{"id":209,"date":"2012-05-26T11:33:16","date_gmt":"2012-05-26T18:33:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ivefs2012\/?p=209"},"modified":"2012-05-26T11:33:16","modified_gmt":"2012-05-26T18:33:16","slug":"where-to-draw-lines-othering-and-immigrants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ivefs2012\/2012\/05\/26\/where-to-draw-lines-othering-and-immigrants\/","title":{"rendered":"Where to Draw Lines? Othering and Immigrants"},"content":{"rendered":"

Where to Draw Lines? Othering and Immigrants<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Somewhere between reading through the color lines, that criss-cross through time and nations, described by Foner[i]<\/a>, and the folkloric \u201ccultural problems\u201d described by Li[ii]<\/a> that prevent immigrants \u201csuccessful\u201d integration into Canadian society, I realized that the research project I was about to embark on at Gordon Neighbourhood House would involve laying down similar \u201clines\u201d of some variety.<\/p>\n

In part, this stems from my hypothesis that the basis of the Senior Needs Assessment Survey that I am helping coordinate and conduct are based on assumptions specific to a culturally specific demographic. One main objective of the Needs Assessment Survey (NAS) is to identify the extent and variety of housing issues affecting seniors in the West End of Vancouver. The original draft of this quantitative survey involved questions about seniors\u2019 abilities to \u201cage in place,\u201d meaning aspects of their lives that aid or prevent them from living happy healthy lives in a permanent residence. This phrase was not familiar to me, but understood by the three members of the NAS panel working in or studying gerontology (the study of aging), as well as the West End Seniors Community Planning Table, who identified the need for the survey.<\/p>\n

This is an excerpt of the initial outline of my research idea that I sent to my fellow NAS panel members a week ago:<\/p>\n

Through interviews with immigrant <\/em>seniors, I hope to determine whether such terms are understood and valued to the same extent, and to gain a clearer picture of housing issues as experienced by immigrant seniors. The data that comes out of quantitative reports is often interpreted according to the reader\u2019s own values. Definitions of \u201chome\u201d or \u201caging in place\u201d may have different values attached to them. My intention would be to complement the data collected through the surveys by adding snapshots of the diverse experiences and perspectives of seniors relating to this issue.<\/p>\n

While the \u201cimmigrant\u201d in IVEFS can apply to a wide array of those individuals I have come into contact with during my time at Gordon House, in the formative stages of my research design process I have assumed those worthy of being interviewed to be coming from a society at least somewhat different from \u201cmainstream\u201d Canadian, American, or English speaking European societies, and in many cases racially different from the main \u201cwhite\u201d populations described by Foner. The probable result of such criteria would not be a biased selection of \u201cforeign-looking\u201d immigrant seniors like those in the folkloric immigrant definition outlined by Li, but \u201cforeign sounding\u201d immigrant seniors.<\/p>\n

My original assumptions and rationales for selecting \u201cforeign sounding\u201d immigrant seniors are as follows:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Immigrant seniors from England, Ireland etc. would have similar values surrounding home and social policies, due to a circulation of ideas and sharing of cultural origins within the English language (it would not surprise me if this were false)<\/li>\n
  2. Non-native English speakers might be more likely to have trouble dealing with landlords and may not be familiar with avenues of legal recourse<\/li>\n
  3. Those coming from different cultural backgrounds are more likely to have different ideas, experiences, and values surrounding home and housing<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    My worry is that my criteria for selecting interviewees depends, to a large extent, on measures of \u201cotherness.\u201d Before finalizing my project proposal I will need to decide whether or not my approach will help by identifying assumptions in the NAS or simply survey to overwrite \u201cforeign looking\u201d immigrant seniors with \u201cforeign sounding\u201d experiences.<\/p>\n

    \n
    \n
    \n

    [i]<\/a> Foner, Nancy. 2005. In a new\u00a0land: a comparative\u00a0view of immigration.\u00a0New\u00a0York: New\u00a0York University\u00a0Press,\u00a0pp.\u00a01-\u00ad\u20104;\u00a011-\u00ad\u201042.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    [ii]<\/a> Li, Peter\u00a02003. Destination Canada.\u00a0Immigration\u00a0Debates\u00a0and\u00a0Issues<\/em>.\u00a0Don Mills: Oxford UniversityPress.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Where to Draw Lines? Othering and Immigrants Somewhere between reading through the color lines, that criss-cross through time and nations, described by Foner[i], and the folkloric \u201ccultural problems\u201d described by Li[ii] that prevent immigrants \u201csuccessful\u201d integration into Canadian society, I … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13001,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ivefs2012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ivefs2012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ivefs2012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ivefs2012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13001"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ivefs2012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ivefs2012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":212,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ivefs2012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209\/revisions\/212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ivefs2012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ivefs2012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ivefs2012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}