Abstract
This research explores the experiences and capacity to act of accompanied asylum-seeking children (AASC) related to their homemaking practices during the asylum process in Brittany, France. Employing an interpretative ethnographic methodology, I engaged with the children in a participatory manner to understand their daily practices and subjective narratives. The fieldwork took place between October 2018 and March 2020, and eighteen children, aged five to twelve, were directly engaged in data production and co-analysis.The research explores the meaning of home for AASC, their homemaking practices, and the various factors, both constraining and enabling, that impact their ability to engage in a homing process. Theories such as that pertaining to actor-networks and assemblages (Deleuze and Guattari 1987; Derrida 1976; Lee 2001) provided a framework that promotes the conceptualisation of child agency as relational. To analyse AASC’s homemaking, I drew upon Brun and Fábos’ “triadic constellations of home” (2015) and the concept of “homing” by Boccagni (2017, 2022). The focus was on exploring the interplay of human and non-human elements that influence the AASC's pursuit of creating a sense of home and engaging in a homing process while considering the various social variables impacting their agency, especially in this highly restrictive context (Klocker, 2007). Thereby, this study offers new child-centred insights into children’s perception of home and homemaking practices while supporting AASC’s ability to engage in a homing process, if they wish to do so, through more informed policies and practices.
| Date of Award | 19 Feb 2025 |
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| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | Jason Hart (Supervisor) & Alinka Gearon (Supervisor) |
Keywords
- accompanied asylum-seeking children, agency, childhood, home, homemaking, homing