Edward Ou Jin Lee
Université de Montréal, École de Travail Social, Faculty Member
- Nationalism, Participatory Action Research, Critical Studies of Race and Ethnicity, Critical Race Theory, Anti-Oppressive Practice, Social Work, and 36 moreSociology, Intersectionality and Social Inequality, Participatory Research, Participatory Media, Anti-Oppressive Social Work, Queer Theory, Forced Migration, Critical and Cultural Theory, Institutional Ethnography (Research Methodology), Pedagogy of Social Work, Critical Theory, Women's Studies, Migration Studies, Queer Studies, Refugee Studies, LGBT Issues, Sociology of Migration, Policing, LGBT Studies, Racialization, Race and Racism, Gender and Sexuality, Intersectionality, Settler colonialism, Transnational Feminism, Postcolonial Feminism, Indigenous Studies, Sexuality, Social Movements, Transnational Social Movements, Child protection, International Refugee Law, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Refugees, Immigration Status & Nationality, and Anti-Racismedit
Most of the scholarship on queer and trans migrants focuses on the refugee experience post-migration to Canada. In con- trast, this article draws from a doctoral study that included participant interviews and policy/media textual analysis... more
Most of the scholarship on queer and trans migrants focuses on the refugee experience post-migration to Canada. In con- trast, this article draws from a doctoral study that included participant interviews and policy/media textual analysis to map out the historical, geopolitical, social, and economic dimensions that shape homophobic and transphobic vio- lence across the globe, as well as queer and trans migra- tions from the Global South to Canada. These realities are analyzed through the lens of coloniality and on the scale of empire to historicize how queer and trans migrant lives are shaped by forgotten histories of colonial violence. This study suggests that the hyper-visibility of Canada’s “generous” treatment of queer and trans refugees obscures how its bor- der regime blocks people from the Global South from entry.
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This article examines how the Canadian immigration regime socially organizes the everyday lives of queer and trans migrants with precarious status. Drawing from key findings from an institutional ethnographic study, this article maps out... more
This article examines how the Canadian immigration regime socially organizes the everyday lives of queer and trans migrants with precarious status. Drawing from key findings from an institutional ethnographic study, this article maps out the disjuncture between the actual experiences of queer and trans migrants with precarious status and the ideological and textual production of precarious status by the Canadian state. Making explicit this disjuncture reveals how the Canadian immigration regime enacts structural violence upon queer and trans migrants. This article also engages with the response-based approach to violence in order to understand how queer and trans migrants actively respond to this violence. In doing so, this article highlights the ways in which queer and trans migrants respond and resist the structural violence integral to the Canadian state’s production of precarious status.
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REFERENCE: Tourki, D., E. O. J. Lee, A. Baril, W. Hebert et A. Pullen Sansfaçon (2018). Au-delà des apparences : analyse intersectionnelle de vécus de jeunes trans migrants et racisés au Québec, Revue Jeunes et Société, 3 (1),... more
REFERENCE: Tourki, D., E. O. J. Lee, A. Baril, W. Hebert et A. Pullen Sansfaçon (2018). Au-delà des apparences : analyse intersectionnelle de vécus de jeunes trans migrants et racisés au Québec, Revue
Jeunes et Société, 3 (1), 133-153. http://rjs.inrs.ca/index.php/rjs/issue/132/82
RÉSUMÉ: Depuis quelque temps, on observe une prise de conscience publique concernant les enjeux que vivent les personnes trans migrantes et les jeunes trans, surtout au Québec. Néanmoins, il existe très peu de littérature sur le vécu des jeunes trans migrants et racisés. Notre article vise à pallier cette lacune apparente dans les recherches francophones sur les personnes trans migrantes, en particulier chez les jeunes, en présentant les résultats préliminaires d’un projet de recherche-action participative communautaire visant à mieux comprendre les expériences des jeunes trans âgés de 15 à 25 ans vivant au Québec. Le présent article discute des facteurs d’oppression ainsi que de certains privilèges, de même que de l’influence qu’ils ont sur l’expérience des jeunes trans migrants et racisés lorsqu’ils naviguent les normes de genre préétablies. L’article traite des manières dont des facteurs tels que l’identité de genre, la citoyenneté, la race et l’âge s’entrecroisent et interagissent, et ultimement influencent les transitions médicales, sociales et légales de ces jeunes. De plus, nous discutons des axes de différenciation sociale, ainsi que la manière dont ils façonnent les difficultés qui marquent le parcours de ces jeunes et qui empêchent parfois l’affirmation de leurs multiples identités. Nous reconnaissons également la force et la résilience chez les jeunes trans migrants et racisés ainsi que la manière dont ces jeunes réagissent aux oppressions multiples.
