Abstract
Despite an increase in cross border intimate relationships and children of mixed parentage, there is little mention or scholarship about them in the area of childhood and migrancy in the Nordic countries. The international literature implies historical pathologisation, contestation and current complex paradigms regarding these children.
This chapter explores how children of mixed parentage negotiate their identities in the Danish context, where statistically and socially there are no widely acceptable terms for categorizing them. To this purpose, an empirical qualitative in-depth-interview study of children and young people of mixed parentage residing in Copenhagen area is conducted. The theoretical framework is eclectic, combining post-structural approach with mixed identity negotiation theory and transnationalism.
The main conclusion is that, the children reveal differential strategies of identity formation in the . They position themselves as having an “in-between” identity or “ just Danes” in their every day lives among friends, family, and during leisure activities. Thus a new paradigm is evolving away- from the pathologisation of mixed children, simplified one-sided categories. These findings also have implications for societal policy and practices related to mixed children.
Word count: 184
This chapter explores how children of mixed parentage negotiate their identities in the Danish context, where statistically and socially there are no widely acceptable terms for categorizing them. To this purpose, an empirical qualitative in-depth-interview study of children and young people of mixed parentage residing in Copenhagen area is conducted. The theoretical framework is eclectic, combining post-structural approach with mixed identity negotiation theory and transnationalism.
The main conclusion is that, the children reveal differential strategies of identity formation in the . They position themselves as having an “in-between” identity or “ just Danes” in their every day lives among friends, family, and during leisure activities. Thus a new paradigm is evolving away- from the pathologisation of mixed children, simplified one-sided categories. These findings also have implications for societal policy and practices related to mixed children.
Word count: 184
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Contested Childhoods: Growing up in Migrancy : Migration, Governance, Identities |
| Editors | Marie-Louise Seeberg, Elżbieta M. Goździak |
| Number of pages | 19 |
| Place of Publication | Cham |
| Publisher | Springer |
| Publication date | 27 Oct 2016 |
| Pages | 139-157 |
| Chapter | 8 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9783319446080 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9783319446103 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 27 Oct 2016 |
| Series | IMISCOE Research Series |
|---|---|
| ISSN | 2364-4087 |
Keywords
- historical pathologisation
- a new paradigm evolving
- partial migrancy
- statistically and socially no widely accepted term
- “in-between” identity or “ just Danes ”