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
Article Title

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

ERA Journal ID34674
Article CategoryArticle
Authors
AuthorRamos, Fabiane
Journal TitleDiscourse: studies in the cultural politics of education
Journal Citation42 (3), pp. 440 -455
Number of Pages16
Year2020
PublisherTaylor & Francis
Place of PublicationUnited Kingdom
ISSN0159-6306
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.

Keywordsacademic success; Australia; Maria Lugones; Refugee-background students; Sara Ahmed
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020390410. Multicultural education (excl. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Māori and Pacific Peoples)
Byline AffiliationsUniversity of Queensland
Institution of OriginUniversity of Southern Queensland
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