TY  - JOUR
A1  - Moffitt, Ursula E.
A1  - Nardon, Luciara
A1  - Zhang, Hui
T1  - Becoming Canadian
BT  - immigrant narratives of professional attainment
JF  - International journal of intercultural relations
N2  - We investigate how economic immigrants in Canada negotiate their identity in the process of "becoming Canadian" through an analysis of public texts. Drawing on the master narrative framework, we examine the interplay between individual and societal narratives as immigrants grapple with the tension between notions of "desirable" immigrants as those that are well integrated professionally and the reality of facing career related barriers. Among those whose success stories align with the master narrative of professional attainment there was little questioning of this expectation, thereby allowing it to remain invisible. Among those who had not (yet) achieved work related success in the receiving country, they tended to engage alternative narratives elaborating on the antecedents, outcomes, and barriers to labor market participation. Despite the countering nature of these alternative narratives, they strengthen the societal expectation of professional success as a key pathway to inclusion, thereby reinforcing the rigidity of this narrative. We contribute to literature on the social construction of national identity by examining the process of becoming national and the role of labor market participation in immigrants' perceptions of inclusion in their new society. Our study highlights the importance of including immigrants' voices in the construction of a more inclusive society, which may aid in breaking down exclusionary narratives of national identity.
KW  - inclusion
KW  - national identity
KW  - identity work
KW  - markers of inclusion
KW  - immigrants
KW  - master narratives
Y1  - 2020
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2019.06.004
SN  - 0147-1767
SN  - 1873-7552
VL  - 78
SP  - 84
EP  - 95
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Oxford
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Moffitt, Ursula Elinor
A1  - Juang, Linda P.
A1  - Syed, Moin
T1  - Being both German and Other
BT  - Narratives of contested national identity among white and Turkish German young adults
JF  - British Journal of Social Psychology
N2  - Recent discursive research has built on Michael Billig's theory of banal nationalism, arguing that minoritized individuals who explicitly claim adherence to a national group may be further marginalized from a perceived majority who view such acts as socially undesirable. In Germany, a master narrative of muted national pride precludes hot nationalism, while a narrative of integration calls for overt national allegiance from anyone perceived as Other. Integration is demanded not only of recent immigrants, but also of the second generation and beyond, bolstering a related narrative of unquestioned Germanness as ethnically based. We conducted narrative analysis of interviews with white and Turkish German young adults to explore these master narratives, examining national identity through the lens of banal and hot nationalism. We found it is not only hot nationalism that marginalized Turkish German participants, but also the unrealizable narrative of integration. Situated within research into exclusionary notions of German identity, we argue that the integration demand reiterates the narrative of Germany as ethnically homogenous while fostering a feedback loop of contested belonging. With the recent increase in refugees and other immigrants, this critical examination of identity and belonging in Germany offers a timely and underexamined perspective to an important discussion.
KW  - National identity
KW  - banal nationalism
KW  - narrative analysis
KW  - Turkish German
KW  - German identity
KW  - master narratives
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12268
SN  - 0144-6665
SN  - 2044-8309
VL  - 57
IS  - 4
SP  - 878
EP  - 896
PB  - Wiley
CY  - Hoboken
ER  -