Carving out a space to belong

Young Syrian men negotiating patriarchal dividend, (in)visibility and (mis)recognition in the Netherlands

Bibliographic Data

ID18985669
AuthorsRik P Huizinga (0000-0001-6443-5108, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume46
Issue14
Pages3101-3122
Publication date2023-10-26
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEthnic and Racial Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0141-9870 • E-ISSN: 1466-4356
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01419870.2022.2156805
OpenAlexW4311884476
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited42

This paper examines everyday life as a site of refugee politics by zooming in on lived experiences of Syrian male refugees in relation to exclusionary state and public discourses in the Netherlands. I use literature on place-making, encounter and boundary work to explore how privilege, visibility and recognition in public spaces are negotiated. The findings emphasize the messy realities of everyday life, differentiated experiences of oppression and privilege, and the way spatiality and intersectionality are articulated in these experiences. Syrian men experience increased visibility along the lines of gender, race and religion, but counter hostile discourses by claiming space and belonging in everyday places. Moreover, they strategically construct boundaries between themselves and other Syrian men to avoid misrecognition and not-belonging. The insights into intersectional variation are important to nuance the category of Syrian male refugees and raise questions about the unequal social relationships created and reinforced by integration frameworks

Everyday life · Intersectionality · Negotiation · Oppression · Political science · Politics · Privilege (computing) · Public space · Refugee · Social science · Sociology · Gender Studies · Homelessness and Social Issues · Law · Migration, Health and Trauma · Migration, Refugees, and Integration

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