FAMILIES OF CARE AND CONNECTION: A RELATIONAL EXPLORATION OF HOW REFUGEES NAVIGATE STRUCTURAL CONSTRAINTS TO INTEGRATION IN THE UK: A critical appraisal submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD by Publication (Retrospective)

Abstract

Drawing on data from three inter-related studies, the four papers considered in this critical appraisal foreground the role played by social connections – relationships with other people, organisations and statutory bodies – in integration. My central argument is that family and family-like relationships are critical to refugees’ experiences of navigating new systems and structures in countries of settlement. These relationships are defined, developed and sustained through practices of care. I therefore position both care and family as central vectors in integration and as sites where refugees are agentive decision-makers shaping their own integration trajectories. Empirically I call for researchers and practitioners to move away from individualistic notions of integration to fully incorporate the family and the care that flows through family-like relationships into the design and delivery of research and practice. Conceptually, I outline the ways in which this process of incorporation moves us away from integration and towards an alternative feminist post-migration ecological framework, within which orientations and practices of care play a crucial role.