Navigating Identity Reformation, Marginalization, and “Soft” Colonization in Former Soviet Immigrant Students

Abstract

This qualitative case study examines post-immigration reformed identity struggles among high school students from the former Soviet Union (FSU). Specifically, Belarusian, Kazakh, and Russian students in one U.S. public school district recognized and internalized “Russian” and inferior identities given to them by their U.S. teachers and peers, while simultaneously articulating internally viewed identities of superiority over immigrants from different FSU countries and secular superiority over the religious. Data from FSU immigrants, content teachers, and an administrator were analyzed using critical discourse analysis and sociocultural theory. General recommendations to educators, teachers, and administrators are provided.