Unemployed female refugees in a position of perpetual crisis: social enterprise and the indifferent state

Female refugees have been consistently overrepresented in Australia's unemployment statistics for the last 30 years. This thesis analyses the reasons and dynamics underlying this labour market inequality. A particular interest lies in the role of the state in conjunction with the social enterprise in dealing with this inequality. As a result of the neoliberal inspired dynamics between the state and the social enterprise, I argue that female refugees are suspended in what I describe as a'position of perpetual crisis'. Social enterprises have grown in number in advanced democratic capitalist nations such as Australia as a consequence of neoliberal reform over the last 30 years. More recently, there has been an increasing focus by social enterprises on the problem of unemployment for refugees. Just how successful these social enterprises are with getting female refugees gainfully employed is, despite a significant body of research, unclear. This uncertainty is attributed to the recency of social enterprises as a possible solution to unemployment. This includes among other things, the absence of a conceptual framework to measure the effect of social enterprises on gainful employment. Based on qualitative research, this thesis addresses precisely this issue by asking : What role in the Australian Framework of Support (AFS) does the nonprofit social enterprise play in getting unemployed female refugees gainfully employed? In order to find possible answers to this question, this thesis draws on theoretical notions of power to explain the relations between female refugees, the state, and the social enterprise. By bringing together the perspectives of unemployed female refugees and the perspectives of employees of the nonprofit social enterprise with which the participants are affiliated, this thesis offers an empirical lens with which it reveals the relations of power that reproduce rather than reduce inequality and constrain the employment opportunities of female refugees. Emerging from the empirical data is my argument that female refugees are kept in what I describe as a 'position of perpetual crisis'. What defines this position, among other things, is the ongoing commodification of refugees' vulnerability, which is collectively imposed by structures under the AFS, inclusive of the state and the social enterprise. Based on the findings, this vulnerability manifests as restricted access to the fundamental means of integration such as employment, education, and housing. The risk of poverty and homelessness therefore loom large. Moreover, what the data shows is that the nonprofit social enterprise, in its attempt to solve the crisis, contributes to it as it tries to make a difference within a quasi-marketplace instituted by the state. The neoliberal reforms implemented by the state addressing social issues with market solutions, also sustains rather than solves the position of perpetual crisis and results in further discrimination and exploitation of female refugees. Based on my findings, I argue that the role of the social enterprise is symptomatic of a state that, implementing market solutions to social problems, can be said to be indifferent to the employment crisis of female refugees. As a consequence, the situation of female refugees worsens as they remain vulnerable to the competitive forces of the market, therefore open to ongoing exploitation.