MOTS CLÉS : jeunes trans migrants et racisés, Québec, intersectionnalité, parcours migratoires, études migratoires trans
ABSTRACT: Recently, the public has shown growing awareness of issues affecting trans migrants and youth, especially in Quebec. However, few studies have focused on the experiences of racialized and migrant trans youth. Our article aims to address this apparent gap in the Francophone literature by presenting the preliminary results of a community-based participatory action research project that seeks to better understand the experiences of trans youth in Quebec between the ages 15 to 25. We discuss various forms of oppression faced by these young people, as well as certain privileges, while also addressing the impact of this oppression and these privileges on the experiences of racialized and migrant trans youth who must navigate pre-established gender norms. The article also examines how factors such as gender identity, citizenship, race and age interconnect and interact. Ultimately, these factors shape young people’s medical, social and legal transitions. Furthermore, different axes of social differentiation and the obstacles they create affect the young people’s trajectories and sometimes prevent them from fully expressing their multiple identities. Finally, we highlight the strength and resilience of racialized and migrant trans youth, as well as how they respond to multiple forms of oppression.
KEYWORDS: racialized and migrant trans youth, Quebec, intersectionality, migration trajectory, trans migrant studies
Jeunes et Société, 3 (1), 133-153. http://rjs.inrs.ca/index.php/rjs/issue/132/82
RÉSUMÉ: Depuis quelque temps, on observe une prise de conscience publique concernant les enjeux que vivent les personnes trans migrantes et les jeunes trans, surtout au Québec. Néanmoins, il existe très peu de littérature sur le vécu des jeunes trans migrants et racisés. Notre article vise à pallier cette lacune apparente dans les recherches francophones sur les personnes trans migrantes, en particulier chez les jeunes, en présentant les résultats préliminaires d’un projet de recherche-action participative communautaire visant à mieux comprendre les expériences des jeunes trans âgés de 15 à 25 ans vivant au Québec. Le présent article discute des facteurs d’oppression ainsi que de certains privilèges, de même que de l’influence qu’ils ont sur l’expérience des jeunes trans migrants et racisés lorsqu’ils naviguent les normes de genre préétablies. L’article traite des manières dont des facteurs tels que l’identité de genre, la citoyenneté, la race et l’âge s’entrecroisent et interagissent, et ultimement influencent les transitions médicales, sociales et légales de ces jeunes. De plus, nous discutons des axes de différenciation sociale, ainsi que la manière dont ils façonnent les difficultés qui marquent le parcours de ces jeunes et qui empêchent parfois l’affirmation de leurs multiples identités. Nous reconnaissons également la force et la résilience chez les jeunes trans migrants et racisés ainsi que la manière dont ces jeunes réagissent aux oppressions multiples.
MOTS CLÉS : jeunes trans migrants et racisés, Québec, intersectionnalité, parcours migratoires, études migratoires trans
ABSTRACT: Recently, the public has shown growing awareness of issues affecting trans migrants and youth, especially in Quebec. However, few studies have focused on the experiences of racialized and migrant trans youth. Our article aims to address this apparent gap in the Francophone literature by presenting the preliminary results of a community-based participatory action research project that seeks to better understand the experiences of trans youth in Quebec between the ages 15 to 25. We discuss various forms of oppression faced by these young people, as well as certain privileges, while also addressing the impact of this oppression and these privileges on the experiences of racialized and migrant trans youth who must navigate pre-established gender norms. The article also examines how factors such as gender identity, citizenship, race and age interconnect and interact. Ultimately, these factors shape young people’s medical, social and legal transitions. Furthermore, different axes of social differentiation and the obstacles they create affect the young people’s trajectories and sometimes prevent them from fully expressing their multiple identities. Finally, we highlight the strength and resilience of racialized and migrant trans youth, as well as how they respond to multiple forms of oppression.
KEYWORDS: racialized and migrant trans youth, Quebec, intersectionality, migration trajectory, trans migrant studies
Research Interests: Social Work, Youth Studies, Transgender Studies, Race and Racism, Immigration, and 15 moreMigration, Critical Race Theory, Race and Ethnicity, Youth Culture, Theories of Gender and Transgender, Migration Studies, Gender and Race, Anti-Oppressive Social Work, Intersectionality and Social Inequality, Transgender, Quebec, Intersectionality, Citizenship, Social Inequality, and Intervention
L'affirmation identitaire des personnes lesbiennes, gaies, bisexuelles, trans et queer issues de l'immigration (LGBTQ racisées) est en croissance constante au Québec. Malgré une reconnaissance publiquement affirmée de la diversité... more
L'affirmation identitaire des personnes lesbiennes, gaies, bisexuelles, trans et queer issues de l'immigration (LGBTQ racisées) est en croissance constante au Québec. Malgré une reconnaissance publiquement affirmée de la diversité sexuelle, des discriminations de tout genre se trouvent banalisées sur le plan social et politique, au niveau national et international. Sur le plan politique, les démarches menées par des organisations ou des individus auprès des représentants politiques pour défendre les droits des personnes LGBTQ racisées sont peu nombreuses. Sur le plan social, la méconnaissance et l'incompréhension des besoins particuliers de ces personnes créent des situations d'injustice, de rejet, d'exclusion, d'homophobie, de transphobie et de racisme. Il existe peu d'information sur les ressemblances et les différences entre les barrières à l'intégration sociale (comme la difficulté d'accès au système de santé et services sociaux, confrontation au racisme et à la discrimination en emploi, etc.) vécues au Québec par les membres de la communauté LGBTQ en général et les personnes LGBTQ racisées. La documentation manque aussi concernant les recommandations que les personnes LGBTQ racisées jugent pertinentes pour lutter contre les discriminations multiples comme le racisme, l'homophobie et la transphobie, et pour améliorer ainsi leurs relations structurelles, interculturelles et intraculturelles. Cet article tente, à partir d'une étude exploratoire, d'apporter un éclairage sur les parcours divers, les identités multiples ainsi que sur les barrières vécues par les personnes LGBTQ racisées.
