Negotiating patriarchal relationships to become economically active: an insight into the agency of Syrian refugee women in Jordan using frameworks of womanism and intersectionality

ABSTRACT

Most of the literature on gender and forced migration has focused on vulnerability, highlighting a lack of agency among refugee women during periods of displacement. This paper takes a different approach, exploring instead the factors that influence refugee women’s agency within contexts of adversity and vulnerability, through a small case study of Syrian refugee women in Amman, Jordan. It addresses gender, forced migration and economic empowerment using a womanist approach and a lens of intersectionality Semi-structured individual and focus group interviews were carried out with humanitarian professionals and economically active Syrian refugee women. Findings illustrate the many ways that these women manage their lives and build resilience in themselves, their families, and their communities, despite their displacement, using strategies which emanate from their collective cultural context rather than oppose it. Findings also highlight the space created by displacement which opens opportunities to Syrian refugee women, rather than only obstacles. We argue that the profession of social work is in a good position to take forward learning from the study to support these transformative processes.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

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²¹ Sahar AlMakhamreh and Gillian Lewando-Hundt, ‘An Examination of Models of Social Work Interventions Used with Displaced Iraqi Households in Jordan’, European Journal of Social Work 15, no. 3 (2012): 377–391.

²² Sahar Al-Makhamreh, ‘Social Work as an Emerging Profession in the Middle East: An Ethnographic Case Study of Jordanian Hospital Social Work’ (PhD thesis, University of Warwick, Coventry, 2005).

²³ ILO (2015) Key indicators f the Labour Market: 8^th Edition, Geneva, ILO.

²⁴ Baria’ Al-Nakshbandy, Women’s Political Participation in Jordan and Some Arab Countries (Jordan: Dare Alfares Publishing, 2001).

²⁵ See note 17 above.

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⁴⁰ Sahar AlMakhamreh and Gillian Lewando-Hundt, ‘An Examination of Models of Social Work Interventions Used with Displaced Iraqi Households in Jordan’, European Journal of Social Work 15, no. 3 (2012): 377–91.

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⁴² Lila Abu-Lughod, Remaking Women: Feminism and Modernity in the Middle East (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1998).

⁴³ Haleh Afshar, Women in the Middle East: Perceptions, Realities and Struggles for Liberation (London: The Macmillian Press, 1993).

⁴⁴ Badiah Haffejee and Jean F. East, ‘African Women Refugee Resettlement: A Womanist Analysis’, Affilia 31, no. 2 (2016): 232–42.

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⁵³ Badiah Haffejee and Jean F. East, ‘African Women Refugee Resettlement: A Womanist Analysis’, Affilia 31, no. 2 (2016): 232–242.

⁵⁴ Lorenzo Bordonaro and Payne Ruth, ‘Ambiguous Agency: Critical Perspectives on Social Interventions with Children and Youth in Africa’, Special issue of Children’s Geographies 10, no. 4 (2012): 365–372.

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