Now and Then ‐ Diasporic Identity Processes Among South Asian Young Adults in Scandinavia
International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care
ISSN: 1747-9894
Article publication date: 1 October 2008
Abstract
This paper explores some social‐psychological aspects of South Asian young adults in Denmark, including identity processes through social relations across geographical borders and psychological diaspora consciousness, and is a follow‐up of a project conducted in the mid‐nineties, in Denmark (N = 14). Diasporic conceptualisations focusing on human‐centredness and processes in migration, combined with a lifecourse perspective, provide the theoretical framework for this study. The method used is in‐depth interviews, analysed through condensation and meaningful categorisation of the narratives. The young adults are perceived as active actors in relation to their life situation. The results show the young adults', as well as the parental generations', re‐interpretation of the self, other and home. They also show that the young adults' diasporic identities involve the countries of origin as well as the Scandinavian welfare societies. However, the myth of return is not supported, although the countries of residence have adopted increasingly restrictive migration policies in the past years.
Keywords
Citation
Singla, R. (2008), "Now and Then ‐ Diasporic Identity Processes Among South Asian Young Adults in Scandinavia", International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 16-28. https://doi.org/10.1108/17479894200800009
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2008, Emerald Group Publishing Limited