Racism, ‘second generation’ refugees and the asylum system

ABSTRACT

This paper explores ‘second generation’ refugee experiences of racism in London, drawing on 45 qualitative interviews. The article analyses specific histories of racialisation for three different refugee groups from Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Turkey and the generational shifts in reproducing race. The asylum system is foregrounded as an essential framework in which to analyse experiences of racism. This was most evident for the first generation refugee, however for their children less is known on how these forms of racism shaped experiences. Within our study, ‘everyday’ mundane forms of racism were recounted by the ‘second generation’ which were often contrasted with that of their parents in severity. This paper analyses this inter-generational relationship further in relation to racism, through the lens of the asylum system. The paper therefore contributes to a greater empirical understanding on earlier modalities of racism and how they survive into the present.

KEYWORDS:

• Racism
• asylum system
• refugee
• generation

Acknowledgements

Thanks to my colleagues and collaborators on the project, Alice Bloch from the University of Manchester, Milena Chimienti, Anne-Laure Counilh and Laurence Ossipow from the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Western Switzerland and Giovanna Tattolo and Catherine Wihtol de Wenden from Centre d’études et de recherches internationales at Sciences Po Paris.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Swiss Network for International Studies [project number 13-6401].