Migration, subjectivity and identity: navigating power, agency and discourse in interviews with asylum seekers

Drawing on Judith Butler’s theory of performativity and positioning approaches, this paper examines how asylum seekers actively assert agency in navigating and (re)constructing their subjectivities and identities within research interviews. The analysis explores the power dynamics inherent in the interview setting and broader public discourse, revealing how asylum seekers engage with and respond to these forces. Rather than being passive subjects of discourse, they employ performative-positioning acts to negotiate power structures and assert control over their self-representations. By analyzing interview data, this study highlights the dynamic interplay between power, discourse and agency in the ongoing construction of identity.