Belonging in Glasgow: a qualitative analysis of refugees’ experiences

Abstract

This study explores the experiences of refugees developing ‘a feeling of
belonging together’ (Brubaker and Cooper 2000:20) and the corollary of nonbelonging
in Glasgow. I draw upon data gathered from five semi-structured
interviews with refugees, and participant-observation in an environment
where refugees were involved in the work of a third-sector organisation.
Through analysis of this data using a grounded theory approach, I derive three
narrative frames which form the conceptual structure for the arguments I
advance. These frames are: multiple and different instantiations (or concrete
examples) of belonging and non-belonging, ambivalent attachments, and
developing empathy. An investigation of several extracts focusing on
interviewees’ tangible temporal and locational examples of belonging and
non-belonging revealed that the quality of groupness was essential to feelings
of belonging and its absence gave rise to feelings of non-belonging. I
identified contradictory relationships amongst and between the instantiations
of belonging and non-belonging producing tensions which induced ambivalent
attachments by the refugees to Glasgow and to their homelands. Further
analysis of extracts uncovered two possible sources for this ambivalence:
discrepant beliefs and experiences, and the experience of transnationalism.
In the third stage of my argument, I identify refugee optimism and
demonstration of agency as crucial factors which act as catalysts in producing
an environment that is then conducive to developing the skill of empathy.
Sennett (2012[1]) views empathy as an essential skill for refugees living with
people who are different. My observations about the roles played by
optimism and agency during an extended period of liminality were not
predicted on the basis of my literature review and so were surprising to me
and may indicate a need for further study.