Abstract
In its examination of older immigrants’ experiences, the literature concentrates on their hardships and challenges and seldom on their positive attitude, strategies, active adaptation and resistance. My study fills the gap by analyzing their performance of agency and autonomy to challenge systemic power and pursue meaningful existence. I prioritize their resistance against framing as dependent and forced dependence by the parents/grandparents (PGP) immigration program. I focus mainly on their daily challenges and major concerns as they develop strategies both to adapt and to resist, and look at the re-entry by some of them into the labour market and their participation and leadership in building their local Chinese community, both of which demonstrate their resistance to forced dependence. My study makes it clear that the majority of sponsored PGPs exhibit a positive outlook on their life in Canada and demonstrate robust agency, autonomy, adaptation, and resistance to forced dependence in three ways – individually, in small groups, and through community engagement and building. Nonetheless, they still face impediments to independence, security, and worry-free existence. These challenges surpass their control and capacity, necessitating collective support for them from the state, rather than having them rely on sponsoring offspring. I argue that the PGP program reflects embedded neoliberal friction: a state claims to facilitate self-responsibility and -reliance among the governed, but fails to nurture their agency and enhance their autonomy and independence by eschewing its collective responsibility, which undermines their well-being. My study calls for a more sustainable policy to facilitate their age-well.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Public Policy and Public Perspectives on Aging
KEYWORDS
Immigration Policy, Migrant Agency, Wellbeing of Older Immigrants, Governance of
