Paper short abstract:

The paper investigates processes of creation of life coherence amongst newly recognized refugee parents living in rural Denmark and shows how intergenerational dynamics form a crucial factor with regard to both existential well-being and aspirations for social integration into Danish society.

Paper long abstract:

The paper investigates the everyday settlement processes of newly recognized refugee families living in rural areas of Denmark. Using ethnographic examples, the paper explores the dreams, understandings, strategies and crises of well-being of refugees who are also parents. It does so by enquiring into the processes by which these parents seek to create a sense of belonging and the ways in which they pursue life coherence and a positive outlook on the future within their Danish surroundings. It is argued that they mostly experience and comprehend their strivings for a better future by means of an intergenerational rationale that causes them to assess the family's social mobility - and the success of the entire act of migration as such - in terms of what the future promises for their children rather than for themselves. The paper demonstrates that intergenerational dynamics and crises form a crucial relational and temporal factor with regard to both existential well-being and aspirations for social integration into Danish society.