Chapter 8. “Wouldn’t it be better for me to earn my own money and pay taxes?”

Abstract

This study concentrates on migrant representations in stories posted on the websites of UK charity organizations. Drawing upon critical discourse analytic and narrative positioning tools, we examine migrant identity navigation in the past and present that, predominantly, leads to the construction of fulfillment identities. We discuss the ways in which these positionings promote an ideal migrant norm that contributes to wider national homogenizing discourses. We view these stories as sites of liquid racism that divide migrants who succeed and are, thus, fulfilled and migrants who are deviant. We interrogate these representations, given that charity organizations are committed to providing social assistance to migrants and refugees, thus aligning with humanitarian and antiracist discourses.