Gender, Religion, and Ethnicity: Intersections and Boundaries in Immigrant Integration Policy Making

Abstract

In this paper, we analyze Dutch policy debates that focused on the development of a distinct program to advance the social and economic participation of ethnic minority women (where this label captures immigrant women from non-Western countries). Drawing on intersectional analysis and theories of ethnic boundary formation, we argue that the parliamentary debates surrounding this policy program framed the social problems of these women to effectively reduce a diverse range of ethnic minority women into a narrowly defined group of Muslim women. Referencing multiple axes of difference, the adopted policies encouraged women to overcome ethnic distinctions and gender inequality by abandoning their (imputed) religious practices. Parliamentary debates on these policies generated bright boundaries and assimilationist approaches to the integration of ethnic minority women. In our conclusion, we suggest how our framework might be applied to inform analyses of integration policy making and boundary construction in other countries.