Abstract

Over the last two decades, there has been a steady increase in the number of immigrants from Africa coming to Canada. Given these trends, very few studies examine the integration experiences and outcomes of African immigrants and their descendants – especially those from Ethiopia and Eritrea. This paper explores the integration experiences of second-generation Africans (Canadian-born descendants of immigrants from Ethiopia and Eritrea) in Canada. By way of 40 interviews with youth from both communities, this qualitative study engaged in a critical examination of the relationship between transnationalism, hybridity and integration. Findings suggest that participants’ experiences of a one-dimensional construction of Canadian identity through a range of sociocultural mediums (media, literature, education, sports, journalism, and ideologies) have maintained a fixed construction of Canadian identity that has demarcated the boundaries between the Canadian and the ‘ethnic’ Canadian. At the center of participants’ experiences is the unmasking of those discursive formations that stratify the experiences and identities of the ‘other’ and how these fashion notions of citizenship, belonging and civic engagement. This paper concludes with a theoretical, conceptual and critical discussion on how Canadian-born second-generation African youth actively construct their “Canadian identity” in a manner that moves traditionally othered identities to the forefront and the ways in which these shapes dynamics of citizenship, participation, and inclusion.

Presenters

Selam Abebe
Student, Masters of Public Affairs, Carleton University, Ontario, Canada

Mary Goitom
Associate Professor, Social Work, York University, Canada

Nassisse Solomon
Program Coordinator, Global Health Studies, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, Ontario, Canada

Details

Presentation Type

Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

Theme

Civic and Political Studies

KEYWORDS

Integration, Diversity, Multiculturalism, Inclusion/Exclusion, Identity, Belonging, Transnationalism, Citizenship

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