Hegemonic masculinities after forced migration: Exploring relational performances of Syrian refugee men in The Netherlands

Abstract

Masculinities research has started to disentangle the gendered challenges men face after forced migration. This paper aims to contribute to this emerging work by exploring constructions of masculinities of young Syrian refugee men in the Netherlands. It builds on the accounts of twenty-two Syrian men between nineteen and thirty-five years old whose experiences were explored using in-depth interviews and walking interviews. Our respondents construct masculinities predominantly in relation to labour market access, paid work and perceived social status, however, meanings of masculinities are differentiated by age, social class, race, and religion. Hence, we illustrate how respondents use personal biographies and generational narratives to shape these masculinities in relation to a restrictive host society. We find that older, higher educated respondents shape masculinities in relation to status loss and unrealised aspirations emphasised by experiences of racialisation and marginalisation in the local labour market. We go on to argue that younger respondents, who did not obtain any higher education due to the civil war, seem more flexible in finding work. As a result, they are able to maintain more traditional breadwinner masculinities, masculinities they use to counter societal narratives in the Netherlands concerning Muslim men. Last, we demonstrate how these generational differences affect perceptions and performances of masculinities in relation to gender, generational relations and life course advancement. The paper emphasises masculinities of young refugee Syrian men in the Netherlands as geographical and temporal constructions, remaining highly nuanced, plural and contextual.

Keywords:

• Gender relations
• labour market integration
• race and racism
• Syrian refugees
• status loss
• The Netherlands

Acknowledgements

Our gratitude goes out to the men who participated in our study. Many thanks also to Helga de Valk and three anonymous reviewers for their invaluable and constructive comments to develop this research paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rik P. Huizinga

Rik P. Huizinga is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Spatial Sciences, University of Groningen, the Netherlands. His doctoral thesis focusses on challenges and complexities of forced migration, (Syrian) refugee integration and everyday processes of in- and exclusion. His research interests tend to include the ‘geographies of encounter’ and everyday life, masculinities and place, family and life course, and experiences of place attachment and belonging.

Bettina van Hoven

Bettina van Hoven is Associate Professor of Cultural Geography at the Faculty of Spatial Sciences, University of Groningen, the Netherlands. Her recent research has concentrated on the feelings of belonging, and the attachment of various population groups to the place where they live. In the past, she has worked on projects involving: women in Eastern Europe, diaspora and migration, institutions, ethnicity, sexuality, disabilities, youth and nature.