Conference Agenda

Young refugees are often described either as passive victims or as future agents of national reconstruction. Such framings tend to overlook the complex dialogical processes through which young people negotiate their legitimacy to speak, imagine, and position themselves in relation to reconstruction at all. Drawing on Dialogical Self Theory, this study examines how Ukrainian refugee students in Japan construct and navigate multiple I-positions when talking about reconstruction of their homeland.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 Ukrainian students who relocated to Japan after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Interviews focused on participants’ images of reconstruction and their perceived roles in relation to Ukraine’s future. The analysis focuses on how voices about reconstruction become supported, weakened, or remain underdeveloped through shifting I-positionings within the dialogical self.

The analysis suggests that forced migration distorts dialogical space in multiple ways, with participants’ accounts are organized across multiple, often conflicting I-positions. These include, for example, I-as-a-refugee-who-left, I-as-a-future-bridge-between-countries, and I-as-someone-struggling-to-rebuild-my-own-life. These positions are shaped by moral tensions such as guilt related to evacuation, relational dynamics with those who remained in Ukraine, and the negotiation of dominant public and political narratives surrounding responsibility, contribution, and legitimacy. Importantly, these positions do not converge into a coherent or unified standpoint.

These I-positions are further shaped and negotiated within external dialogical contexts, such as relationships where discussing Ukraine feels constrained, and digital spaces that are accessible for information on reconstruction yet remain emotionally demanding. Reconstruction emerges not as a clearly defined future goal, but as a contested dialogical space where multiple voices are continuously negotiated. This study highlights the importance of attending to dialogical positioning in understanding refugee students’ perspectives on reconstruction under conditions of forced migration.

All procedures were approved by the institutional ethics committee, and written informed consent was obtained from participants prior to data collection.