Carving out a space to belong: young Syrian men negotiating patriarchal dividend, (in)visibility and (mis)recognition in the Netherlands

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper examines everyday life as a site of refugee politics by zooming in on lived experiences of Syrian male refugees in relation to exclusionary state and public discourses in the Netherlands. I use literature on place-making, encounter and boundary work to explore how privilege, visibility and recognition in public spaces are negotiated. The findings emphasize the messy realities of everyday life, differentiated experiences of oppression and privilege, and the way spatiality and intersectionality are articulated in these experiences. Syrian men experience increased visibility along the lines of gender, race and religion, but counter hostile discourses by claiming space and belonging in everyday places. Moreover, they strategically construct boundaries between themselves and other Syrian men to avoid misrecognition and not-belonging. The insights into intersectional variation are important to nuance the category of Syrian male refugees and raise questions about the unequal social relationships created and reinforced by integration frameworks.