Multicultural Realities: The Everyday Experiences of Migrant Youth in Melbourne, Toronto and Birmingham

Drawing on empirical data from Australia, Canada, and England, this paper investigates how migrant youth engage with multiculturalism through the lens of transcultural capital. Employing a comparative framework, we examine how these young individuals interpret, experience, and mobilise overlapping multicultural discourses in their everyday lives. By centring the lived experiences of migrant youth, we shift the analytical focus from abstract ideals to what we term ‘lived multiculturalism’—the practical enactment of multicultural values in daily interactions. Our findings reveal that migrant youth conceptualise and practise multiculturalism as a dynamic reservoir of values and resources that inform their cultural orientations and social engagements. Moreover, participants actively draw on these value systems to construct their identities and negotiate belonging. These interpretations, however, are mediated by the distinct social and policy contexts of each national setting.