Patterson, Deirdre (2020) Challenging refugeeness in Kakuma: South Sudanese refugee efforts to contest marginalisation and vulnerability through transnational participation. Doctoral thesis (PhD), University of Sussex.

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Abstract

This thesis examines the intersection between the socio-economic marginalisation of protracted South Sudanese refugees living in Kakuma refugee camp and their transnational relationships with family members living in the global north. In the attempt to fully understand the complexity of these 21st century transnational family networks, this thesis explores these relationships and their influence on refugee participants from two primary perspectives: 1) remittances senders living in both the UK and US, and 2) remittance recipients who have been living in Kakuma as protracted refugees.

Separated into four empirical chapters, this thesis explores the dynamics of these refugee transnational networks, the social and economic processes undergone to send/receive remittances, the ways in which refugees use remittances to combat their insecurity in the refugee camp, and finally the ways in which the participants in this study used remittances and the pursuit of education to challenge the marginalisation associated with their refugee status.

Throughout this thesis, I argue that the transnational networks developed by the participants in this study have enabled the members of the South Sudanese diaspora to develop a strong sense of community solidarity and a mutual sense of responsibility to all those they consider family. These influences have been utilised as tools for the refugee members of this diaspora to challenge their insecurity, vulnerability and socio-economic marginalisation in Kenya, a by-product of their refugee status, protracted state of exile, and dependency on the humanitarian aid system.

As explicitly stated in the conclusion, this thesis makes an original contribution to the theoretical development on the sustainability of transnational communities, the relationship between degree of integration and remittance sending patterns over time, the influence of remittances on refugee welfare, and the intersection between transnational participation and a population’s “refugeeness”.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Schools and Departments:	School of Global Studies > Anthropology
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology > HV0640 Refugee problems K Law > KZ Law of Nations > KZ6350 Enforced settlement of international disputes > KZ6378 Law of war and neutrality. Jus belli > KZ6440 Humanitarian law
Depositing User:	Library Cataloguing
Date Deposited:	14 Aug 2020 20:37
Last Modified:	14 Aug 2020 20:37
URI:	http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/93096

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