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This book chapter critically reflects upon the micro-processes of a participatory media project with queer and trans refugees with the aim to interrogate the links between individual interactions and structural causes. This chapter... more
This book chapter critically reflects upon the micro-processes of a participatory media project with queer and trans refugees with the aim to interrogate the links between individual interactions and structural causes. This chapter presents key strategies related to transparency, power sharing and taking responsibility in order to move towards critical multiliteracies that may have multiple and long term benefits for directly affected community members.
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This article aims to challenge dominant narratives found within both mainstream and anti-oppressive scholarship about the historical origins of social work by exploring the crucial role of race and racialization in the development and... more
This article aims to challenge dominant narratives found within both mainstream and anti-oppressive scholarship about the historical origins of social work by exploring the crucial role of race and racialization in the development and maintenance of the social work profession. Mapping out the shifting ways in which the social work profession actively participated in the construction of colour lines to enforce and reinforce the dominant imagery of the valorized Canadian subject reveals simultaneous social processes we call circles of reform, civilization, and in/visibility. Through a critical race feminist theoretical framework, we explore the complex ways in which these circles allowed leading social workers to promote the social work profession as an important colonial mechanism for the consolidation of Canada as a white settler society. We conclude by critically reflecting upon the possible colonial continuities of these circles and the implications for current anti-oppressive social work practice.
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Abstract: This article aims to contribute to social work scholarship about LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer) migrants by drawing from a community- based research project about the experiences of queer and trans refugees... more
Abstract: This article aims to contribute to social work scholarship about LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer) migrants by drawing from a community- based research project about the experiences of queer and trans refugees living in Canada. We aim to explore the findings from this project by employing critical intersectionality analysis, with a particular focus on structural intersectionality. This intersectional analysis will be linked with key aspects of queer, trans, and critical race theory, in order to reveal the ways heteronormativity, cisnormativity,
and processes of racialization shape and organize the everyday lives of queer andtrans refugees. In addition, we will explore the implications of the findings and analysis, for those providing services and/or engaging in community organizing with queer and trans people with refugee experiences. Our aim is to draw from and synthesize the perspectives of the social workers and community organizers
interviewed for this project, in order to introduce an anti-oppressive practice model for supporting queer and trans refugees in Canada.
and processes of racialization shape and organize the everyday lives of queer andtrans refugees. In addition, we will explore the implications of the findings and analysis, for those providing services and/or engaging in community organizing with queer and trans people with refugee experiences. Our aim is to draw from and synthesize the perspectives of the social workers and community organizers
interviewed for this project, in order to introduce an anti-oppressive practice model for supporting queer and trans refugees in Canada.
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Canadian newspapers are a principal source of information on refugees claiming asylum in Canada on the basis of persecution for their sexual orientation. Many articles rely on culturally racist and classist stereotypes of sexual... more
Canadian newspapers are a principal source of information on
refugees claiming asylum in Canada on the basis of persecution for their sexual orientation. Many articles rely on culturally racist and classist stereotypes of sexual minorities to demonstrate claimants’ legitimacy. Refugees’ stories are further deployed as “mediating agents” to confirm Canada’s “superiority” over
other regions, particularly those identified as Islamic. To determine what thematic constructions are most prevalent among Canadian news sources, the authors conducted a critical discourse analysis (CDA) and secondary textual analysis of articles culled from five Canadian English-language newspapers,
employing critical race and queer theories as framing devices.
refugees claiming asylum in Canada on the basis of persecution for their sexual orientation. Many articles rely on culturally racist and classist stereotypes of sexual minorities to demonstrate claimants’ legitimacy. Refugees’ stories are further deployed as “mediating agents” to confirm Canada’s “superiority” over
other regions, particularly those identified as Islamic. To determine what thematic constructions are most prevalent among Canadian news sources, the authors conducted a critical discourse analysis (CDA) and secondary textual analysis of articles culled from five Canadian English-language newspapers,
employing critical race and queer theories as framing devices.
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This article explores the results of a qualitative community-based research project on the intersectional experiences of sexual minority refugees living in Canada. Undertaken between 2008 and 2010, this study examines sexual minority... more
This article explores the results of a qualitative community-based research project on the intersectional experiences of sexual minority refugees living in Canada. Undertaken between 2008 and 2010, this study examines sexual minority refugees’ multifaceted experiences of migration, the refugee determination process, and settlement. Through an analysis of the interrelated themes of identity, refugeeness, and belonging, we hope to further investigate the ways in which Canadian refugee policies, social institutions, and dominant discourses contribute to the sociopolitical construction of sexual minority refugees. We conclude with an exploration of strategies for increasing protection of sexual minority refugees in Canada.