Your abstract submission has been received
You have submitted the following abstract to Third ISA Forum of Sociology (July 10-14, 2016). Receipt of
this notice does not guarantee that your submission was complete or free of errors.
Political Participation Among Refugees in Austria and the Czech Republic: Biographical
Perspectives
B. Nadya JAWORSKY, Katerina SIDIROPULU JANKU and Radka KLVANOVA, Masaryk University, Czech
Republic
Abstract Text:
Our research centers on refugees waiting for a decision about their asylum applications in Austria and
the Czech Republic. The asylum procedure creates specific constraints on political participation when
people are deprived of voting rights both in the country of origin and in the country of destination. At the
same time, it may stimulate new ways of being politically active. We consider the different opportunities
and constraints for refugees’ political participation in these two different contexts, which differ with
respect to their history of asylum provision, receptiveness towards refugees as well as their popularity
among asylum seekers. In this research, we also interrogate the very concept of political participation
and seek to develop criteria and a working definition grounded in refugees’ actual experiences. We
explore their prior and/or ongoing involvement in politics in the country of origin as well as in their
country of destination, acknowledging that seeking asylum is itself a political act. Looking at what we
might call the “participatory habitus” prior to migration may or may not reveal a relationship to
post-migration practices; indeed, the lines between “before” and “after” or “here” and “there” may be
quite blurred. The potential of biographical research lies in uncovering ruptures in the lifelong narrative
and its re-construction, so the narrative becomes coherent again. We focus on the reflexive project of
the political self – how a change in living conditions and an uncertain future with regard to the place of
settlement influence habits of political participation, such as voting and being voted for, following political
debates, and expressing one´s position towards the up-to-date political representation in the
country/region a person lives in. Such a perspective on refugees´ life conditions may present an
important discursive shift, from victimization to social agency.
Submission Completed https://isaconf.confex.com/isaconf/forum2016/rc/papers/confirmation.cgi
1 of 2 9/30/2015 9:52 PM
Session Selection: Political Participation of Refugees: Transnational and Biographical Perspectives
Title: Political Participation Among Refugees in Austria and the Czech Republic: Biographical
Perspectives
Submitter's E-mail Address: jaworsky@fss.muni.cz
Keywords: biography, political participation and refugees
First Author
B. Nadya JAWORSKY
Masaryk University, Czech Republic
E-mail Address: jaworsky@fss.muni.cz
Second Author
Primary Author
Katerina SIDIROPULU JANKU
Masaryk University, Czech Republic
E-mail Address: jankuu@fss.muni.cz
Third Author
Radka KLVANOVA
Masaryk University, Czech Republic
E-mail Address: radka.klvanova@gmail.com
If necessary, you can make changes to your abstract submission until Wednesday, 30
September 2015.
To access your submission in the future, visit your User Portal page.
Any changes that you make will be reflected instantly in what is seen by the reviewers. You DO NOT
need to go through all of the submission steps in order to change one thing. If you want to change the
title, for example, just click "Title" in the abstract control panel and submit the new title.
When you have completed your submission, you may close this browser window.
Tell us what you think of the abstract submission process
Home Page
Submission Completed https://isaconf.confex.com/isaconf/forum2016/rc/papers/confirmation.cgi
2 of 2 9/30/2015 9:52 PM