Refugee stories about war and welfare

In this paper I focus on a few points from my early empirical work with an ongoing research project. I will discuss the notion of the ‘marginalized migrant’ as well as the generalized and stereotyped images of refugees as ‘traumatized victims of war’. While being traumatized and in need of basic protection is for certain a fundamental part of most refugee experiences, such images also risk denying people who have fled of their individual needs, and of subjectivity, agency and ability as individuals (Eastmond, 2007). Therefore, one aim in this work is to reconsider how we understand and actively categorize individuals when working with welfare services such as integrational and educational activities.