Deportability and Kombinowanie in Canada: A Critical Ethnographic Study of ‘Irregular’ Migrant Subjectivities
| atmire.migration.oldid | 3458 | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Stam, Henderikus J. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Ellis, Basia D. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2015-08-21T17:17:32Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2015-11-20T08:00:36Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2015-08-21 | |
| dc.date.submitted | 2015 | en |
| dc.description.abstract | This project critically analyzes how the daily lives of ‘irregular’ migrants in Canada are socially produced and navigated. Building on the recent work of critical migration scholars, I study ‘illegalization’ as an exploitative sociopolitical process produced not only by laws but also state and non-state agents who draw upon legal and illegal practices to achieve their aims. Deportability is defined as the palpable sociopolitical condition generated by ‘illegalization,’ and a chief disciplinary tactic that renders migrants vulnerable and exploitable as cheap laborers for capital. While deportation studies are growing around the world, so far little is known about the daily experiences of ‘illegalized’ migrants and the subjective life produced under deportable conditions; this is especially the case in Canada, where research on ‘illegalization’ is in its early stages. This study takes a cultural psychological perspective and employs critical ethnographic methods to study the subjectivities of Polish ‘illegal’ migrants living in Toronto and Mississauga, Canada. Specifically, I examine the mixed and contradictory contexts faced by these migrants as well as how migrants interpret and navigate their unequal conditions to build their lives as non-status residents. Analyses of both interview and participant observations reveal how ‘illegal’ migrants experience systematic fears, threats, and concerns, which motivate them to develop kombinowanie and other psychological and social tactics conducive for surviving their unequal conditions. I adopt a trajectory approach to map these developments in lived time and show how various sociopolitical imperatives coalesce to generate vulnerable subjects who suffer from an adverse psychosocial condition; namely, chronic deportability. I differentiate chronic deportability from acute moments of deportability to expose the psychosocial dynamics of deportable life and trace how migrant ‘illegalization’ functions via various gradations of fear produced in recurring, cyclical forms. While the major findings confirm that deportability operates to exploit migrants who choose to work in unequal conditions, I show how migrants are not unilaterally determined by the demands of deportation regimes. Specifically, the final chapter draws upon critical psychological research to examine how migrants express more subtle, psychological forms of resistance that undermine the impositions of deportability and may lead to broader sociopolitical transformations. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.citation | Ellis, B. D. (2015). Deportability and Kombinowanie in Canada: A Critical Ethnographic Study of ‘Irregular’ Migrant Subjectivities (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/25554 | en_US |
| dc.identifier.doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/25554 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11023/2399 | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | |
| dc.publisher.faculty | Graduate Studies | |
| dc.publisher.institution | University of Calgary | en |
| dc.publisher.place | Calgary | en |
| dc.rights | University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. | |
| dc.subject | Anthropology--Cultural | |
| dc.subject | Ethnic and Racial Studies | |
| dc.subject | Psychology | |
| dc.subject.classification | irregular migration | en_US |
| dc.subject.classification | illegal migration | en_US |
| dc.subject.classification | cultural psychology | en_US |
| dc.subject.classification | critical ethnography | en_US |
| dc.subject.classification | critical psychology | en_US |
| dc.subject.classification | subjectivity | en_US |
| dc.subject.classification | deportability | en_US |
| dc.title | Deportability and Kombinowanie in Canada: A Critical Ethnographic Study of ‘Irregular’ Migrant Subjectivities | |
| dc.type | doctoral thesis | |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Psychology | |
| thesis.degree.grantor | University of Calgary | |
| thesis.degree.name | Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) | |
| ucalgary.item.requestcopy | true |