Women's agency and citizenship across transnational identities: a case study of the Bangladeshi diaspora in the UK

Abstract

This article focuses on agency and citizenship from the point of view of Bangladeshi immigrant women who have been living in UK for the last two generations. They have a transnational identity, living between two cultures, which often have contradictory elements. On the one hand, these women identify themselves as British citizens: a status which provides them with some liberal rights. On the other hand, they practise Bangladeshi culture at home, which often entails patriarchal elements. At the junction of these two identities, religion (Islam) works as a guiding principle, and as a uniting tool in their personal as well as public lives. The present article challenges the notions that immigrant women shaped by Bangladeshi culture are victims of patriarchal ideologies, and that Bangladeshi culture hinders women from development. It rather suggests that it is not Bangladeshi culture or religion that hinders women from exercising agency, but their identity as immigrants.

Keywords:

• agency
• strategies
• diaspora
• religion
• transnational identity
• citizenship rights

Notes

1. Here I define purdah as the practice of covering the body as well as mind from evil things. Both Muslim men and women are expected to observe purdah in Islam. There are different forms of purdah, and purdah does not necessarily mean the seclusion of the female sex from the public world.

2. All names are pseudonyms.

3. Council accommodation belongs to local government in the UK, and people have to meet certain conditions before they qualify for it. This includes being homeless with dependent children, having disabled children, and being in distress or in danger.

4. See http://www.yourrights.org.uk/yourrights/rights-of-immigrants/british-nationality.html (last accessed 26 August 2011)

5. The burqa is a loose form of clothing that covers the body from head to toe. However, there are different forms of burqa. Some burqas cover the face with holes for the eyes, while the others keep the face open.