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Exploring Perceptions of Cultural Difference in IRB Family Sponsorship Decisions

This thesis analyzes the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB)’s treatment of culture in recent family sponsorship decisions. Drawing upon theories of cultural difference, identity construction, and Critical Race Theory, it examines IRB decision-makers’ assessments of cultural factors and their influence on the evaluation of parties’ credibility. This thesis argues that appellants and applicants before the Immigration Appeal Division often had to demonstrate that their family class relationships were “performed” in accordance with the norms of their culture. Many IRB Members relied on essentialist conceptions of culture, and thus generated problematic images of both cultural minorities and Canadian society. Further, the identity of parties was often constructed in terms of defined categories such as ethnic background, religion, marital status, age, and disability. In conclusion, this thesis offers reflections on how issues of cultural identity can be more fairly and sensitively addressed by administrative tribunals such as the IRB.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/30173
Date01 December 2011
CreatorsBahk, Sarom
ContributorsShachar, Ayelet
Source SetsUniversity of Toronto
Languageen_ca
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis

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