Reproduction of (Un)-modernity at the site of the everyday: Knowledge production practices on ‘migrant families’ in the Netherlands

This paper examines how the everyday doing of ‘migrant families’ is described, problematized, and disciplined within knowledge production practices. Through a critical discourse analysis of research reports originating in the Netherlands and focused on migrant families, the paper explores the discursi

ve constructions of ‘modern’ and ‘unmodern’ families, depicted in their doing of ‘modern’ and ‘unmodern values’, while highlighting the fluid and contested construction of modernity itself. By merging theoretical perspectives from critical migration studies, sociology of the everyday, and occupational science, the paper argues that the study and description of the everyday is yet another site where cultural assumptions and modernity logics are (re)produced and disseminated into practice in ways in which the everyday becomes the site of intensive harm. In turn, the implications of such discursive harm in the lives of those deemed ‘unmodern’ warrants further study.