%0 Thesis
%9 Master
%A Papasilekas, I.
%D 2017
%F theses_frw:2693
%T Towards a Sense of Belonging: intersecting gender and social identities of Zimbabweans in the Netherlands
%U https://frw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/2693/
%X One’s social identity and sense of belonging are interconnected. The current thesis explores how gender and social identities shape the experiences of Zimbabwean migrants in the Dutch context and locates the personal strategies they employ to create a sense of belonging in the host country. The study adopts an exploratory qualitative approach; in-depth interviews were conducted with 19 Zimbabweans living in the Netherlands. Their lived experiences were examined through the lens of Intersectionality, a theoretical framework suggesting that multiple identities operate simultaneously to create a sense of privilege and/or disadvantage. Through the analysis of the participants’ narratives it was concluded that all of them experience both these aspects of social inequality in the Netherlands. An important finding is that, for Zimbabweans, language and culture are important elements of identification and differentiation in the Netherlands as a host country.