
| AFFILIATIONS | UNSW Sydney |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6328-4539 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 54 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 12 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Messy digitality: Reflections on using social media methods with Sri Lankan refugees
Social media platforms are increasingly mobilised as both method and field site among social scientists, including geographers, to understand an array of social, cultural, and geographical issues. While such approaches can generate valuable insights, they also introduce complexity. In this paper, I argue that mess—understood as tricky (and sometimes impromptu) emotional, ethical, and practical encounters—is embedded across the research process, f…
Voice notes in the car: Capturing immediate emotions from fieldwork with Sri Lankan refugees
As researchers, we are trained to publish the most polished versions of our core findings. Yet, what is hidden away when we do so are the raw and sometimes messy accounts of what we see, feel, hear, and experience during fieldwork. Integrating fieldwork challenges into research outputs is still uncommon in human geography. In this paper, I present an excerpt of field notes from research that examined the (re)creations of home by Sri Lankan refuge…
Welcoming Neighbourhoods: Place Attachment and Ethno-Racial Acceptance
This study examines the relationship between anticipated ethno-racial rejection, place attachment, and attitudes toward immigrants. Drawing from over 2,500 responses from a neighborhood level survey conducted in Melbourne, Australia, we ask if those who anticipate social rejection on the basis of their race and ethnicity report unwelcoming attitudes toward immigrants when compared to those who do not anticipate rejection. We then assess if this r…
Diasporic Belonging in Religious Spaces: Insights from Within the Sri Lankan Diaspora
The changing social, cultural and physical characteristics and uses of public spaces by migrants are of longstanding interest to social scientists.Often embedded in uses of public spaces are splinters, resonances and connections to home and migration.This paper examines the religious spaces that Sri Lankan migrants engage with in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia.To untangle the complexities associated with these spaces, we integrate a framework of…
Linking with migrants: The potential of digitally mediated connections to build social capital during crisis
Migrants rely on social capital when (re)settling in host communities. Connections with organisations are fundamental to developing local ties and accessing services. While scholarship is replete with studies on bonding and bridging ties, little is known about organisations' ties with migrants. Less is known about how digital technologies facilitate these links. Our article draws on interviews conducted at the onset of the Covid-19 crisis with 23…
Encounters on the footpath: Tracing the Sri Lankan diaspora’s place-making in everyday urban and suburban spaces
Existing scholarship on footpaths, sidewalks, streets, and pavements integrates laudable discussions about legal and regulatory concerns alongside debates about safety and place-making. Yet there are fewer debates about diasporic encounters and place-making processes in this everyday space. Accordingly, this paper examines encounters that occur on footpaths and outside adjoining shops by the Sri Lankan diaspora in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia.…
Research ethics with vulnerable groups: Ethics in practice and procedure
In this article, drawing from a feminist epistemology, we engage in an exercise of encounter and navigation as we critically reflect on the ethical practices undertaken during research with vulnerable people. That research comprised engaging Sri Lankan refugees in an oral and visual research method that included walking through and filming their homes, followed by an in-depth interview. The research process was an intimate and emotional explorati…
A Sense of Viidu: The (Re)creation of Home by the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora in Australia
Detour: Bodies, memories, and mobilities in and around the home
The word detour denotes taking adifferent direction and/or adeviating pathway– especially from aconsidered norm. While the connotations of taking adetour are not always negative, the idea of movement away from, or against an assumed trajectory indicates achange in direction. In this paper, we pursue both what prompts this changed direction and the products of the detour itself. We follow the detours of Sri Lankan refugees and asylum seekers enact…
Experiential Attunements in an Illuminated City at Night: A Pedagogical Writing Experiment
This article traces stories of singular footsteps taken on a collective meandering through Brisbane city, as a pedagogical experiment in writing for geographers. The diverse encounters recounted here took place as part of an extended workshop on the topic of light, beginning with an afternoon discussion, and ending in an evening walk through the illuminated city. This paper aims to do two things through the example of light: firstly, it explores …
Fitting refugees into the normative narrative of Australian multiculturalism
Australia publicly espouses its multiculturalism as a key component of its national identity. In this paper, I argue that despite the importance of multiculturalism to Australia’s identity, political decisions and discourse has muddied its remit with respect to humanitarian migrant intake programs and outcomes. Australia’s history of selective migrant intake and restrictive refugee policy continues the Othering of past policies into contemporary …
Creating home: Intersections of memory and identity
