Suzan Ilcan (PI), Professor of Sociology, University of Waterloo, and Dr. Seçil Daǧtaș (CI), Associate Professor, Anthropology, University of Waterloo have received a four-year SSHRC Insight grant award ($150,369) for their research project “Border Frictions: Shaping Transnational Relations via Migrant Journeys, Resettlement, and Community Building in the Context of Syrian Displacement”.
The project focuses on the complexities of border frictions in the transnational context of Syrian displacement. It investigates how and the extent to which border frictions influence the social lives of Syrian refugees spanning three national contexts, namely, Hatay, Turkey, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, and the Greek-administered Republic of Cyprus. The project develops a multi-sited qualitative methodology approach that brings together ethnographic and critical migration and border perspectives offered by the disciplines of sociology, anthropology, and political science.
This methodology consists of multiscalar analysis, discourse analysis, semi-structured interviews, and will provide an in-depth analysis of how border frictions shape transnational relations in the interlinking context of migrant journeys, resettlement, and community-building across national differences. The study aims to offer more durable explanations of Syrian displacement than can be permitted by nationally framed border and migration approaches. The project team will produce a project website, organize a stakeholder workshop, write conference papers and policy briefs, publish scholarly work, and disseminate research through academic and public fora.