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In a Constant State of Flux: the Cultural Hybrid Identities of Second-Generation Afghan-Canadian Women

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In a Constant State of Flux: the Cultural Hybrid Identities of Second-Generation Afghan-Canadian Women IN A CONSTANT STATE OF FLUX: THE CULTURAL HYBRID IDENTITIES OF SECOND-GENERATION AFGHAN-CANADIAN WOMEN By: Saher Malik Ahmed, B. A A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Post-Doctoral Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts In Women’s and Gender Studies Pauline Jewett Institute of Women’s and Gender Studies Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario July 2016 © 2016 Saher Malik Ahmed Abstract This study, guided by feminist methodology and cultural hybrid theory, explores the experiences of Afghan-Canadian women in Ottawa, Ontario who identify as second- generation. A qualitative approach using in-depth interviews with ten second-generation Afghan-Canadian women reveals how these women are continuously constructing their hybrid identities through selective acts of cultural negotiation and resistance. This study will examine the transformative and dynamic interplay of balancing two contrasting cultural identities, Afghan and Canadian. The findings will reveal new meanings within the Afghan diaspora surrounding Afghan women’s gender roles and their strategic integration into Canadian society. i Acknowledgments I am deeply indebted to my thesis supervisor, Dr. Amrita Hari. I thank her sincerely for her endless guidance, patience, and encouragement throughout my graduate studies. I have benefited from her wisdom and insightful feedback that has helped me develop strong research and academic skills, and for this I am immensely grateful. I would like to thank Dr. Karen March, my thesis co-supervisor for her incisive comments and challenging questions. I will never forget the conversation I had with her on the phone during the early stages of my research when she reminded me of the reasons why and for whom this research is intended. I would also like to thank my thesis committee members Dr. Megan Rivers- Moore and Dr. Xiaobei Chen for taking the time to be an important part of this process. The completion of this thesis would not have been possible without the support of my mother, Masooda Ahmed. I cherish her stories of Afghanistan, including those that disclose her migratory journey as an Afghan refugee. She is the most intelligent, brave, and caring person I know. Thank you Mothar-jaan for sharing your personal experiences that are rarely shared between mothers and daughters in our culture. Dooset Daram. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my father, Arif Malik Ahmed, for I have felt his prayers and steadfast love even distance apart. I admire his strength in character to overcome adversities and I am thankful for his dedication in creating a space his daughters can always call home. I thank my sisters, Sabah and Kauser, for their love and emotional support throughout my academic development. They are my strength and inspiration. ii To my Khala-Jaan, Najia Azmat, who although physically not present, she has spiritually guided me through this process. You have taught me how to strive for excellence and the discipline that is required to attain it. Finally, and most heartfelt, I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to my partner and best-friend, Liam Devine. I am thankful for his unwavering support of me throughout this journey, as we moved across the country, and transitioned from new Bachelor’s graduates to Master’s students. He has spent countless days and nights listening to my ideas, concerns and frustrations, and selflessly extended his advice and empathy while pursuing his own graduate research. Thank you Liam for making our journey more enjoyable when life became difficult. I am looking forward to our future adventures as a team (including wee Shanoos!), as individuals and as human rights activists— as we are always becoming and have never arrived. iii Dedication For the resilient Afghan-Canadian women, I hope your imaginaries of Afghanistan continue to safeguard the flourishing images of a country that once was. For my mother, My academic achievements are as much yours as they are my mine. iv Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................................. i Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................ ii Dedication ........................................................................................................................................... iv Chapter 1: Migration and memories of the Afghan diaspora in Canada ................................................ 1 Chapter 2: Building a Theoretical Framework— Cultural Hybrid Identity .............................................. 7 Defining Diaspora ........................................................................................................................ 7 Hybridity and Hyphenated Cultural Identities .......................................................................... 11 Homeland and Second-Generation Afghan Women ................................................................ 15 Research Questions: Building on Narratives and Creating New Discussions ........................... 16 Chapter 3: Research Methodology ...................................................................................................... 19 Participants and Demographic .................................................................................................. 23 Coding and Data Analysis .......................................................................................................... 28 My Hybridity: Both an Outsider and Insider ............................................................................. 29 Chapter 4: Nuancing Second-Generation ............................................................................................ 33 Second-Generation: Definitions ................................................................................................ 35 Segmented Assimilation and Criticisms: ................................................................................... 36 Defining ‘Second-Generation’ for themselves .......................................................................... 40 Chapter 5: Cultural Conformity and Resistance ................................................................................... 53 Unequal Gender Roles............................................................................................................... 54 Young women exercising agency .............................................................................................. 67 Fear and Anxiety of the Afghan diaspora Second-generation Afghan Women Expressing Hybridity ........................................................ 90 Chapter 6: Neither Here, Nor There .................................................................................................... 98 Racialized Gendered Stereotypes ........................................................................................... 101 Racialized Gaze ...................................................................................................................... 105 Foreigner in Afghanistan ......................................................................................................... 111 Creating an Hybrid Identity as Outsiders in Afghanistan and Canada .............................. 115 Chapter 7: Final Discussion .......................................................................................................... 126 v Further Research and Limitations to this study ...................................................................... 128 Research as a way of coming together ................................................................................... 130 Appendix A: Interview Questions ..................................................................................................... 130 Appendix B: Recruitment Poster (Sample) ........................................................................................ 132 Glossary of Afghan Terms (in Dari): .................................................................................................. 133 Works Cited ...................................................................................................................................... 134 vi Chapter 1: Migration and memories of the Afghan diaspora in Canada Migration is often understood as the traveling of populations between different regions of the world motivated by opposing ‘pull factors,’ such as increased socio-economic opportunities and family-reunification, and ‘push factors’ such as famine, war, global injustices of conflict or profound social and economic equities (Brah 1996). ‘Push factors’ are primarily associated with ‘refugee’ or ‘involuntarily’ migrations of those who have been forcefully displaced from their home-countries. This thesis focuses mainly on push factors because, as will be seen below, the majority of Afghans who come to Canada do so as refugees rather than seeking family reunification and/or socio-economic opportunities. Push and pull factors become significant in identifying the diverse combinations of motives and external circumstances that create distinct typologies of migrants and contribute to the flows of migration. To understand the migratory and settlement experiences of Afghan refugees, we need to look at not only “who travels but when, how, and under what circumstances (Brah 1996, p. 182). In this introductory chapter, I will
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