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Trapped in Time and Place

Cognitive Immobility among Diaspora Communities

In: Diaspora Studies
Authors:
Ezenwa E. Olumba Royal Holloway, University of London Department of Politics and International Relations London UK

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https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5512-5992
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Alessandra Gola Birzeit University Department of Architectural Engineering and Planning and Yalla Project West Bank Palestine

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https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3779-2008
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Lowe E. Mfon University of Bristol School for Policy Studies Bristol UK

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https://orcid.org/0009-0001-2307-5297
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Abstract

This article adopts the interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach to explore the phenomenon of cognitive immobility, where individuals remain cognitively trapped in experiences or locations despite elapsed time and physical distance from those events and places. It explores how (im)mobility and life transitions hold people in the past. The study focuses on the cognitive experiences of Mrs Eve, an African-American woman who on her first visit to Dakar, Senegal, felt a deep, unexplained connection to the place. The article triangulates Mrs Eve’s experiences against those shared by other individuals in previously published peer-reviewed narratives to reveal how (im)mobility and life transitions can lead to cognitive immobility. It underscores that traumatic or memorable life experiences can result in cognitive immobility under certain circumstances and thus enriches the discourse on people who are cognitively trapped in their past.

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