"We are chameleons"

Guided by Pierre Bourdieu’s theoretical approach to capital and James Côté’s concept of identity capital, our research investigates the social situations in which individuals deploy identity as a form of capital, the ways they deploy identity capital in these situations, and the ways in which identity performances are strategic. [...] Understanding the deployment of identity capital in the workplace of a multicultural settlement organization is important because it is a key element in the successful delivery of services to immigrants and thus the successful settlement of newcomers. [...] And the structure of the distribution of the different types and subtypes of capital at a given moment in time represents the immanent structure of the social world, i.e., the set of constraints, inscribed in the very reality of that world, which govern its functioning in a durable way, determining the chances of success for practices (pp. [...] Page 6 The concept of identity capital suits the investigation of the Canadian immigration and settlement context in which it is important to manoeuvre in different social environments. [...] This area includes the Region of Peel, located in the western Pag e 7 part of the GTA and encompassing the cities of Brampton and Mississauga and the Town of Caledon.