Convergences between public sociology, feminist theory and the praxis for refugee and asylum-seeking integration in Scotland

Public sociology and feminist theory share a commitment to unveiling power structures through knowledge that is collaborative, inclusive and relevant to individual and collective efforts to create social change. In my explorations, I use textual data gathered from project reports produced by the Scottish Refugee Council (SRC) and the Refugee Women's Strategic Group (RWSG) between 2011 and 2016 analyse their efforts toward refugee and asylum-seeker integration in Scotland. To frame the SRC and the RWSG’s interventions, achievements and challenges, the first part of the chapter revisits the exclusionary relations that have shaped conceptualisations and practices of citizenship historically. The second part of the paper follows the work of the SRC and the RWSG and traces the connections among their praxis, public sociology and feminist theory: frameworks of participatory knowledge production, intersectional analysis, analyses centred on women's experience, and the use of women’s voices for transformative change.