In the Search for the Good Life: Settlement Experiences of South Sudanese Families in Western Sydney

Abstract

This thesis is about the settlement experiences of South Sudanese humanitarian migrants. South Sudanese came to Australia in search for the good life. They came with high settlement expectations and aspirations. However, in 2007, the Australian government declared that South Sudanese failed to achieve successful settlement. This thesis prioritises the perspectives of South Sudanese in defining settlement to elucidate a more nuanced understanding of migrant settlement. To do this, grounded theory, as advocated by Juliet Corbin and Anselm Strauss, was the underpinning methodological approach. Symbolic interactionism and pragmatism were the guiding philosophies. Data collection methods included interviews and participant observation while data analysis methods included open coding, axial coding and context analysis for integration. This thesis argues that settlement cannot be fully understood without placing the settlement process in its broadest context. Therefore, the thesis explores in detail pre-migration to Australia experiences to better understand how they influence settlement outcomes. Major historical events including war reshaped the traditional way of life, socio-cultural, economic and political arrangements of South Sudan. War uprooted and displaced communities. South Sudanese, consequently, sought asylum in Egypt, Ethiopia and Kenya and eventually Australia. Displacement and asylum-seeking in Africa determined settlement expectations, aspirations and needs on arrival in Australia. Although pre-migration context plays an important role in the settlement of migrants, this thesis argues that negative settlement experiences in Australia and the failure of the Australian society to respond adequately and positively were the decisive factors in determining settlement outcomes for South Sudanese humanitarian migrants. To explain this colossal societal failure, this thesis draws on theories of social justice and ethnocracy as explicated by John Rawls and Oren Yiftachel respectively. The thesis Engages with Iris Marion Young to highlight how institutional arrangements could be experienced as oppression and domination. T. H. Marshall's theory of citizenship is used to show that although most South Sudanese are formally Australian citizens, they have not achieved social citizenship. Alastair Davidson suggests that Australian citizenship is understood in racial terms and those who do not fit the racial archetype of an Australian citizen who is white and Anglo-European may not achieve social citizenship. The thesis suggests that immigrant settlement is a complex process whose outcomes cannot be simply binary - success or failure. South Sudanese humanitarian migrants who participated in this study viewed successful settlement as a process whose endpoint is local integration and local civic participation not success or failure. Such local integration is influenced by macro societal factors such as the prevailing perception of refugees. In Australia, refugees have been described as a threat to national cultural values and a danger to society. In the context of heightened fear of refugees, the need for local integration is critical. As many South Sudanese participants in this study have pointed out, integration does not happen nationally but locally. Recently arrived humanitarian migrants achieve such integration through active participation in the local community socially, economically and politically to shape that community. Therefore, as humanitarian migrants become embedded in local processes, they develop multiple local connections which foster a sense of belonging. Show more