The Sociology Research Forum hosts Neda Maghbouleh, Rula Kahil, and Maleeha Iqbal (University of Toronto) for a presentation titled, “Grandmothers Behind the Scenes: Subordinate Integration, Care Work, and Power in Syrian Canadian Refugee Resettlement.”
Abstract: Research and policy concerning the Syrian Canadian diaspora has not prioritized elders. This paper adds to emerging scholarship about the wellbeing of Syrian Canadians admitted via the Syrian Refugee Resettlement Initiative (SRRI) through a unique focus on transnational grandmothers resettled within their multigenerational families. Drawing on three waves of annual in-depth interviews and in-person and virtual qualitative field research, we show how the authority and status grandmothers once held in Syria may be undermined by their subordinate integration in Canada. Although new, post-migration configurations of power, care work and community may present some opportunities, the burdens and dependencies of subordinate integration mostly constrain grandmothers from reclaiming their authority and status.
