Communication Practices in the Production of Syrian Refugee Belonging

Abstract

This study examines how belonging is negotiated and enacted once refugees have been resettled in new homelands. It does so by focusing on communication practices within the context of the refugee’s interactions with members of the local community. Interviews were carried out with resettled refugees, volunteers, and nonprofit and governmental representatives in greater Vancouver, finding two key forms of belonging: emergent belonging, an incremental form of belonging that is nascent and incomplete; and scripted belonging, which consists of predetermined expectations for behavior.