Abstract
Migration is an international phenomenon and has particular value as a field of study for occupational scientists. Implicit in migration is a change of environment, which for many migrants requires some form of adaptation and adjustment of valued occupations. Thus, we argue that immigrants’ occupations offer a particular opportunity to examine the transactional nature of occupation. In this chapter, Dewey’s notions of “habit” and “situation” are used to reveal the profound impact of immigration, for both the immigrant and the receiving society at large. The complexity of the settlement process is shown in a case study drawn from a substantive theory, “Navigating Cultural Spaces,” a theory of how Indian immigrant women settle in New Zealand. The theory proposes that immigration and the settlement process is dynamic and in flux, influenced by immigrants’ interpretation of the personal and situational demands and others’ attitudes and actions. The appreciation of occupation as a transaction in the migration process challenges current theories of migration and settlement that, to a large extent, fail to understand settlement in a new country as a transactional process. This in turn has implications for the construction of immigration policy and social practice.
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Nayar, S., Hocking, C. (2013). Navigating Cultural Spaces: A Transactional Perspective on Immigration. In: Cutchin, M., Dickie, V. (eds) Transactional Perspectives on Occupation. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4429-5_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4429-5_7
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