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Living in the ‘in-between’ – narrating identity, re-imagining home and negotiating belonging: an ethnographic investigation of the Iranian diaspora in Newcastle-upon-Tyne Natalie Marie Soleiman Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology June 2017 Keele University i Abstract Using concepts by Homi Bhabha (1994) such as ‘hybridity’, ‘in-betweens’ and ‘third space’ the aim of this thesis is to investigate the tensions between identity, location, culture and belonging in an attempt to understand how Iranians who have moved to Newcastle upon Tyne renegotiate their cultural identity, and create a sense of home and belonging in a new space. A diasporic space, formed in the interstices between their re-imaginings of Iran as home (religious, cultural and national), and their desire to create a home in the UK. In order to explore these ideas further, this thesis used ethnography to access the members’ everyday lives and conducted biographical interviews to gain an in-depth perspective on their lives in Iran, their decision to leave Iran, their process of migration and re-settlement in the UK. This thesis will demonstrate that although post-modern concepts have moved away from fixed notions of diaspora and identity, towards notions of fluidity and renegotiation; the members of this Iranian community attempt to fix and essentialise their Iranian cultural identity in order to distance themselves from the Islamic Republic on the one hand, whilst embracing their cultural hybridity on the other. Key Words: Diaspora, Iranian, Identity, Home, Belonging, In-betweens, Third Space, Hybridity. ii Taghdim be Pedare azizam For My Dad iii Table of Contents Living in the ‘in-between’ – narrating identity, re-imagining home and negotiating belonging: an ethnographic investigation of the Iranian diaspora in Newcastle-upon- Tyne .............................................................................................................................. ABSTRACT ......................................................................................... I TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................... III Table of Figures ......................................................................................................... vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................. IX CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ..................................................... 1 Thesis Overview ......................................................................................................... 1 Aims and Objectives ................................................................................................................ 1 Thesis Argument ................................................................................................................................ 2 Research Rationale ................................................................................................................. 3 Existing Literature .............................................................................................................................. 6 A History of Instability and Insecurity in Iran ................................................................ 8 Absolute Arbitrary Rule ...................................................................................................................... 8 The Short Term Society ..................................................................................................................... 9 Reza Shah Pahlavi - 1926-1941 ...................................................................................................... 10 Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi 1941 - 1979 ................................................................................... 13 The Iranian Revolution and the founding of the Islamic Republic of Iran ......................................... 15 The Iran-Iraq War 1980 - 1988 ......................................................................................................... 16 Outline of Thematic Findings Chapters ..................................................................... 18 Theoretical Conceptual Framework ................................................................................................. 21 CHAPTER TWO: THE GLOBAL IRANIAN DIASPORA ................... 23 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 23 Table 1: Iranian immigrants admitted to the USA, Canada, Germany, Sweden and UK 1961- 2013 ......................................................................................................................................... 24 Waves of Migration ................................................................................................................ 24 Table 2: Iranian Asylum Applications 1995-2004 (Hakimzadeh, 2006).................................... 25 Table 3: Iranian Asylum Applications 2005 – 2013. ................................................................. 26 Iranian Diaspora in the United States ........................................................................ 26 Tehrangeles ........................................................................................................................... 27 Maintaining connections to Iran as home ......................................................................................... 28 Tehrangeles Networks ..................................................................................................................... 29 European Iranian Diasporas ...................................................................................... 30 Iranians in the Netherlands and Sweden ............................................................................... 30 Lack of an Iranian Community and Network .................................................................................... 31 Fear and Suspicion between Iranians .......................................................................................... 31 Iranians as the Other ................................................................................................................... 32 Home and Belonging................................................................................................. 34 Thick National Identity ........................................................................................................... 35 Nostalgia .......................................................................................................................................... 35 Thin National Identity ............................................................................................................. 36 Non-National modes of Belonging ......................................................................................... 37 iv Iranian Diaspora in the UK ........................................................................................ 39 Iranians in London ................................................................................................................. 40 Iranians in the North East of England .................................................................................... 44 CHAPTER THREE: THEORETICAL CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK .......................................................................................................... 46 POSTCOLONIAL CONCEPTS OF IDENTITY ................................................................ 46 The Self as Unified .................................................................................................... 46 Master/Slave Dialectic ........................................................................................................... 47 The Split Self ......................................................................................................................... 48 Self and Society ........................................................................................................ 50 The West and the Rest .......................................................................................................... 51 The Self and its Doubles ........................................................................................... 53 Psychic Identification and Ambivalence ................................................................................ 53 Stereotype and the Fetish ................................................................................................................ 54 Mimicry and Hybridity ....................................................................................................................... 55 Concluding Remarks ............................................................................................................. 56 CONCEPTUALISING DIASPORA: A GENEALOGY....................................................... 57 The Classic Diasporas .............................................................................................