Enforced Government of the Self: Forced Dependency

Transcript:Enforced Government of the Self: Forced Dependency:
Enforced Government of the Self: Forced Dependency and Experiences of Sponsored Older Immigrants in Canada In Ivy Li PhD Candidate Department of Sociology & Legal Studies University of Waterloo, Canada Introduction Immigration Regime -Increasingly market-driven PGP Immigration Policy Changes in 2014 -Three big changes the minimum income (MNI) requirement for sponsors was increase by 30% and extended from 1 year to consecutive 3 years; the sponsor’s undertaking period to support the sponsored parents/grandparents was extended from10 years to 20 years; Sponsored PGP immigrants are ineligible for provincial social assistances and federal benefits: Old Age Security (OAS) pension, Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS). 3) an intake target (annual maximum number of accepted applications) was imposed. Introduction Research Question -What do PGP immigration policy and lived experiences of sponsored parents inform us of neoliberal governmentality in Canada? Research Method -Cross-sectional qualitative study: 40 semi-structured interviews PRESENTATION TITLE PAGE 3 Conceptual Framework Neoliberal Frictions in the Government of the Self: An Assemblage Approach Government of the self with purpose of fostering life (moral) v. s. neoliberal marketization and quantification of life (humiliating); Privatization and de-politicization of personal risks (low personal risk) v. s. tightened border and immigration policy (high state risk); Celebrated humanitarianism and claimed race-neutral modern immigration regime (inclusive, humane) v. s. disadvantaging vulnerable populations (excluding, racism) Migrant Agency: adaptation and resistance Anna Tsing (2004) famously views “friction” as “encounters” in global connections and defines it as “the awkward, unequal, unstable, and creative qualities of interconnection across difference” (p.4). Findings and Discussion Marketization of life, Privatization Personal Risks and Internalization - Reasons for Immigration: We Don’t Come for Welfare and We Don’t Want to Be a Burden! -Perspectives on PGP program and Its Policy Changes Social Issues and Problems - Role Change and Intergenerational Relationship Living Arrangement Challenges, Adaptation and Resistance -Individual, Small Group and Community Building Conclusion & Recommendation Independency and Age-Well in Canada Conclusion -having a mindset/desire and ability of independency rather than relying on children for own life and happiness is the key for sponsored parents to have a healthy and satisfactory later life in Canada. -To age well in Canada, the sponsored parents not only need their own efforts but also supports from the whole society including their children, communities and governments -PGP program as a government tool does not nurture and foster human life, instead, it can undermine even choke the life of some vulnerable populations such as