2026 Theses Master's

Resettlement Beyond Integration: Identity in Motion and Partial Belonging Among Syrian Refugees in Germany

Salinas, Isabella

This thesis examines how resettlement shapes cultural identity among displaced Syrian refugees in Germany, challenging dominant resettlement frameworks that assume a linear, fixed trajectory of integration. While human rights approaches prioritize measurable components of resettlement such as employment, legal status, and language acquisition, this thesis argues that these frameworks fail to account for the unresolved nature of identity formation in the lived experience of displacement.

Drawing on qualitative analysis of publicly available refugee testimonies, including interviews from Archive Der Flucht, this study explores the navigation of displacement through the process of disruption, negotiation and reconstruction in individuals. This analysis shows that identity is neither preserved nor replaced in resettlement, but instead reshaped through memory, constraint, and adaptation over time.

Central to this thesis is the concept of partial belonging, used to describe how individuals remain simultaneously disconnected and connected to their past and present, resulting in multiple identities. This argument highlights critical limitations in current, dominant integration and human rights frameworks, which rely on definitions of stability that do not align with the fluidity and evolution of identity in the context of forced migration.