Moving to Portugal: Conditions for Refugees' Identity (Re)Configuration Processes

Abstract

This research seeks to explore how mobility interacts with identity (re)configuration processes. We take a comprehensive look at the impact of mobility on refugees' adaptation of their own social identity in diasporas. To build our analytical standpoint, we will discuss theories of mobilities and identity studies and explore points of intersection between relational approaches to collective identities, theories of co-constitution of social formations, and mobile subjectivities and narratives about diasporans' experiences, refugee hosting, and conditions for identity (re)configuration. Next, we apply our analytical perspective to a selection of existing empirical research on refugees in Portugal. We were able to identify some clues that indicate the relevance of our approach and suggest two lines for further empirical research in the Portuguese context.