A Stranger in My Homeland
This dissertation examines how young people with Kurdish backgrounds form their identity in Sweden with regards to processes of inclusion and exclusion. It also sheds light on the ways these young people deal with ethnic discrimination and racism. Further, the study outlines the importance of these social processes for the discipline of social work and the ways social workers can work with disadvantaged and marginalized groups and endorse their struggle for social justice and full equal citizenship beyond racist and discriminatory practices. The empirical analysis is built on interviews with 28 young men and women with Kurdish backgrounds in Sweden. Postcolonial theory, belonging and identity formation constitute the central conceptual framework of this study... Contents
Acknowledgments / 1
Chapter 1
The historical and political framework of the study / 3
Introduction / 5
The main aim and research questions of the study / 10
Migration and structural inequalities in Sweden / 14
Youth identity, culturalization and social work / 17
Kurdish experiences of otherness and resistance in the Middle East / 30
The organization of the dissertation / 37
Chapter 2
Method and Methodological Considerations / 41
Introduction / 43
Constructionism and researching identity / 43
Experience as a mediated site of knowledge / 47
Sampling and sites /49
The research interview and ethical considerations / 53
Qualitative content analysis / 57
Researcher and research participants: representation, power relations and identity / 60
Chapter 3
Theoretical Perspectives / 69
Introduction / 71
Postcolonialism, intersectionality and subjectivity / 72
Racialized immigrants, stigma and modes of resistance / 79
Identity formation, belonging and citizenship / 88
Nationalism, gender and ethnosexual frontiers / 96
Chapter 4
Historical injustices and politics of denial and recognition / 103
Introduction / 105
“In Sweden I have a two meter long Kurdish flag in my balcony” / 105
The politics of denial and recognition in everyday life / 110
Islam as a contested Kurdish identity / 115
Enacting and justifying a Kurdish nationalist project / 121
Summary / 127
Chapter 5
Unequal citizenship and strategies of dealing with ethnic discrimination in Sweden / 131
Introduction / 133
“If I was accepted as a Swede, why do you think that I am talking about colouring my hair and eyes” / 133
The power of stigmatization and belonging / 141
The quest for positive visibility and success / 146
The magic of return and the fleeting condition of homeliness & homeland / 150
Unrealized promises of citizenship rights / 156
Dealing with ethnic discrimination and racism / 164
Summary /175
Chapter 6
Multiple belongings: Intersection of gender, ethnicity, class, sexuality and nationalism / 179
Introduction / 181
Subordinated femininities and masculinities / 182
The stigma of “honor-killing”: Kurds in Swedish Eyes / 185
Responding to racist representations / 193
The “imports” and internal otherisation among young Kurds / 198
Marriage strategies, political boundaries and racism / 202
Summary / 214
Chapter 7
Discussion and Conclusions / 217
Politics of belonging and challenges for social work / 219
References / 239 Abstract
This dissertation examines how young people with Kurdish backgrounds form their identity in Sweden with regards to processes of inclusion and exclusion. It also sheds light on the ways these young people deal with ethnic discrimination and racism. Further, the study outlines the importance of these social processes for the discipline of social work and the ways social workers can work with disadvantaged and marginalized groups and endorse their struggle for social justice and full equal citizenship beyond racist and discriminatory practices. The empirical analysis is built on interviews with 28 young men and women with Kurdish backgrounds in Sweden. Postcolonial theory, belonging and identity formation constitute the central conceptual framework of this study.
The young people referred to different sites in which they experienced ethnic discrimination and stigmatization. These experiences involved the labor market, mass media, housing segregation, legal system and school system. The interviewees also referred to the roles of ‘ordinary’ Swedes in obstructing their participation in the Swedish society through exclusionary discourses relating to Swedish identity. The interviewees’ life situation in Sweden, sense of ethnic discrimination as well as disputes over identity making with other young people with Middle-Eastern background are among the most important reasons for fostering strong Kurdish nationalist sentiments, issues that are related to the ways they can exercise their citizenship rights in Sweden and how they deal with exclusionary practices in their everyday life. The study shows that the interviewees respond to and resist ethnic discrimination in a variety of ways including interpersonal debates and discussions, changing their names to Swedish names, strengthening differences between the self and the other, violence, silence and deliberately ignoring racism. They also challenged and spoke out against the gendered racism that they were subjected to in their daily lives due to the paternalist discourse of “honor-killing”.
The research participants had been denied an equal place within the boundary of Swedishness partly due to a racist postcolonial discourse that valued whiteness highly. Paradoxically, some interviewees reproduced the same discourse through choosing to use it against black people, Africans, newly-arrived Kurdish immigrants (“imports”), “Gypsies” and Islam in order to claim a modern Kurdish identity as near to whiteness as possible. This indicates the multiple dimensions of racism. Those who are subjected to racism and ethnic discrimination can be discriminatory and reproduce the racist discourse. Despite unequal power relations, both dominant and minoritized subjects are all marked by the postcolonial condition in structuring subjectivities, belonging and identification.
Keywords: young people with Kurdish backgrounds, postcolonial theory, identity formation, belonging, citizenship, ethnic discrimination, gendered racism, Kurdish nationalism, social work, culturalization, strategies, resistance. A stranger in my homeland:
The politics of belonging among young people
with Kurdish backgrounds in Sweden
Barzoo Eliassi
Distributor: Mid Sweden University, Department of Social Work, SE 831 25 Östersund, Sweden.
ISSN: 1652-893X.
© Barzoo Eliassi, Mid Sweden University, Department of Social Work,
SE 831 25 Östersund, Sweden.
ISBN: 978-91-86073-80-0
ISSN: 1652-893X.
Printed in Sweden 2010 by Universitetstryckeriet, Mid Sweden University, Sundsvall. | 
