Negotiating Aspirations in Displacement

Abstract

This article explores women’s aspirations during different stages of seeking asylum and settling in Norway and how their aspirations were influenced by each stage’s characteristics and circumstances. Two ethnographic fieldwork phases involved following nine women during approximately one and a half years through the asylum process and the early stages of settlement in Norway (2017–2019). The data show that while living in an asylum centre, the women’s narratives about their aspirations were permeated primarily by their uncertain circumstances. After settling in the municipalities, they began to encounter multiple limitations to their aspirations, which led them to become demotivated and eventually readjust their aspirations. This article shows the effects that the experience of being an asylum seeker and that of resettling in a new country has on people’s aspirations and motivation, something which can in turn have an influence on how they decide to incorporate into the new society.