Disputation: (Dis)Integrating Families: Refugees’ social histories and their encounters with education in Sweden

Den 11 oktober försvarar Nubin Ciziri sin doktorsavhandling i utbildningssociologi: (Dis)Integrating Families: Refugees’ social histories and their encounters with education in Sweden

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- Your subject of study is Kurdish refugees from Syria and their encounter with the Swedish educational system. How did you become interested in that subject?

Initially, I was interested in human mobility and what it is like to be uprooted when we have deeply ingrained aspects of ourselves that shape our everyday lives – such as social status, norms, traditions, and ways of existing and acting in the world. This led me to focus upon forced migration and the refugee experience. Sweden became an interesting context to explore because it received many refugees in the 2010s, which influenced mainstream discussion about the integration of the arriving population, much like other European countries. There is still political and societal discussion about who refugees are and how they are supposed to integrate and adapt to ‘Swedish’ life. However, this view often reduces refugees to their current struggles and conditions, and integration is typically seen as a one-way process – learning the language, adopting local norms, and participating in society.

In my thesis, I aimed to break away from the conventional ‘receiving society’ perspective and understand how integration is experienced by refugees in light of their social histories, which have shaped their views and resources. I wanted to explore the extent to which their pasts remain in their present, despite forced migration. Personally, I was bothered by the portrayal of refugees as ‘lacking’ various assets. When I started to read more, I became equally concerned that research on ‘international families’ never portrayed them as lacking, even though they also didn’t possess knowledge of the Swedish language, norms, or values. I wanted to bridge these different literatures to question who the concept of ‘integration’ applies to and what it entails for refugee families.

I focused upon education as a site of analysis because refugees in Sweden are navigating a society that highly values education, tied to its knowledge-based economy. Education is considered a prerequisite for ‘successful’ integration. By working with Kurdish families, I explored how parents engage with their own adult education and their children’s schooling. While Kurdish refugees from Syria provide a specific case, their experiences of marginalisation and statelessness offer a rich field for studying how pre-migration conditions influence how refugees navigate integration systems. I wanted to examine the tension between state-led integration efforts and the social histories refugees bring with them.

- What do you think are the most important conclusions that you have reached in your thesis?

My thesis answers how we can better understand refugees when we take into account their social histories, which shape their resources, experiences, and perspectives. It highlights that refugees come from diverse backgrounds, challenging the common preconception that places them within a single category defined by what they lack or their ‘backward’ culture. The thesis brings attention to the issue of integration, which cannot be fully understood without considering the pasts of these individuals. This approach provides insight into the constraints they faced before forced migration and how those constraints shaped their lives. It also shows how their different backgrounds, shaped by common or unique challenges, influence how they view their experiences after migration. The thesis demonstrates that while refugees struggle within their current circumstances due to limited access to resources and knowledge about their new society, they also assert their autonomy in certain domains.

My findings highlight a critical point in migration and integration studies: the importance of considering entire life trajectories and moving away from normative views of integration. This perspective reveals that integration often entails some level of (dis)integration, which complicates mainstream portrayals of ‘successful’ versus ‘failed’ refugee integration, as well as the simplistic view of the ‘good’ versus ‘bad’ migrant. Although Kurds from Syria represent a specific case, their experiences are indicative of broader refugee conditions, where individuals are often separated from their histories. This study emphasises the importance of understanding refugees’ former lives in examining their present integration process. It provides an alternative approach to integration by demonstrating the extent to which refugees’ histories shape their current strategies. Integration disrupts their history, traditions, ways of living, feeling, acting, and thinking, but their past ways of existing in the world do not simply disappear. Instead, state-led integration often involves a process of (dis)integration from these past selves.

- What are you going to do after you have completed your dissertation?

The more I have read about migration and integration, and the more I follow the news and discussions surrounding these topics, the stronger my desire becomes to explore the inherent questions they raise from a sociological perspective. On a personal level, I have a deep curiosity to continue growing intellectually. I was drawn to sociology because it allows me to challenge common sense and understand the world, as well as myself, in new ways by questioning implicit structures, beliefs, and norms. Sociological theory has freed me from these constraints, and I wish to continue developing in this direction by asking and exploring further questions.

In addition to theoretical debates, I am also keen to explore, empirically, how time shapes different refugee groups, how perceptions of immigrants change, and how they navigate their circumstances over time. My curiosity extends beyond migration, as I am also interested in broader themes relevant to societal change. I am excited to see where my next ideas and projects will take me. This curiosity and drive also fuel my passion for teaching. Engaging with students introduces different perspectives and allows me to see research from new angles. Therefore, I hope to combine both research and teaching in Sweden, especially on topics I find relevant to understanding society and challenging our preconceptions.