◆Name： Isao, MURAHASHI

◆Date of Issue: 12 April 2021

◆Published in Promis(Research Center for Promoting Intercultural Studies, Kobe University) Working Paper Series

◆ Title of Article: How Refugees Imagine and Strive Toward Their Future: The Aspirations and Hardships of South Sudanese Refugees in Uganda　（Working Paper #6）

◆Abstract:

This paper adresses the aspirations and efforts of diplaced people to create new lives and opportunities, taking the South Sudanese refugees in Uganda as an example. Refugees are often perceived as people deprived of agancy and seen as different from "migrants." However, wartime migrants also aim for a "stable, comfortable life" along with self-preservation and security. It is often overlooked that becoming and staying as a refugee is a transformative experience. Migration can lead refugees to seek new opportunities, reshape their future, and become agents of change. This paper demonstrates how South Sudanese youth strive to improve their lives and imagine their futures by presenting the narratives of their daily lives, everyday practices, and livelihoods. Moreover, it takes two South Sudanese refugees as examples. One is an orphan who experienced family loss, repeated displacement, and structural disadvantages. The other became a pioneer migrant, leading his family and community members to escape to Uganda. Both frequently travel in and around their camp, pursing livelihood options in the face of economic challenges. Another way to understand the aspiration of refugees is through the axamination of their preferences in their utilization of photographic images. Refugees ogten prefer utopian or dreamy photographs to "real" images of their lives. Therefore, I discuss how displaced people plan and aspire to a future in the contingent conditions of Ugandan refugee settlements.