This thesis is a case study analyzing how the Latino immigrant community in Lexington, Kentucky is responding to the national push for restrictive legislation. Based on interviews conducted throughout the summer and fall of 2012, I examine the relationship between federal policies and young undocumented immigrants in Lexington, Kentucky, a southern locale with a relatively small but growing foreign-born Latino community. Employing the notion of the included exclusion, I look at the newly implemented Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy highlights an opening present in immigration law in which young immigrants are simultaneously included and excluded. Utilizing this lens to look at the response of Latino immigrants in Lexington allowed me to explore Latino immigrants’ engagement in mundane acts of “making do.”

This thesis examines the settlement of Gujaratis in Harrow, London, and the evolution of Gujarati organisations during the 1970s and the 1980s. Most Harrow Asians settled in the Borough after 1972, following their expulsion from Uganda. The Asian community, therefore, is predominantly East African and the majority of Asians originate from the Indian state of Gujarat. Gujaratis were not welcomed in Harrow, yet the Borough could not prevent Asian immigrants from settling in this part of London. The proximity of Harrow to large Asian settlements in north London made it attractive to the more established immigrants. The first years of settlement were mainly dedicated to building a firm economic base, and Gujaratis established, during the 1970s, various associations that complemented their economic activity during the 1970s. Some associations were founded on traditional lines. These were mainly caste and religious associations, which were also the most resourceful in financial and human terms. The affiliation of Gujaratis to different caste associations created serious rivalries with the consequence that the Gujarati community in Britain has remained divided. In Harrow, rivalries have emerged within the Asian community as a result of a growing competition for scarce resources. During the 1980s, Harrow Council declared itself an equal opportunities employer and, by this act, has raised the expectations of Asians that the Borough would be more responsive to their needs. Several pressure groups have emerged, and Gujaratis played a major role in exerting pressure on the Council. Though some Gujarati activists were equally active in traditional associations, the intensification of the relationships with the Council assisted in the emergence of a new type of leadership, comprised Gujaratis who identified themselves as black and who adopted the ideological framework of institutional racism. Although the thesis is about the settlement in Harrow of this community, the original interest of the researcher was focused on the food habits of this population as a method of measuring acculturation. Fieldwork on this subject was conducted both in Harrow and India. The thesis ends, therefore, with a description of the Gujarati diet both in Britain and India, with an analysis of the significance of the changes that have taken place in this area.

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Through the use of semi-structured and narrative interviewing, this study considers the perspectives of twelve newcomer women engaged in organizing and facilitating community activities with other newcomer women. The participants shared their views on the challenges faced by newcomer women, and the strength that these women access through community support. The study is grounded in an analysis of literature derived from such interdisciplinary sources as Peace and Conflict Studies, feminism, anthropology, and community-development. While newcomer women are faced with numerous hardships and losses, the participants – everyday peacemakers – emphasize the importance of empowerment. They engage in creating spaces for women to gather, form relationships, and benefit from economic and social development. Through this work, the women foster a form of ‘constrained empowerment’ that exists within the context of various structural barriers to well-being. Despite being constrained, this form of empowerment provides the foundation for social change, and social justice.

Les Suisses n'ont jamais été nombreux au Canada, et pourtant ils ont jalonné toute l'histoire du pays. À travers les repères qu'ils ont laissés au cours des quatre derniers siècles, ils se sont montrés de puissants révélateurs de l'imaginaire national canadien. Tour à tour traités en étrangers encombrants ou tolérés, en incroyants assoiffés de gain, en hérétiques qui pervertissent les Canadiens, puis subitement en immigrants appréciés et courtisés, ils ont forcé les métropoles française et britannique à ajuster leur définition de la citoyenneté, ils ont préconisé le cosmopolitisme et accompagné l'ouverture du Canada sur le monde, ils ont galvanisé l'affirmation du sentiment national en agissant soit comme repoussoirs soit comme faire-valoir, et ils ont finalement remis en question la définition même de «nation» au Canada. La présente thèse, par un dépassement voulu des frontières chronologiques et géographiques, envisage sur la longue durée l'expérience de migrants qui tendent à échapper à toute catégorisation sociale. Grâce à une analyse microhistorique, elle procède à un jeu d'échelles et de contrastes qui autorise un examen rapproché des phénomènes révélés par les sources suisses, canadiennes, françaises, britanniques et américaines. Cette réflexion propose une façon originale d'étudier les migrations dans l'optique de la problématique identitaire. Elle fait ressortir à la fois les moments forts de l'émigration suisse et les dates charnières de la modernité canadienne. C'est à l'intersection de ces deux chronologies, au gré du dialogue constant et soutenu entre autorités politiques, religieuses et communautaires, sous l'effet des tensions linguistiques et culturelles, des tensions entre conquérants et conquis, des tensions internes et externes entre tradition et modernité, que s'est constituée et adaptée une conscience collective unique, marquée moins par la continuité que par les tensions, la diversité et les compromis. Les Suisses ouvrent justement une fenêtre sur ces compromis qui donnent lieu à la complexité canadienne.

En 2008, le ministère de l’Immigration et des Communautés culturelles a créé un document destiné aux immigrants, la Déclaration sur les valeurs communes de la société québécoise. Dans cette thèse, je m’intéresse à ce document en étudiant les représentations des personnes immigrantes et des Québécois. D’abord, en replaçant le document dans le contexte de la « crise » des accommodements raisonnables, on constate qu’il agit en réaffirmant les frontières de la nation québécoise, par des représentations dichotomiques tradition/modernité. L’utilisation d’un discours visant à protéger les droits des femmes permet ainsi de distinguer les immigrants désirables des indésirables, et de présenter les Québécois en champions de ces valeurs. Des rencontres avec des personnes ayant récemment immigré au Québec montrent que ceux-ci s’adaptent bien à ces valeurs, contrairement aux représentations offertes durant la « crise ». Leurs défis se situent à un autre niveau : l’insertion au marché du travail québécois.

Through an examination of how culture and cultural difference affect sexual norms and practices this thesis explores the sexual subjectivities of ten Nigerian and Sierra Leonean young women living in Winnipeg. The theoretical framework deployed in this thesis is the social constructionist approach to sexuality. This approach involves an understanding that social processes affect the meanings and performances of sexuality and will be deployed to underscore the varying ways Nigerian and Sierra Leonean young women develop sexual beliefs and practices enmeshed in dating and economic exchange, connections to “home”, pleasure, and the body. The methodological approach is ethnographic and uses focus groups, interviews, and participant observation. I argue that the Nigerian and Sierra Leonean young women’s sexual subjectivities are influenced by their social locations as straddling two different social worlds and sets of cultural and sexual norms. Media, race and religion influence these young women’s sexual subjectivities.

This thesis aims to address the challenges faced by immigrants to Canada from countries in conflict, namely Turkey and Israel. Through the use of a conceptual framework, this research study identifies how context, conflict and identity impact upon each other and are expressed through insightful narratives. Data collection was conducted in Toronto and Ottawa, Canada, using semi-structured interviews and reflective journals. Findings indicated that regardless of physical proximity to conflict in one’s homeland, it can continue to have an effect – in many cases through familial (sentimental) attachments rather than concern for the country. As well, identity should be considered permeable but also overlapping; emigration does not necessarily entail disengagement from the homeland (or its conflicts). Ultimately, this study examines the interconnected nature of conflict and identity, in both personal and social ways, through immigrants’ perceived engagement in homeland conflict, once in Canada. / Graduate / 0617 / anna.press@gmail.com

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