An Anthropological Journey of Belonging: Somali Women Re-Imagine Home in Wellington, New Zealand

<p>This thesis provides insights into refugee-background Somali women’s active productions of belonging in New Zealand, after resettlement in Wellington communities. It explores how Somali women actively negotiate belonging between three key processes: place, identity and acceptance. It does this by situating their resettlement in the context of the Somali civil conflict. I argue that home in New Zealand is based on emotional and physical attachments to multiple locales across space and time, as enacted and embodied through performances of ‘Somali woman’ identities across social fields. I show how intersectional differences produce diverse experiences of re-imagining home, and the ways that a ‘Somali woman’ identity is changing through the actions of ‘edgewalking’ participants. It also explores how belonging is a two-sided process that is affected by discourses of tolerance in New Zealand. This thesis is structured through both anthropological and feminist frameworks and thus emphasises the voices and positions of the participants at all times. The understandings presented here unfolded from interviews with eight participants, four Somali women and four non-Somalis who had extensive connections with the Somali community. Using the stories from these eight participants, this thesis demonstrates the importance of the homeland, Somaliness and tolerance in creating a sense of belonging in Wellington communities after resettlement processes.</p>

An Anthropological Journey of Belonging: Somali Women Re-Imagine Home in Wellington, New Zealand

<p>This thesis provides insights into refugee-background Somali women’s active productions of belonging in New Zealand, after resettlement in Wellington communities. It explores how Somali women actively negotiate belonging between three key processes: place, identity and acceptance. It does this by situating their resettlement in the context of the Somali civil conflict. I argue that home in New Zealand is based on emotional and physical attachments to multiple locales across space and time, as enacted and embodied through performances of ‘Somali woman’ identities across social fields. I show how intersectional differences produce diverse experiences of re-imagining home, and the ways that a ‘Somali woman’ identity is changing through the actions of ‘edgewalking’ participants. It also explores how belonging is a two-sided process that is affected by discourses of tolerance in New Zealand. This thesis is structured through both anthropological and feminist frameworks and thus emphasises the voices and positions of the participants at all times. The understandings presented here unfolded from interviews with eight participants, four Somali women and four non-Somalis who had extensive connections with the Somali community. Using the stories from these eight participants, this thesis demonstrates the importance of the homeland, Somaliness and tolerance in creating a sense of belonging in Wellington communities after resettlement processes.</p>

Making Do: How a Somali Refugee Woman Experiences Social Mobility Amidst Precarity in Transit in Indonesia

This article presents an account of Faduma, a Somali woman currently living in Jakarta, Indonesia, in order to illustrate the creativity, resilience and adaptability required to make do as a refugee with little to no formal support in a rather hostile environment. For Faduma, Indonesia presents such an environment. As it offers no formal protection for asylum seekers and refugees and only tolerates their temporary presence without guaranteeing them any fundamental rights, such as the right to work, it can be characterised as a ‘deviant destination’ for refugees in search of durable and effective solutions. This article analyses Faduma's strategies, embedded in the macro-political context of forced migration, the Global North's externalised border policies, the absence of safe pathways, and the lack of proper refugee protection in Southeast Asia, for finding informal employment, attaining new skills and education, and forming strategic friendships with Indonesians and expatriates as a means of dealing with racism, exploitation and multifaceted precarity. We selected Faduma's case from amongst a number of encounters that we had with Somali refugees in Indonesia because of her extraordinary involvement with the Somali community. While the current toleration of refugee activities by Indonesian authorities enables refugees to survive in transit, we argue that such unintentional and informal protection is not a durable approach for larger groups of refugees enduring prolonged periods of waiting.

Reflections From the Other Side: The Refugee Journey to Health and Well-Being

The refugee crisis is an urgent global health issue; the number of displaced people has escalated to its worst point in recorded history. To explore the refugee phenomenon as a social determinant of health, this article examines the experience of Somali refugees in Minnesota. Health care barriers unique to refugees are explored through the first-person perspective of one Somali woman who ultimately became a nurse.

A heart made of habhab but with Danish Manners – Negotiating Gender and Political Positioning in Transnational Fields

How do migrants negotiate gender and political positions in a transnational social field? What happens when migrants move between different locations? This paper examines these questions through a case study of a Somali woman and her life in Denmark and Somaliland.