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In:Identity Struggles: Evidence from workplaces around the world
Edited by Dorien Van De Mieroop and Stephanie Schnurr
[Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture 69] 2017
► pp. 225–240

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Chapter 12
Identities on a learning curve

Female migrant narratives and the construction of identities of (non)participation in Communities of Practice

Published online: 26 April 2017
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https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.69.12cli
Abstract
Recent large scale immigration to Europe means that it is now faced with questions of identity that present immense challenges and opportunities which carry with them huge social, political and economic stakes. Using narrative analysis as a methodology and Lave and Wenger’s notion of the Community of Practice (CofP), this chapter seeks to shed light on migrant workers’ stories as reifications of their identities-in-transition as they (try to) engage with practice and so struggle to move, or fail to move, from outsider to insider status within their host communities. Findings indicate that for a successful trajectory from the periphery to core membership to take place, it is necessary for the identity ‘newcomer’ to become relevant, rather than gender or nationality related identity categories. We speculate that (non)participation in a CofP may have implications for wider societal concerns of inclusion and exclusion.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Method – narrative analysis
  • Data
  • Analysis
    • Leila – a narrative of exclusion
    • Yulia: a narrative of inclusion
  • Discussion and conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
References (31)
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2023. Migrants’ NATION-AS-BODY metaphors as expressions of transnational identities. Language and Intercultural Communication 23:3 ► pp. 229 ff. DOI logo
Musolff, Andreas
2024. Cultural Metaphor and Intercultural Identities. In The Handbook of Cultural Linguistics [Springer Handbooks in Languages and Linguistics, ], ► pp. 21 ff. DOI logo

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