Grandmothers Behind the Scenes: Subordinate Integration, Care Work, and Power in Syrian Canadian Refugee Resettlement

Rula Kahil; Maleeha Iqbal; Neda Maghbouleh

doi:10.25071/1920-7336.40937

Authors

Rula Kahil University of Toronto https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1230-4672
Maleeha Iqbal University of Toronto https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7899-0997
Neda Maghbouleh University of Toronto https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8541-2079

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25071/1920-7336.40937

Keywords:

elder refugees, aging, subordinate integration, women, claims-making, mattering

Abstract

Research and policy concerning the Syrian Canadian diaspora has not prioritized elders. This article adds to scholarship about the well-being of newcomers admitted via the Syrian Refugee Resettlement Initiative through a focus on grandmothers resettled within their multigenerational families. Using interviews and qualitative field research, we show how the authority and status these elder women once held in Syria may be undermined by their comparatively subordinate integration in Canada. Although new, post-migration configurations of power, care work, and community may present some opportunities, the burdens and dependencies of subordinate integration mostly constrain these elders from reclaiming their authority and status.

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Author Biographies

Rula Kahil, University of Toronto

Rula Kahil is an Assistant Professor / Teaching Stream in the Department of Sociology at the University of Toronto Mississauga. She can be reached at rula.kahil@utoronto.ca.

Maleeha Iqbal, University of Toronto

Maleeha Iqbal is a PhD student in Sociology and SSHRC Doctoral Fellow at the University of Toronto. She can be reached at maleeha.iqbal@mail.utoronto.ca.

Neda Maghbouleh, University of Toronto

Neda Maghbouleh is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Canada Research Chair in Migration, Race, and Identity at University of Toronto, and a Wall Scholar at the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Study at UBC. She can be reached at neda.maghbouleh@utoronto.ca.

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