“I Am Here”: Intersectionality and Integration in the Experiences of Women Refugees in Berlin
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2020-08-26
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en
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This thesis examines the influence of the intersectionality of a group of women refugees in Berlin on their social and spatial integration. It draws on critical geographic discourses around place, home, and identity to re-imagine integration as a universal performance of individuals trying to root their translocal networks in a given locale. This definition is found to pose a strong contrast to the more functional conceptualisation promoted by existing integration policies in Germany and Berlin. To understand the effects of this disparity on the individual’s experience, this thesis draws on interviews with women refugees as well as participant observations conducted during fieldwork in Berlin. The findings show that the women’s considerable agency across the spatial, social, functional, and individual aspects of their integration performances is frequently underestimated. Its recognition, however, underlines the need to reconsider existing definitions of integration, space, and place-making. In addition, it leads to the realisation that a more inclusive approach to integration is required to reduce the different forms of discrimination these women suffer based on their intersectionality.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen