Resettling notions of social mobility

Locating refugees as ‘educable’ and ‘employable’

Bibliographic Data

ID11166249
AuthorsJill Koyama (0000-0003-0990-4930, University of Arizona, corresponding author)
Year2013
Volume34
Issue5-6
Pages947-965
Publication date2013-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueBritish Journal of Sociology of Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0142-5692 • E-ISSN: 1465-3346
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01425692.2013.816033
OpenAlexW2079297884
LanguageEN
Citations received19
References cited29

The global movement of people alters our understandings of social mobility. Here, I draw on ethnographic data collected since January 2011 and utilize the notion of assemblage to document and analyze how disparate people, their material objects, and discursive practices are brought together to render refugees as educable, productive, and employable in the United States. I examine the adaptations that result when livelihood paths and educational opportunities become paradoxically diverse due to transnational migrations and are constrained by localized politico-economic environments. My findings complicate the assumption that formal education represents an enduring pathway or necessary precursor to upward social mobility. As refugees are required by resettling agents to become economically self-sufficient as soon as possible, formal education such as English-as-a-second-language courses can limit initial employment opportunities and narrowing families’ livelihood strategies upon resettlement, especially during the recent economic downturn

Criminology · Political science · Refugee · Social mobility · Social science · Sociology · Gender Studies · Law · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Health and Trauma · Migration, Refugees, and Integration

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