The concepts of memory, identity, and place form key debates in geographical literature because they link people to place. Memory incorporates narratives of the past that are articulated in the present day and can inform the way identities are constructed. The intersections of memory and identity can prompt us to think about how we experience and/or have experienced place(s). In this review, I trace discussions that position memory and identity a…
Assembling attachments to homes under bushfire risk
This research, conducted in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia, explores attachment to the home in the context of bushfire risk. The paper builds on existing research that has focused both on the home and on emplaced and mobile methods therein and seeks to understand the range of human and non-human attachments. We situate our examination of attachment in the context of a bushfire-prone suburban area to consider whether attachments to…
Creating home: Intersections of memory and identity
The concepts of memory, identity, and place form key debates in geographical literature because they link people to place. Memory incorporates narratives of the past that are articulated in the present day and can inform the way identities are constructed. The intersections of memory and identity can prompt us to think about how we experience and/or have experienced place(s). In this review, I trace discussions that position memory and identity a…
Detour: Bodies, memories, and mobilities in and around the home
The word detour denotes taking adifferent direction and/or adeviating pathway– especially from aconsidered norm. While the connotations of taking adetour are not always negative, the idea of movement away from, or against an assumed trajectory indicates achange in direction. In this paper, we pursue both what prompts this changed direction and the products of the detour itself. We follow the detours of Sri Lankan refugees and asylum seekers enact…
Research ethics with vulnerable groups: Ethics in practice and procedure
In this article, drawing from a feminist epistemology, we engage in an exercise of encounter and navigation as we critically reflect on the ethical practices undertaken during research with vulnerable people. That research comprised engaging Sri Lankan refugees in an oral and visual research method that included walking through and filming their homes, followed by an in-depth interview. The research process was an intimate and emotional explorati…
Assembling attachments to homes under bushfire risk
This research, conducted in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia, explores attachment to the home in the context of bushfire risk. The paper builds on existing research that has focused both on the home and on emplaced and mobile methods therein and seeks to understand the range of human and non-human attachments. We situate our examination of attachment in the context of a bushfire-prone suburban area to consider whether attachments to…
Fitting refugees into the normative narrative of Australian multiculturalism
Australia publicly espouses its multiculturalism as a key component of its national identity. In this paper, I argue that despite the importance of multiculturalism to Australia’s identity, political decisions and discourse has muddied its remit with respect to humanitarian migrant intake programs and outcomes. Australia’s history of selective migrant intake and restrictive refugee policy continues the Othering of past policies into contemporary …
Experiential Attunements in an Illuminated City at Night: A Pedagogical Writing Experiment
This article traces stories of singular footsteps taken on a collective meandering through Brisbane city, as a pedagogical experiment in writing for geographers. The diverse encounters recounted here took place as part of an extended workshop on the topic of light, beginning with an afternoon discussion, and ending in an evening walk through the illuminated city. This paper aims to do two things through the example of light: firstly, it explores …
Voice notes in the car: Capturing immediate emotions from fieldwork with Sri Lankan refugees
As researchers, we are trained to publish the most polished versions of our core findings. Yet, what is hidden away when we do so are the raw and sometimes messy accounts of what we see, feel, hear, and experience during fieldwork. Integrating fieldwork challenges into research outputs is still uncommon in human geography. In this paper, I present an excerpt of field notes from research that examined the (re)creations of home by Sri Lankan refuge…
Linking with migrants: The potential of digitally mediated connections to build social capital during crisis
Migrants rely on social capital when (re)settling in host communities. Connections with organisations are fundamental to developing local ties and accessing services. While scholarship is replete with studies on bonding and bridging ties, little is known about organisations' ties with migrants. Less is known about how digital technologies facilitate these links. Our article draws on interviews conducted at the onset of the Covid-19 crisis with 23…
Creating home: Intersections of memory and identity
The concepts of memory, identity, and place form key debates in geographical literature because they link people to place. Memory incorporates narratives of the past that are articulated in the present day and can inform the way identities are constructed. The intersections of memory and identity can prompt us to think about how we experience and/or have experienced place(s). In this review, I trace discussions that position memory and identity a…
Assembling attachments to homes under bushfire risk
This research, conducted in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia, explores attachment to the home in the context of bushfire risk. The paper builds on existing research that has focused both on the home and on emplaced and mobile methods therein and seeks to understand the range of human and non-human attachments. We situate our examination of attachment in the context of a bushfire-prone suburban area to consider whether attachments to…
