Mosaic of Spaces: Social Integration of Chinese Immigrant Women in Toronto
Date
2015-09-25
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Abstract
This study investigates how Chinese immigrant women subjectively experience their social integration in Canada and the way it is constituted socially and symbolically, based on a secondary qualitative data analysis. Spatial and social constructionist theories inform the analysis of five in-depth interviews with Chinese immigrant women in Toronto. Social integration is a process built through a myriad of social interactions in a gender-related mosaic of spaces. An initial typology of spaces is thematically characterized by its cast of actors, power relations and differences in social, cultural and multiple forms of capital. The functions of each space in increasing the immigrants’ set of capital to become participants and contributors in Canadian society are illustrated. Viewing physical and social spaces as mutable with creative potential, implications of a spatial typology in facilitating immigrant social integration are discussed in terms of social work theory, practice, and education.
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Keywords
Social Work, Ethnic and Racial Studies, WomenÕs Studies
Citation
Lee, B. (2015). Mosaic of Spaces: Social Integration of Chinese Immigrant Women in Toronto (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/27010