Refugee livelihood perspectives: post-traumatic growth in histories of Vietnamese, Bosnian, and Tamil Refugees in Australia

Abstract

Refugee livelihood studies have mostly focused on policy and international aid programming and have yet to explore refugee people’s long-term development beyond the initial resettlement period. This article examines the experiences of Vietnamese, Bosnian, and Tamil refugees resettled in Australia during the height of the multicultural agenda in the 1980s and 1990s. Drawing on fifty oral histories, the article argues that refugees’ struggle and transformation of trauma in the past fuelled civic engagement in their new host communities. It explores the nexus of refugee lived experiences, livelihoods, and post-traumatic growth in the context of multicultural Australia to consider refugee livelihood as a long-term process. Crossing disciplinary boundaries of history and psychology, the article shows how some refugees re-interpret their trauma as motivation for positive change, a manifestation of post-traumatic growth, expressed as civic engagement, including becoming political actors in response to their histories of trauma, resistance, and growth beyond resettlement.