Unbearable Lightness of Agency: Eritrean Unaccompanied Refugee Minors from Flight to Arriva l in the Netherlands. ካብ ንቅሎ ክሳብ መዓልቦ፡ ዘ� ��ሕለል ተበግሶን ሕርያ-ውሳነን፡ ተሰዲዶም ዝመጹ ትሕቲ ዕድመ ኤርትራውያን ኣብኔዘር� ��ንድ።
This dissertation seeks to explore how Eritrean un accompanied refugee minors (URMs) are, on the one hand, perceived as a nuisance in the host society and, on the other hand, framed as vict ims of the Eritrean regime. However, URMs’ trajectories of flight f rom Eritrea to arrival in the Netherlands such as withstanding violen ce and smugglers, are evidence of crafting agency and deep-seated str ength. Accordingly, based on ethnographic encounters and observation- participation, this dissertation asks how Eritrean URMs navigate cons traints throughout their journeys before and after their arrival in t he Netherlands and how agency and vulnerability emerge and are enacte d during those journeys. To answer this question, this dissertation i llustrates typologies of agency and analyzes their narratives of disp lacement and reception centres. It will spotlight instances of URM’ s agentic engagement, actively getting things done, resisting against visible/invisible forms of power, resisting normalized structure thr ough reflection, maintaining delayed form agency, and choosing margin ality. The dissertation situates URM’s narratives within the histor ical context of Eritrea, which links them to the PhD candidate’s ow n lived experiences as a racialized researcher who embarked on a simi lar journey long ago. This will illustrate that URMs often enact thei r agency when faced with precarious situations. Although, act agentiv ely is overlapped with becoming vulnerable. Therefore, the dissertati on argues that vulnerability and agency are intertwined and URMs shou ld be understood in relation to different faces of power.
More information on the thesis
DESCRIPTION: This dissertation seeks to explore how Eritrean unaccompa nied refugee minors (URMs) are, on the one hand, perceived as a nuisa nce in the host society and, on the other hand, framed as victims of the Eritrean regime. However, URMs’ trajectories of flight from Eri trea to arrival in the Netherlands such as withstanding violence and smugglers, are evidence of crafting agency and deep-seated strength. Accordingly, based on ethnographic encounters and observation-partici pation, this dissertation asks how Eritrean URMs navigate constraints throughout their journeys before and after their arrival in the Neth erlands and how agency and vulnerability emerge and are enacted durin g those journeys. To answer this question, this dissertation illustra tes typologies of agency and analyzes their narratives of displacemen t and reception centres. It will spotlight instances of URM’s agent ic engagement, actively getting things done, resisting against visibl e/invisible forms of power, resisting normalized structure through re flection, maintaining delayed form agency, and choosing marginality. The dissertation situates URM’s narratives within the historical co ntext of Eritrea, which links them to the PhD candidate’s own lived experiences as a racialized researcher who embarked on a similar jou rney long ago. This will illustrate that URMs often enact their agenc y when faced with precarious situations. Although, act agentively is overlapped with becoming vulnerable. Therefore, the dissertation argu es that vulnerability and agency are intertwined and URMs should be u nderstood in relation to different faces of power. More information o n the thesis Unbearable Lightness of Agency: Eritrean Unaccom panied Refugee Minors from Flight to Arrival in the Netherlands. ካ� �� ንቅሎ ክሳብ መዓልቦ፡ ዘይሕለል ተበግሶ� � ሕርያ-ውሳነን፡ተሰዲዶም ዝመጹ ትሕቲ ዕድ መ ኤርትራውያን ኣብኔዘርላንድ። END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR