Women’s Transnational Identities and Belonging: The Case of Thai Female Immigrants in Sweden
Abstract: The aim of this thesis is to investigate 3 following questions: 1) how do Thai female immigrants in Sweden negotiate their identities in Swedish society? 2) How do they perceive their identities in Swedish context? 3) To what extent, do gendered and racialized processes shape their identities and experiences of belonging? To answer these questions, I propose that the issue of Thai female immigrants should be understood in terms of ‘transmigration’, since immigrants nowadays simultaneously engage in multiple transnational activities of both sending and receiving countries. Moreover, these engagements affect their identity narratives and complex sense of belonging because immigrants have to face different contesting values and norms when they move and settle in another country. I also argue that identities of Thai female immigrants should be analyzed as the result of intersectionality because intertwining social divisions such as gender, race, ethnicity, and class help shape their identities and sense of belonging. I rely on the data which I gained from conducting in-depth interviews with 5 Thai women who live as permanent residents in Sweden. I also conducted participant observations at Wat Sanghabaramee temple in Eslӧv and the Thai Association in Sweden’s annual meeting, to observe activities which occur in such transnational social fields.
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