Still an Other after forty years? Negotiating identifications with migrantship and old age

Research on identity and identifications pertaining to ethnicity and migration has had a tendency to explore ethnicity rather than ethnic otherness, and has, if so, paid little attention to the intersection with (old) age. This presentation explores the intersection between migrantship (i.e. ‘ethnic otherness’ resulting from migration) and old age, with particular focus on identifications – where the question of ‘where are you from’ is a recurring theme. The discussion is based on empirical data in the form of 24 interviews with individuals aged between 55 and 79 who were born in 12 different countries and have lived in Sweden between 18 and 61 years. Informed by a social constructionist perspective, the analysis explores the hows and whens of identifications with various social positions, with a particular interest in the interplay between migrantship and old age. The aim of the presentation is hence to contribute to our (theoretical) understanding of how different social positions intersect and mediate experiences as well as constructions of identities.