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1	Uncovering the well-springs of migrant womens' agency: connecting with Australian public infrastructure Bursian, Olga, olga.bursian@arts.monash.edu.au January 2007 (has links) The study sought to uncover the constitution of migrant women's agency as they rebuild their lives in Australia, and to explore how contact with any publicly funded services might influence the capacity to be self determining subjects. The thesis used a framework of lifeworld theories (Bourdieu, Schutz, Giddens), materialist, trans-national feminist and post colonial writings, and a methodological approach based on critical hermeneutics (Ricoeur), feminist standpoint and decolonising theories. Thirty in depth interviews were carried out with 6 women migrating from each of 5 regions: Vietnam, Lebanon, the Horn of Africa, the former Soviet Union and the Philippines. Australian based immigration literature constituted the third corner of triangulation. The interviews were carried out through an exploration of themes format, eliciting data about the different ontological and epistemological assumptions of the cultures of origin. The findings revealed not only the women's remarkable tenacity and resilience as creative agents, but also the indispensability of Australia's publicly funded infrastructure or welfare state. The women were mostly privileged in terms of class, education and affirming relationships with males. Nevertheless, their self determination depended on contact with universal public policies, programs and with local community services. The welfare state seems to be modernity's means for re-establishing human connectedness that is the crux of the human condition. Connecting with fellow Australians in friendships and neighbourliness was also important in resettlement. Conclusions include a policy discussion in agreement with Australian and international scholars proposing that there is no alternative but for governments to invest in a welfare state for the civil societies and knowledge based economies of the 21st Century. Subjugated knowledges feminist epistemology cross cultural ontology women's agency migrant women cross cultural feminism trans-national feminism feminist standpoint theory community services women's self determination resettlement hybridity epistemic violence women and diaspora multicultural policy multicultural citizenship post colonial theory Australian multiculturalism Australian welfare state regimes globalised welfare states comparative welfare states diversity and civil society cultural theory lifeworld theory non-Western lifeworlds non-Western societies gender relations of domination women and colonialism public infrastructure public services Australian immigration policy feminist methodology de-colonising research methodologies inter-subjective ethics.

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Uncovering the well-springs of migrant womens' agency: connecting with Australian public infrastructure