Academic success as willful-resistance: theorising with refugee-background students in Australia

Article

Ramos, Fabiane. 2020. "Academic success as willful-resistance: theorising with refugee-background students in Australia." Discourse: studies in the cultural politics of education. 42 (3), pp. 440 -455. https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2020.1718063

Authors
Article Title	Academic success as willful-resistance: theorising with refugee-background students in Australia
ERA Journal ID	34674
Article Category	Article
Author	Ramos, Fabiane
Journal Title	Discourse: studies in the cultural politics of education
Journal Citation	42 (3), pp. 440 -455
Number of Pages	16
Year	2020
Publisher	Taylor & Francis
Place of Publication	United Kingdom
ISSN	0159-6306
	1469-3739
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)	https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2020.1718063
Web Address (URL)	https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01596306.2020.1718063
Abstract	This paper is about theorising with seven refugee-background youth, who have successfully completed their secondary studies in Australia. Using conversations-as-method, the focus is on how research partners theorise academic success, and on the reading I developed in response to their reflections. Inspired by the commonalities in Lugones’ and Ahmed’s work, especially their focus on persistence as an agentic stance in the face of adversity, I propose reading academic success in the context of this study as acts of willful-resistance (Spelling of ‘willful’ based on [Ahmed, S. (2012). Whiteness and the general will: Diversity work as willful work. philoSOPHIA, 2(1), 1–20]). Here, willful-resistance is very much about students’ persistence and a refusal to being reduced to victimised objects. In addition, academic success as willful-resistance works in coalition with other forces within/against layers of entangled contexts and oppressions/privileges.
Keywords	academic success; Australia; Maria Lugones; Refugee-background students; Sara Ahmed
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020	390410. Multicultural education (excl. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Māori and Pacific Peoples)
Byline Affiliations	University of Queensland
Institution of Origin	University of Southern Queensland

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