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Public Administration

Nazia Arifa

Image of Nazia on the Uvic campus

PhD candidate

Public Administration

Contact:
Credentials:
MA (USask), NACLAA Level I (UAlberta), MSS (DU), BSS (DU)

About

Nazia Arifa is currently a PhD Candidate in the School of Public Administration and a Research Assistant at the BIG Lab within the Centre for Global Studies at the University of Victoria. She is an Assistant Professor (on study leave) in the Department of Political Science at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, with over 12 years of university-level teaching experience.

She holds a Master of Arts in Political Studies from the University of Saskatchewan and a National Advanced Certificate in Local Authority Administration from the University of Alberta. Her academic research has been recognized with the British Columbia Graduate Scholarship (BCGS) and the Roderick MacIsaac Graduate Scholarship.

Dissertation

My research is situated at the intersection of migration studies, border governance, and refugee settlement systems. I examine the "humanitarian-security nexus" to understand how community-led organizations facilitate social cohesion, intercultural belonging, and grassroots resistance to the rigid securitization of borders.

While traditional immigration frameworks prioritize state security, forced displacement requires a deeper understanding of how localized, community-driven spaces support long-term settlement. My work investigates these dynamics by analyzing how grassroots initiatives mitigate the intersecting challenges of displacement and socio-economic exclusion.

To capture these complex human experiences, my research exclusively employs qualitative methodologies. By utilizing feminist ethnography and participatory action research, I aim to center the lived experiences of displaced women and marginalized groups.

The goal of my research is to provide a comparative analysis of community-led integration outcomes across different international contexts, focusing on Canada and Bangladesh. The findings aim to bridge the gap between high-level border policy and grassroots community practices, ultimately informing more equitable and inclusive settlement systems.