Abstract
For decades, Sikhs have made the choice to migrate to the United Kingdom (UK), the United States of America (USA), or Canada, as these countries are held in high esteem by Sikh communities and appear to afford prestige in socio-cultural terms to those who settle in them. However, changes in border policies (among other considerations such as the greater difficulty of establishing themselves in other countries, the opening of borders by regularization processes in Spain, commercial business purposes, or political reasons) have compelled Sikh migrants to diversify their destinations, which now include many European countries, Spain among them. The first generation of Sikhs arrived in Spain as part of this search for new migratory routes, and there are now sizable Sikh communities settled in different parts of this country. All migrants need to follow a process of adaptation to their new living environment. Moreover, a novel living context may offer new possibilities for migrants to (re)negotiate old identities and create new ones, both at individual and collective levels. This article will explore a case study of a Sikh community in Barcelona to reflect on the forms in which Sikh men and women perceive, question, and manage their identity and their lives in this new migratory context in Spain. The present paper argues that adaptation to the new place implies identity negotiations that include the redefinition of gender roles, changes in the management of body and appearance, and, most particularly, the emergence of new forms of agency among young Sikh women. In addition, we argue that new forms of female agency are made possible not only by the opportunities offered by the new context, but also emerge as a reaction against the many pressures experienced by the young women and exerted by their male counterparts in Sikh communities, as the latter push against the loss of traditional values.
Highlights
This article explores the diverse dynamics and negotiations carried out within the Sikh community in Barcelona as part of migrants’ processes of integration to their new context
The greater difficulty of establishing themselves in other countries, the opening of borders by regularization processes in Spain, commercial business purposes, or political reasons among other considerations have compelled Sikh to come to Spain2
I argued earlier that the separation of spaces according to gender seems to gain importance in the diaspora, and it seems to be related to the size of Sikh communities and to the length of time that the community has been settled in the new migratory context
Summary
This article explores the diverse dynamics and negotiations carried out within the Sikh community in Barcelona as part of migrants’ processes of integration to their new context. As can be observed in the case of Barcelona, the dynamics of integration of Sikhs to their new situation and to a new geographic, political, social, and cultural environment vary according to gender and age This has led to tensions among community members. We are interested in those changes that individuals assume to be necessary for their integration into the host society and advantageous as strategies for adaptation, which are enacted through their own sense of agency These changes could entail the rethinking of conceptualizations of gender in relation to the culture of origin, and such rethinking and reconceptualizing might become embodied in turn. This process of (re)construction as a community interpellates and questions issues of gender and identity as well
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