Abstract
Identifications vary between contexts and also vary over time. The interviewees’ stories reveal a trajectory of ethnic reinvention. As young adults, they experienced a resurgence of ethnic identification, which is not merely a retention of cultural traditions but is aligned with their achieved education level. This reinvented identity was developed in interaction with coethnic co-educated ‘Soulmates’, with whom the interviewees experienced unprecedented levels of understanding. This connection was grounded in a shared ethnic and migration background, but even more in a shared education level. These characteristics affected their position in the various fields and shaped their habitus in specific ways, resulting in feelings of affiliation with others who shared these characteristics. These findings underscore the relevance of ethnicity, while at the same time nuance the idea that ethnic background is inevitably the most important social boundary. Parallels with other studies indicate that this particular intersection of class and ethnicity teases out in similar ways in other contexts. In response to the challenges stemming from being middle-class and having a low-class ethnic minority background, specific cultural elements develop in ‘soulmate spaces’. In other words, a ‘minority culture of mobility’ emerges.
Highlights
Chapter 7How do identifications develop over one’s lifetime? What underlies social bonds, and what role do co-educated coethnic peers play? Can we speak of a ‘minority culture of mobility’ in the Netherlands?
Increasing feelings of ‘pride’ led them to gradually explore and articulate their ethnic identity. They needed to free themselves from the imposition of a mono-identity and from negative and low-class images of ‘Moroccan’ and ‘Turkish’
They developed a manner of ethnic identification that fit their higher education levels and combines with feeling ‘Dutch’
Summary
How do identifications develop over one’s lifetime? What underlies social bonds, and what role do co-educated coethnic peers play? Can we speak of a ‘minority culture of mobility’ in the Netherlands?. That you say to yourself: ‘This is GOOD for me’ It sounds weird – no, it doesn’t – that at the age of fourteen you notice the difference between you, the higher-educated pupil, and the lower-educated pupils of the school nearby. I participated in a normal student fraternity, so there I did interact with other [ethnic Dutch] – But when you ask me: who did you mostly relate to, it is primarily [with Moroccan Dutch]. In light of the above extracts, Said’s current relation to his ethnic background is remarkably comfortable Remember his quote, presented, in which he emphasized that he highlights his Moroccan identity whenever he can. The stories suggest that ethnic identifications develop from childhood to adulthood in a certain way, through interaction with the process of social mobility The chapter concludes with a brief discussion (Sect. 7.4)
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