‘And now I feel I don’t have a clear future’: Hauntings and temporal uncertainty in refugee narratives

Abstract As a consequence of the so-called ‘paradigm shift’, that defines all refugee protection as temporary, the last decade has seen the focus for refugee administration in Denmark move from ‘integration’ towards ‘repatriation and self-provision’. Through analysis of life stories from people arriving to Denmark as refugees before and after this shift, this article examines how people seeking protection experience and make meaning of their new reality as refugees within the Danish welfare state. Drawing on the perspectives of narrativity and hauntology, that acknowledges the workings of past injustices in the present, the analysis shows that people living in temporary protection experience being kept waiting in a never-ending present. Uncertain waiting destroys people’s sense of agency and belonging and counteracts their ability to reorient themselves towards a meaningful future. The article suggests that this ongoing uncertainty conjures up ghosts from the past that reappear and continue to haunt and ruin their present lives.