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Cultural Divides, Cultural Transitions: The Role of Gendered and Racialized Narratives of Alienation in the Lives of Somali Muslim Refugees in Columbus, Ohio

Schrock, Richelle D.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1211562793

Abstract Details

2008, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Women's Studies.
Since the mid-1990s, Somali refugees have been resettling in Columbus, Ohio, which is a large city in the Midwest of the United States. In 1990, there were less than 100 Somalis living in the Columbus metropolitan area, while the current estimate is that between 40,000 and 60,000 Somali refugees are Columbus residents. This population continues to grow and constitutes the second largest community of Somali refugees in the United States. The Somali community in Columbus is almost entirely Muslim, and this creates particular challenges in the post 9/11 era and within the specific context of Columbus, which has never before seen a high influx of African refugees or Muslims into the community. Situating my fieldwork with this Somali community within existing debates in feminist theory concerning multiculturalism and women's rights, I examine the representations and narratives that Somali Muslim women and men identify as dominant in the Western media concerning their community. In addition, I explore Columbus Somalis' discursive and material practices of resistance to these narratives. I employ feminist ethnography to gather and analyze what I have identified as narratives of alienation that predominate in both discursive constructions of Somalis as well as interactions between Somalis and non-Somalis in Columbus. These narratives of alienation are gendered and racialized, relying on Orientalist images of Islam to construct discursive divisions within the Columbus community that have material repercussions for Somali women and men. Somali men and women are differently framed by narratives of alienation and have differing reactions and resistance strategies as a result. For Somali women, beginning to wear the hijab is an important practice of resistance to narratives that construct them as inherently subjugated. Somali men's resistance strategies differ because they position themselves as agents in pursuit of the American Dream in order to contest narratives of alienation. In calling attention to these narratives and resistance strategies, I lay the groundwork in this dissertation to explore in my future work how feminist directives can be employed productively in improving women's lives in minority cultures without reinforcing larger narratives of alienation between hegemonic America and newly arrived immigrant groups.
Amy Shuman (Advisor)
Judy Wu (Committee Member)
Cathy Rakowski (Committee Member)
192 p.
Womens Studies
somali refugees; feminism and multiculturalism; muslim immigrants

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Schrock, R. D. (2008). Cultural Divides, Cultural Transitions: The Role of Gendered and Racialized Narratives of Alienation in the Lives of Somali Muslim Refugees in Columbus, Ohio [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1211562793

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Schrock, Richelle. Cultural Divides, Cultural Transitions: The Role of Gendered and Racialized Narratives of Alienation in the Lives of Somali Muslim Refugees in Columbus, Ohio. 2008. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1211562793.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Schrock, Richelle. "Cultural Divides, Cultural Transitions: The Role of Gendered and Racialized Narratives of Alienation in the Lives of Somali Muslim Refugees in Columbus, Ohio." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2008. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1211562793

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2008, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.