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‘Our voices aren’t in lockdown’—Refugee young people, challenges, and innovation during COVID-19
Couch, Jen Liddy, Nadine McDougall, James
Couch, Jen
Liddy, Nadine
McDougall, James
Abstract
Using data drawn from consultations and interviews with young people from young people of refugee background in Melbourne, Australia, we examine how young people negotiate their lives in the context of settlement, specifically during the current COVID-19 pandemic. We listened to stories about the challenges they faced, and the initiative and actions they took during the lockdown of nine towers in public housing estates of inner Melbourne during June and July of 2020. In this research, we have found that, despite many pre-existing disadvantages, young people of refugee background have responded to the crisis through public health promotion, volunteering, and innovation. The pandemic has highlighted the role that young people play in supporting their families and communities in the settlement/integration process and the added responsibilities young people have assumed in the context of COVID-19. In negotiating these, young people have drawn upon embodied and communal ways of coping. This paper starts with an exploration of refugee young people’s narratives about their lives and experiences during the pandemic. We adopt intersectionality as a method and analytical tool to interpret these experiences and the roles in which young people have enacted during this time—as navigators, carers, providers, and innovators. We end by evaluating the policy gaps these reflect and highlight.
Keywords
refugee young people, COVID-19, settlement, youth participation, intersectionality
Date
2021
Type
Journal article
Journal
Journal of Applied Youth Studies
Book
Volume
4
Issue
3
Page Range
1-20
Article Number
ACU Department
School of Arts and Humanities
Faculty of Education and Arts
Faculty of Education and Arts
Collections
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
License
All rights reserved
File Access
Controlled