For Me It’s Just Living : Identity Construction in the Transnational Lives of First and Second Generation Somalis in The Netherlands

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2012
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en
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Processes of globalisation and transnationalism greatly transformed the way we study migration and migrants’ – or refugees’ – attachments to their homelands, as well as to the receiving country they have migrated, or fled to. Transmigrants thus have significant implications for migration studies and more concretely, for the role of the nation-state – challenging state-centrism and other conventional discourses. Under the process of transnationalism refugees’ relation to the nation-states changes, as well as their everyday lives and identities. Transnationalism is relatively young and currently one of the key concepts and perspectives in this field of study; however, the phenomenon itself is not new. It helps us in understanding the social behaviour of migrants, their relation to place, as well as their construction of identities. Viewed through the lenses of transnationalism, this research focuses on first generation Somali refugees and their offspring (second generation) living in the Netherlands and asks how do they engage in transnational practices and negotiate and construct their identities within a transnational setting, and through examining the mentioned phenomena, tries to comprehend what are the overall implications for their everyday lives and what are the inter- and intragenerational similarities and differences. This is of great relevance especially when discussing the second generation, since they are more likely than their parents to maintain only symbolic and emotional ties. In order to answer to these questions, discussions on nation-state, home, and belonging are also integrated into the study. Focus is put on the narratives of the respondents and their self-perception regarding their transnational practices, and most importantly, their identities. With tackling the issues mentioned, this study is of great societal, as well as scientific relevance for the migration field of study, which indicates its potential contribution to the existing literature related to the themes researched in this thesis. International migration is not only a process of moving from place A to place B, but it also consists of numerous links and networks between migrants situated in several places around the world. With regular connections and flows of ideas and objects crossing borders of nationstates, and thus living transnational lives, they establish transnational social field, reconstruct the concepts of place, nation-states, identity, etc. Migrants can practice transnationalism in various ways, with different intensity and through diverse types of activities, crossing the dualities traditionally prevailing in migration and diaspora discussions, and thus recognizing migrants’ numerous allegiances to places and societies. However, when analysing the intensity and types of transnational practices, one should bear in mind that first generation Somalis are refugees and that their motives for migration differ from those of labour migrants, as well as the nature of their transnational activities, which clearly reflects the circumstances of the country from which they have fled and their distinctive attitude towards, in this case, Somalia. This is the first among the many indicators of how any omission of the discussion about nation-state would point to a study’s deficiency. While the role of the nation-state is actually being reformulated, – since transnationalism has great implications for its national identity, related to belonging, loyalty, etc. – it still holds a tight rein on several complex matters referring to regulations of transnational practices and identities. The latter is at the core of this research, especially when in a discussion with the second generation, whose identities are still easier to influence on and therefore change, since they were raised in transnational households while being simultaneously surrounded by the Dutch society, for all their lives. This small-scale case study is predominantly a qualitative research, which is considered as the best type of research for answering the questions related to the complex social phenomena captured in the research questions. The very core method of this study is the interview – which reveals their histories of mobility, feelings of attachment and self-perception of their identities – besides literature review, participant observation and the use of the namegenerators for studying the social networks of participants. The interviews were semistructured and thus in-depth, in order to get an insight into the dynamics of refugees’ transnationalism. The study employs purposeful sampling in order to obtain rich data and as much useful information as possible. The sample consists of twenty Somalis in total; ten representatives of the first generation, 6 women and 4 men, who fled the country of Somalia at the beginning of the 1990s, and the same number and gender ratio of their children – second generation representatives – who are between 18 and 24 years of age. After the field research, obtained data was transcribed and analysed, and results presented in the empirical chapters. As already explained, the research is about first and second generation Somalis living in the Netherlands. The parents fled from Somalia due to unbearable circumstances and from what appears to be a never-ending conflict – although current developments might be more promising – or they went to the Netherlands through the family reunification programme. Somalis are predominantly Muslims and social relations among them are characterized by the system of clan relations. Due to the humanitarian crisis and the length of the conflict-related circumstances, they are one of the most dispersed people in the world, presenting the third largest refugee group, comprising 770,154 people (as of January 2011). On the other hand the Netherlands, which accepts Somalis as part of the resettlement programme, has been changing integration policies and adjusting them to the public atmosphere in the country, and vice versa; the public opinion reflects the governments’ policies. In any case, even though the participants in this research felt a substantial change in how they are perceived by the Dutch after 9/11 2001, they are generally very satisfied with living in the Netherlands and its society. The respondents generally possess transnational consciousness but are practicing transnationalism to a very different extent – in terms of the level, frequency, and intensity; variations are possible to observe intra-generationally (second generation), and especially inter-generationally. In general, practices are of broader nature, involving material as well as symbolic ones, and in the case of youngsters, they are experiencing transnational lives primarily through the ways of belonging, rather than being. One of the reasons for this type of practices stems from their refugee status and the circumstances in Somalia, which prevent some of them from getting more deeply involved (capacity and desire nexus). Their status has also a great impact on their positioning in the host society, their attitude towards their homeland and the formation of their identities, indicating the relevance of place in the formation of identities. Moreover, the second generation seems to more or less successfully combine transnational orientation – though limited – and their integration into the Dutch society. This results in the hybrid identities they construct and in the mixed cultural practices, even though everyday lives of the majority are still captured in the framework of the Somali culture and Islamic religious belief. Due to the self-perception and perception of them by others, they feel a gap between them and the Somali culture, as well them and the Dutch culture, values, etc., and consequently feel estranged from both societies. Negotiating ‘Somaliness’ and ‘Dutchness’ thus varies between the generations, as well as within the two. This has a great and consequently diverse impact on their lives.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen