1,532
Views
10
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Articles

The performance of subject positions, power, and identity: a case of refugee recognition

&
Pages 392-425 | Received 08 Mar 2015, Accepted 12 Jun 2016, Published online: 06 Jul 2016
 

ABSTRACT

This article explores the negotiation of subject positions, identities, and their recognition. It develops a theoretical model of identity and recognition, which is applied to the exemplar of a young Palestinian woman negotiating the refugee recognition process in Ireland. The paper is divided into five parts, as follows: (1) methodology; (2) a theorisation of subject positions, identity, and recognition based upon the work of Austin, Barnes, Davies and Harré, Butler, Foucault, Giddens, Goffman, Heidegger, Jenkins, and Searle; (3) the application of these perspectives to the complex performance of identity in a cross-cultural context; (4) the negotiation of the subject position asylum seeker; and (5) short conclusion-cum-epilogue. What emerges is that social actors occupy multiple conflicting subject positions; they are structurally constrained by others’ perceptions and refusals of recognition, thus frequently affirming subject positions that are contrary to their own desired identity-construction.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.