Experiential Attunements in an Illuminated City at Night: A Pedagogical Writing Experiment
This article traces stories of singular footsteps taken on a collective meandering through Brisbane city, as a pedagogical experiment in writing for geographers. The diverse encounters recounted here took place as part of an extended workshop on the topic of light, beginning with an afternoon discussion, and ending in an evening walk through the illuminated city. This paper aims to do two things through the example of light: firstly, it explores …
Fitting refugees into the normative narrative of Australian multiculturalism
Australia publicly espouses its multiculturalism as a key component of its national identity. In this paper, I argue that despite the importance of multiculturalism to Australia’s identity, political decisions and discourse has muddied its remit with respect to humanitarian migrant intake programs and outcomes. Australia’s history of selective migrant intake and restrictive refugee policy continues the Othering of past policies into contemporary …
A Sense of Viidu: The (Re)creation of Home by the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora in Australia
Detour: Bodies, memories, and mobilities in and around the home
The word detour denotes taking adifferent direction and/or adeviating pathway– especially from aconsidered norm. While the connotations of taking adetour are not always negative, the idea of movement away from, or against an assumed trajectory indicates achange in direction. In this paper, we pursue both what prompts this changed direction and the products of the detour itself. We follow the detours of Sri Lankan refugees and asylum seekers enact…
Research ethics with vulnerable groups: Ethics in practice and procedure
In this article, drawing from a feminist epistemology, we engage in an exercise of encounter and navigation as we critically reflect on the ethical practices undertaken during research with vulnerable people. That research comprised engaging Sri Lankan refugees in an oral and visual research method that included walking through and filming their homes, followed by an in-depth interview. The research process was an intimate and emotional explorati…
Encounters on the footpath: Tracing the Sri Lankan diaspora’s place-making in everyday urban and suburban spaces
Existing scholarship on footpaths, sidewalks, streets, and pavements integrates laudable discussions about legal and regulatory concerns alongside debates about safety and place-making. Yet there are fewer debates about diasporic encounters and place-making processes in this everyday space. Accordingly, this paper examines encounters that occur on footpaths and outside adjoining shops by the Sri Lankan diaspora in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia.…
Welcoming Neighbourhoods: Place Attachment and Ethno-Racial Acceptance
This study examines the relationship between anticipated ethno-racial rejection, place attachment, and attitudes toward immigrants. Drawing from over 2,500 responses from a neighborhood level survey conducted in Melbourne, Australia, we ask if those who anticipate social rejection on the basis of their race and ethnicity report unwelcoming attitudes toward immigrants when compared to those who do not anticipate rejection. We then assess if this r…
Diasporic Belonging in Religious Spaces: Insights from Within the Sri Lankan Diaspora
The changing social, cultural and physical characteristics and uses of public spaces by migrants are of longstanding interest to social scientists.Often embedded in uses of public spaces are splinters, resonances and connections to home and migration.This paper examines the religious spaces that Sri Lankan migrants engage with in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia.To untangle the complexities associated with these spaces, we integrate a framework of…
Linking with migrants: The potential of digitally mediated connections to build social capital during crisis
Migrants rely on social capital when (re)settling in host communities. Connections with organisations are fundamental to developing local ties and accessing services. While scholarship is replete with studies on bonding and bridging ties, little is known about organisations' ties with migrants. Less is known about how digital technologies facilitate these links. Our article draws on interviews conducted at the onset of the Covid-19 crisis with 23…
Voice notes in the car: Capturing immediate emotions from fieldwork with Sri Lankan refugees
As researchers, we are trained to publish the most polished versions of our core findings. Yet, what is hidden away when we do so are the raw and sometimes messy accounts of what we see, feel, hear, and experience during fieldwork. Integrating fieldwork challenges into research outputs is still uncommon in human geography. In this paper, I present an excerpt of field notes from research that examined the (re)creations of home by Sri Lankan refuge…
Messy digitality: Reflections on using social media methods with Sri Lankan refugees
Social media platforms are increasingly mobilised as both method and field site among social scientists, including geographers, to understand an array of social, cultural, and geographical issues. While such approaches can generate valuable insights, they also introduce complexity. In this paper, I argue that mess—understood as tricky (and sometimes impromptu) emotional, ethical, and practical encounters—is embedded across the research process, f…
Sociology (11 works) · Political science (7 works) · Diaspora, migration, transnational identity (5 works) · Media studies (5 works) · Migration, Refugees, and Integration (5 works) · Refugee (5 works) · Social science (5 works) · Aesthetics (4 works) · Art (4 works) · Gender Studies (4 works)