Generation 1.5 Somalis in Metropolitan Melbourne a Thesis Submitted In

EXPRESSIONS AND REPRESENTATIONS OF CONTESTED IDENTITIES: Generation 1.5 Somalis in Metropolitan Melbourne A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Elizabeth Mairi Lakey BA (Hons) School of Global Urban and Social Studies RMIT University February 2016 Declaration I certify that except where due acknowledgement has been made, the work is that of the author alone; the work has not been submitted previously, in whole or in part, to qualify for any other academic award; the content of the thesis is the result of work which has been carried out since the official commencement date of the approved research program; any editorial work, paid or unpaid, carried out by a third party is acknowledged; and, ethics procedures and guidelines have been followed. Elizabeth Mairi Lakey 27 February 2016 Abstract Most Somalis aged between 18 and 30 living in Melbourne were born either in Somalia or en route to another country. These generation 1.5ers are described as being ‘caught in the middle’ of two cultures, and occupy contested identities — in the family sphere (competing parental and peer group expectations as well as fluctuating cultural norms), the public sphere (being raised in an environment where there is widespread distrust of Muslims and people who are visibly different), and the sphere of religious belief (many note tension between their faith and the expectations of mainstream Australians). Through interviews, focus groups, participant observation, community member profiles, and field notes, I investigated the question of how these young Somalis living in Melbourne express their identity. It became clear that young Somalis express their identities in a myriad of complex and contested ways. I found that this occurs in a complicated space where there are multiple competing social forces, as well as a deep engagement with Islam. The respondents negotiated this space with an acute awareness of how their identities are represented. This was not an abstract awareness, but one which permeated everyday interactions. Muslim communities across the globe are no strangers to hyperbolic representation, and Somalis have been characterized as violent in both academic literature and the popular media. Many reasons have been given to justify this characterization, from the harsh environment of Somalia, the nomadic tendencies of the Somalis, and perhaps most importantly, the strong clan system. The second question investigated was how this portrayal of Somalis as violent in both the academic literature and the popular media compares with their actual expression of identity. Even though I did not set out to dispel myths about this particular population, I found that their identity expression was vastly different to common representations of them: this generation of Somalis seems no more likely to engage in violent behaviour than the average Australian of the same age. However, when violence does occur, it is subject to much more scrutiny than when it occurs in a mainstream setting. The aim of this thesis is to shed new light on the nuances of the expression of identity in this group. It is hoped that policy makers, educators, community developers and academics take the findings detailed in this thesis to better inform future decisions and actions in this sphere. 3 Acknowledgements I wish to thank my primary supervisor, Yaso Nadarajah. Her guidance was crucial in opening my eyes to different ways of thinking and being. Thanks also go to my secondary supervisor, Pavla Miller for her common sense and kind criticism. Most importantly, I thank the Somali community of Melbourne, particularly the young people who were so generous with their time and stories. I am in awe of their achievements in adverse circumstances. 4 5 EXPRESSIONS AND REPRESENTATIONS OF CONTESTED IDENTITIES: Generation 1.5 Somalis in Metropolitan Melbourne INTRODUCTION 9 Somali identity in Melbourne — a contested space 12 Contemporary Islamic issues and the Australian context 14 The importance of understanding Islam as a force for configuring identities 18 Structure of the thesis 20 I THE THEORETICAL TERRAIN 23 Framing of identities: power, social capital and violence Introduction 23 Conceptualising identity in the Islamic context 24 Power, discourse and ideology 29 The importance of social capital 32 Reading violence: considering the overt and covert dimensions of violence 36 Concluding remarks 42 II METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS 45 Methodological considerations, practicalities of the methods and study design My methodological starting point 45 Narrative theory 47 Critical narrative inquiry and the importance of critique in ethnographic research 48 Generation 1.5 and the limits of language 53 Ethical considerations and limitations of the approach 56 The process for gaining ethics approval 58 Methods of interaction 59 Establishing connections 69 Data analysis methodology 72 Reflections on the process 73 III CONTEXTUALISING SOMALIA AND SOMALIS IN MELBOURNE 77 (a) Somali history, contested issues and representations