Refugee migrants in light of the debate on agency, political participation and practices of resistance

• Grant number: 18/14334-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: September 05, 2018
• End date: December 19, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Political Science - International Politics
• Principal Investigator: Julia Bertino Moreira
• Grantee: Julia Bertino Moreira
• Host Investigator: Peter Gregory Andrew Nyers
• Host Institution: Centro de Engenharia, Modelagem e Ciências Sociais Aplicadas (CECS). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Ministério da Educação (Brasil). Santo André , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: McMaster University, Canada
• Associated research grant: 14/04850-1 - Observatory of migrations in São Paulo: internal and international migrations in contemporary State of São Paulo, AP.TEM

Abstract

Based on preliminary review of the literature on migration and refugee studies, the research proposal aims to problematize the concepts of agency, political participation and resistance practices relating to refugee migrants. Considering refugee migrants as political subjects and protagonists of their own lives, it is important to understand the social and political processes in which they are embedded along their migratory trajectories. In questioning those analytical categories (agency, political participation and resistance practices), it also intends to defy multiple binary oppositions (such as agency x no agency; silence x voice; resilience x resistance; activism x passivity). Therefore, it seeks to explore the intersections within those conceptual borders and to look at ambivalences and contradictions which compound the subjectivities of refugee migrants. The proposal is to conduct theoretical and conceptual research focused on bibliographical review of critical perspectives in the Social Sciences and documental research as well. Finally, the main goal is to write an academic article presenting the research findings during the period from September to December 2018 as Visiting Professor at the Institute for Globalization and the Human Condition - McMaster University in Canada.