Leading refugee lives together: Familial agency as a political capacity

Abstract

Family life is constituted by affective relationships and emotional bonds between individuals connected through kinship, yet in many cases involving people from beyond the lineal descent group as well. In precarious migratory processes and situations, the significance of these relations often grows. Even if put under increased pressure, they encompass important resources that individuals alone could not possess. Then again, for some people certain familial relations are part of the problematized life situation, challenging rather than reinforcing their personal agency. This paper explores political dimensions of refugee agency and discusses how mundane familial political agency is acquired and practiced in refugee situations. Specifically, analyzed are intimate relationships as unfolding in some young male refugees' transnational lives, as personal and shared experiences and practices. The paper takes notice of conflicted familial relations, too, to create a better understanding about the manifoldness of intergenerational political agencies. Drawing from interviews with Iraqi, Afghan and Somali refugees, it demonstrates how familial agency is irreducible to the personal agencies of family members yet does not exist beyond subjective stances. In conclusion, the paper proposes that familial mundane politics remain poorly noticed in refugee situations, which harmfully effects on the humanitarian aid system as well as refugee lives.