Kurdish-Canadian Identity and the Intricacies of Acculturation

Abdurrahman Wahab

doi:10.29333/ejecs/260

Authors

Abdurrahman Wahab

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejecs/260

Keywords:

Kurdistan, dual identity, acculturation, Kurdish-Canadian, Iraqi Kurdish, self-identification

Abstract

This paper studies the process of acculturation of the Iraqi Kurdish community in Ontario, Canada. It explores factors such as ethno-cultural identities and the socio-cultural circumstances that impact the adaptation of a dual identity. The study explores components of the Kurdish participants’ ethnic and national identities, such as their self-identification and their sense of belonging and participation in aspects of life. It also elaborates on the ways in which members of the Iraqi Kurdish community in Canada understand and construe their life experiences, and what it means to live as Kurdish immigrants in a multicultural society.

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Author Biography

Abdurrahman Wahab

Abdurrahman Wahab received his PhD in Social Justice Education and Educational Policy from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, Canada. His research focuses on the sociology of ethnic and national identities and nation-state building, equity studies, and democratic education. His PhD research examines the intricacies of Kurdish national identity and the relationships between the processes of national imagination and state-building and educational, social and political issues in schools and society in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.

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