A STUDY OF THE CULTURAL IMAGINARY OF AFGHAN REFUGEES RESETTLED IN NOVA SCOTIA

Abstract

This thesis presents a qualitative study of the experiences of a sample of Afghan refugees who have settled in Canada. The concepts of structure and agency, as articulated in Anthony Giddens’s structuration theory have been deployed as the theoretical framework of this study. I focus on the concept of culture, as both an “enabling” and “constraining” structure and the role it plays in the life of the refugees who form the study group for this thesis. The interviews explore how the respondents use culture as a means to express and explore their agency. Several themes emerge from the interviews, which are analyzed in dialogue with the literature on refugee and immigrant settlement. In light of the research findings, the role of the refugees in Canadian immigration policy is discussed, and it is suggested that there is room for a broader and more comprehensive role for refugees within national policy.