Relational Identity for Refugee Studies: The Case of Hammad

Abstract

This article examines the dynamic self-construction of young refugees within the context of forced migration, adopting a social constructionist lens and in response to calls for attending to the complexities and temporalities that form refugee youth identities. Using a case study, it examines how memories of past relationships shape a sense of self across time, emphasizing the interplay and circularity of past, present, and future in changing socio-political contexts. The conclusion points to the need of highlighting the fluid, contextual, and continuously becoming nature of the self for better supporting their transitions to the host societies and in studies of refugee experiences.