From loss to involuntary liquidity: refugees’ relationships to possessions

Abstract

This paper explores refugees’ relationships to consumption and possessions while they resettle in a Nordic country. The results of the empirical study (one-on-one photovoice interviews and micro focus group interviews with 32 Iraqi, Turkish, and Syrian refugees living in Finland) elucidate that the loss of possessions caused by forced displacement thrust refugees to prolonged liminality and alter their relationships to material possessions, pushing them from solid consumption to seek stability through temporary liquid consumption. The study contributes to consumer research by highlighting the role of liquid consumption during imposed long-term liminality and precarity and by exploring the temporal boundaries and characteristics of involuntary liquid consumption. The results improve our understanding of how people relate to consumption and possessions when navigating extreme and arduous life transitions and offers implications for NGOs working with refugee integration.