Researching Identities through Material Possessions: The Case of Diasporic Objects

The article aims to contribute to the growing literature on exploring relationships between objects, homes, and identities in the context of migration. Using examples from a qualitative study of homemaking practices of Russian-speaking communities in the UK, the article discusses how the presence and use of certain objects and foods reflects complex meanings about home and belonging. Specifically, the article deploys the idea of ‘diasporic’ objects that signify the ambivalent nature of migrants’ relationships with their past and present homes simultaneously acting as symbols of connection and detachment. As the objects ‘travel’ through different homes so too do their meanings, and, through this, ‘diasporic’ objects accumulate new values and biographies embedded in wider cultural and transnational contexts. Analytically, the concept of diasporic objects is offered as a way to approach the feeling of home as a changing category that is (re)produced through memories and senses, as well as through particular ways of appropriation and personalisation of spaces and places

Children’s experiences of participating in research: emotional moments together?

This paper reflects upon emotional moments in research with children and young people. In particular, we seek to contribute to the now-extensive literature on emotions in social scientific research practice by: (i) attempting to acknowledge the often-overlooked emotions experienced by children and young people whilst participating in research; (ii) highlighting the complex, multiperspectival nature of emotions in research. We suggest that these complexities can, simultaneously be problematic and an opportunity to celebrate the achievement of doing research together

Tales From the Borderlands

This article deals with representations of the Northern Irish conflict by Polish migrants. It first sets the scene for the migration of Poles, discussing the issue of the sectarian divide. Subsequently, it presents a conceptual framework for understanding the construction of social representations. It then discusses migrants’ opposing tendencies to represent the ethno-religious boundaries as fixed and rigid on one hand and to represent them as fluid and shifting on the other hand. Whereas the tendency to represent the local conflict as of great consequence to migrants’ lives relates to a wider cultural knowledge, the tendency to point at ongoing social changes in Belfast is connected to a more direct exposure of Polish migrants to members of the local community

Consumer Mobility and the Communication of Difference: Reflecting on Cross-Border Shopping Practices and Experiences in the Dutch-German Borderland

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