of violence Introduction 77 Contextualising Somalia 77 A brief ‘official’ history of Somalia 78 Contested issues in Somali history 83 Violence in the geopolitical Somali context 92 The dominant representation of Somalis as violent in discourse 95 Interrogating representations and misrepresentations of violence 104 Concluding reflections 108 (b) The Melbourne Somali community 109 Introduction 109 The phenomenon of Muslim migration to Australia 109 The Melbourne Somali population 111 The sample 116 Somalis in Melbourne: significant issues 122 Concluding remarks 130 6 IV FINDINGS 131 (a) Exploring violence: overt and covert forms, reflections of generation 1.5 131 and the notion of ‘radicalisation’ Introduction 131 Overt forms of violence: experiences and interpretations 131 Covert forms of violence: experiences and interpretations 141 Reflections on violence by generation 1.5 148 ‘Radicalisation’ 158 Conclusion: key findings 162 (b) Negotiating identity: examining the role of Islam and the place of clan 165 kinship Introduction 165 Examining the role of Islam 165 The place of clan kinship 182 Conclusion: key findings 193 (c) A contested sphere of identity: multiple dimensions, the value of education and the place of women 195 Introduction 195 The multiple (competing) dimensions of identity for generation 1.5 195 The value of education 206 The place of women 219 Conclusion: key findings 228 CONCLUSION 231 Reflections on the methodological and theoretical underpinnings of this thesis 231 Summary of key findings 232 Unexpected findings 235 Avenues for further research 237 Concluding reflections 238 APPENDINX A – List of all interviews and focus groups 241 APPENDIX B – Ethics attachments 242 BIIBLIOGRAPHY 247 7 8 INTRODUCTION Somalia is a country with a troubled recent political history. After being colonized in the late 19th century by Italy and Britain, the formal colonial regions joined forces to create the Independent Somali Republic in 1960. Power was seized in 1969 by Mohamed Siyad Barre, who founded the Somali Democratic Republic. His rule lasted until 1991, when he was overthrown and civil war broke out. After the eruption of war, a wave of refugees fled the country. They have settled in many parts of the world, most notably in Sweden and greater Scandinavia, Minnesota in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. There is a small but significant population in Australia (almost exclusively in Melbourne and Sydney). I have been interested in the Somali community in Melbourne since 2010, when I started tutoring Community Development at Victoria University in Footscray. There were a number of Somali Australian students in my classes over two years, and I was struck by the fact that many of them were studying community development with the explicit aim of working in their community to improve the circumstances of Somalis living in Melbourne. They were generally very studious, and often took up my offers of extra assistance outside class time. Then, when I started studying Arabic at the University of Melbourne in 2011, I met more students, this time as peers. Again, I noted how hard they worked at their studies, and I met up with some Somali Australian friends for regular study sessions. I began to pay more attention to the way Somalia was represented in the mainstream media and noticed that the commonly available images of Somalia did not tally with my friends and students and the way they represented themselves. I wanted to know more about why this was the case. Some of the young Somalis I met with had been born outside Somalia, and many had never been there at all. These scattered Somali young people are part of a much broader Somali youth living abroad, sharing common experiences of flight and resettlement. My study focuses on generation 1.5 Somali Australians living in Melbourne. The term generation 1.5 refers to individuals who were born in one country and have resided in another country from their late childhood or early teen years. This means they have cultural understanding of both their country of birth and the place they now call home. The respondents told me they have been raised to have pride in their Somali heritage, despite the negative perception of Somalia in the broader community. As generation 1.5ers, born in one place but raised in another, they are often ‘caught in the middle’ 9 of two cultures.1 Practically, this entails translating things for their parents on a daily basis, or making appointments and navigating bureaucracy as their parents have difficulty understanding the way Australian systems work and many lack the ability to make themselves understood beyond the very basic English they have learnt since arrival. However, this straddling of cultures also has many abstract and emotional facets, which I sought to uncover. I argue that young Somali Australians in Melbourne occupy very contested identities. In the family sphere, they are members of generation 1.5 and have to battle with competing parental and peer group expectations, and fluctuating cultural norms.

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