Reconceptualising ‘home’, ‘family’ and ‘self’ : identity struggles in domestic migrant worker returnee narratives

Abstract

This article reports on a study of domestic migrant worker returnee narratives. The stories were recorded in villages in Java, Indonesia, and the women talk about their experience of remigration. Because of years of separation, family members are ‘family’ only in name, and the familiar concept of ‘home’ has become a strange place. The homecoming therefore involves attempts to redefine ‘self’ and ‘home’, and to reconnect emotionally with estranged family members. The article also considers returnee narratives as a critique of current identity research, which assumes that everybody ‘has’ or ‘owns’ an identity, but fails to recognise that for many people in developing countries, identity is an enforced position for which there is no alternative. It has to be occupied and it is not attributed with any prestige and therefore, cannot be used a resource for enhancing privilege. Finally, the article argues that migrant workers’ experiences should be included in our thinking about globalisation and intercultural communication. Denne artikel analyserer narrativer fortalt af hjemvendte indonesiske emigrantarbejdere. Narrativerne blev optaget i landsbyer på Java, og kvinderne deler deres erfaringer med at vende hjem. På grund af mange års adskillelse er nære familiemedlemmer kun familie af navn, og hjemmet er for mange blevet et fremmed sted. Det betyder at hjemkomsten medfører et behov for at redefinere kendte koncepter som ‘individ’ og ‘hjem’, samt at genetablere forbindelsen til fremmedgjorte familiemedlemmer. Artiklen foretager også en kritisk diskussion af den standende identitetsforskning, som antager at alle ‘har’ eller ‘ejer’ en identitet, men ikke anerkender at for mange mennesker i udviklingslandene er identiteten ikke selvvalgt. Den er derimod påtvunget og er ikke behæftet med nogen prestige, og kan derfor ikke bruges til at opnå privilegier. Til slut argumenterer artiklen for at emigrantarbejderes erfaringer skal indgå i vores teoretisering omkring globalisering og interkulturel kommunikation.