I am my own culture: The ‘individual migrant’ and the ‘migrant community’, a latin american case study in australia

This paper explores the implications of the multicultural doxa in Australia of presenting migrants as members of clearly defined ‘ethnic/migrant communities’. By presenting the category of the ‘individual migrant’ the paper brings an example of the ways individuated case studies should and may be contextualised by the generic term of the ‘migrant community’. Due to multicultural constructions and governmental funding schemes the ‘community’ emerges as an important site of struggle and negotiation of identities yet, as the individualised example I provide illustrates, the ‘community’ social reality is far from the celebratory image found within official multiculturalism. The paper discusses the complex relationship that Paulina, a Chilean political refugee in Adelaide, has with the local ‘migrant community’ in light of her experience and understanding of her Chilean identity and the migratory movement. The sociological significance of this individualised example lies in the attempt to capture the complexity of the ways in which subjective experiences may challenge but also contribute to our understanding of the notion of the ‘migrant community’. Such a personal account should not be read as an objectified or generalised statement about the ‘migrant community’ but it reveals the many different ways in which subjective migratory experiences may lead to the emergence of new subjectivities that are embedded in the migratory movement and life in a new place.