Challenging traditional paradigms in early childhood studies - Using post-foundational frameworks to inspire new conceptualizations of refugee children and childhoods

Authors

  • Nidhi Menon University of New Brunswick

Abstract

Using a postfoundational lens, this article questions established facts about refugee childhoods and the overwhelming singular gaze on their trauma, weakness and vulnerability, which in of itself can be interpreted as an act that inflicts trauma upon them. By inviting voices and lived experiences of young Syrian refugee children in Canadian contexts this paper details a research study that invites conflicts about and unsettlements toward established facts to trouble the universality of the refugee experience. It draws on post-foundational theories from the margins such as Black feminism and relational ontologies such as childhood studies and centers creative, arts-based, multivocal and participatory research techniques to provide a nuanced understanding of resettlement experiences of young refugees.

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Published

2024-12-30

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 1 (2024): Post-foundational and Critical Childhood Studies: New and Emerging Scholarship-Part I

Section

Articles (Peer Reviewed Research)

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