Identity Work and the Reconstruction of Identities Among Humanitarian-Based Immigrants in Finland
Mozaffari, Khalil (2021)
Mozaffari, Khalil
2021
Master's Programme in Leadership for Change
Johtamisen ja talouden tiedekunta - Faculty of Management and Business
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2021-05-27
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202104253454
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202104253454
Tiivistelmä
The word ‘immigrant’ in Finland is associated with the refugee crisis after the immigrants’ wave in 2015. One of the fundamental concerns within Finnish society is regarding refugees’ identities that might be judged as the ones who cannot be acculturated, included, and integrated into Finnish society. Therefore, the first objective of this research is to explore and examine how refugees construct and reconstruct their identities at the intersection of personal, organizational, and social life through conducting identity work. The second aim is to understand the ways in which their identities can impact their acculturation and inclusion in Finnish organizations.
Studies regarding refugees are very fragmented and borrowed theories from various disciplines. Among them, identity work from the social identity theory, acculturation from cultural studies, and inclusion from diversity management have been covered separately by many scholars. This study utilizes a novel approach by combining various theoretical lenses. Accordingly, the thesis develops a theoretical model for studying and understanding the identities of immigrants and refugees. First, I employed three theories of personal, organizational, and social identity. Second, I identified how these theories could lead to identity work which is the leading theory in this study. Third, I employed the acculturation and inclusion framework, which can be analyzed as tools to understand refugees’ obstacles in reconstructing their identities or act as objectives to understand whether conducting identity work can lead to acculturation and inclusion of refugees.
The method is used in this study is qualitative analysis through semi-structured interviews conducted from eight refugees with around three years of working experience in Finnish organizations. Through qualitative content analysis and grounded theory, three major themes emerged in relation to the refugees’ identity work and its impact on their identity reconstructions. First, conducting identity work leads to negotiation in identity hierarchy and early-adopting identity work tactics. Second, conducting identity work leads to tensions between self-aspects of refugees’ identities and other actors in Finnish organizations. Third, conducting identity work intensified by arising explicit challenges and obstacles.
This study yields a novel insight by incorporating acculturation and inclusion into identity work research. The informants in this study constantly were involved in the process of identity reconstruction through internal self-dialogue by evaluating their own identity with the identity of others; and thus, consciously or unconsciously utilized ethnicity role, cultural perception, behavioral characteristics, and personal values as the main challenges to reconstruct their identity based on acculturation and inclusion criteria in Finnish organizations. Furthermore, I identified one central motif that immigrants constantly negotiated to reconstruct their sense of ‘selves’ within themselves and organizations. I define it as ‘inner self-border identity’, which reveals what kinds of ‘Musts’ and ‘Nots’ individuals hold within the core aspects of their identities and how they are executed in the organizations. Identity work happened for the informants through this motif and ‘Musts’ and ‘Nots’ that primarily emanated from their identity-based characteristics. This study could create strict borders between individuals' psychological aspects and their identity-based attributes by distinguishing between 'Musts' and 'Nots' of individuals. It was clarified that 'Musts' and 'Nots' of individuals could cause identity work to occur, and they could also be caused due to conducting identity work.
Studies regarding refugees are very fragmented and borrowed theories from various disciplines. Among them, identity work from the social identity theory, acculturation from cultural studies, and inclusion from diversity management have been covered separately by many scholars. This study utilizes a novel approach by combining various theoretical lenses. Accordingly, the thesis develops a theoretical model for studying and understanding the identities of immigrants and refugees. First, I employed three theories of personal, organizational, and social identity. Second, I identified how these theories could lead to identity work which is the leading theory in this study. Third, I employed the acculturation and inclusion framework, which can be analyzed as tools to understand refugees’ obstacles in reconstructing their identities or act as objectives to understand whether conducting identity work can lead to acculturation and inclusion of refugees.
The method is used in this study is qualitative analysis through semi-structured interviews conducted from eight refugees with around three years of working experience in Finnish organizations. Through qualitative content analysis and grounded theory, three major themes emerged in relation to the refugees’ identity work and its impact on their identity reconstructions. First, conducting identity work leads to negotiation in identity hierarchy and early-adopting identity work tactics. Second, conducting identity work leads to tensions between self-aspects of refugees’ identities and other actors in Finnish organizations. Third, conducting identity work intensified by arising explicit challenges and obstacles.
This study yields a novel insight by incorporating acculturation and inclusion into identity work research. The informants in this study constantly were involved in the process of identity reconstruction through internal self-dialogue by evaluating their own identity with the identity of others; and thus, consciously or unconsciously utilized ethnicity role, cultural perception, behavioral characteristics, and personal values as the main challenges to reconstruct their identity based on acculturation and inclusion criteria in Finnish organizations. Furthermore, I identified one central motif that immigrants constantly negotiated to reconstruct their sense of ‘selves’ within themselves and organizations. I define it as ‘inner self-border identity’, which reveals what kinds of ‘Musts’ and ‘Nots’ individuals hold within the core aspects of their identities and how they are executed in the organizations. Identity work happened for the informants through this motif and ‘Musts’ and ‘Nots’ that primarily emanated from their identity-based characteristics. This study could create strict borders between individuals' psychological aspects and their identity-based attributes by distinguishing between 'Musts' and 'Nots' of individuals. It was clarified that 'Musts' and 'Nots' of individuals could cause identity work to occur, and they could also be caused due to conducting identity work.