Syrian refugees rearranging their disrupted lives in-between obscurities of social capital, opacities of integration and ambiguities of displacement

Law, Alexander; Khaleel, Fawad; Avdukic, Alija; Young, Michelle

Abstract

This study explores the coexistence of multiple and radically distinctive, yet rhythmic worlds, that Syrian refugees resettling in the Scotland found themselves within during the pandemic. This study applies rhythm analysis as a critical phenomenological perspective within which being a refugee during the pandemic is not just a legal status or a social condition, but a ‘mode of being in the world’ that is radically different from any of their past experiences. The participants were asked (using iPods) to visually capture or audially reflect on their day-to-day, spatial and nonspatial, encounters to show the realities of everyday life. The data entries show the state of being, contemplation on expectations, searching but not seeing, convalescing the broken rhythms of everyday life during the pandemic. Findings shows that all participants were actively involved in recreation of everyday rhythms – however the realities of Covid-19 lockdown and social experiences of post Covid-19 resulted in a continuous cycle of formation, deformation, reformation of Syrian Refugees. From visual point there is an overarching theme of ‘emptiness’, where the time and space has merged into the notion of nostalgia of what once was and horror of what now is search for belonging and notion of home.

Citation

Law, A., Khaleel, F., Avdukic, A., & Young, M. (2024). Syrian refugees rearranging their disrupted lives in-between obscurities of social capital, opacities of integration and ambiguities of displacement. Al-Maktoum Foundation

• Report Type: Policy Document
• Online Publication Date: Jul 8, 2024
• Publication Date: Aug 8, 2024
• Deposit Date: Jan 28, 2025
• Keywords: refugees, displacement, Covid 19, Scotland, resettlement
• Publisher URL: https://scottishrefugeecouncil.org.uk/research-and-briefings/
• Related Public URLs: https://scottishrefugeecouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/SYRIAN-REFUGEES-REARRANGING-THEIR-DISRUPTED-LIVES-IN-BETWEEN-OBSCURITIES-OF-SOCIAL-CAPITAL-OPACITIES-OF-INTEGRATION-AND-AMBIGUITIES-OF-DISPLACEMENT.pdf