BECOMING RATHER THAN BEING. Identity Negotiations for Latin American Women in the Dutch Context

Abstract

This thesis delves into how Latin American women negotiate their identity in the Dutch culture. The importance of this question resides in the fact that the Latin American community is quite invisible in the Netherlands. It is not the target of racialization per se, but is often excluded from public spheres such as politics. This has an impact on representation as this invisibility reduces the chances of specific integration policies, for example. At the same time, this lack of visibility also affects the chances of integration of this community to Dutch society. The entry point to the analysis are the concepts of “identity” and “diaspora”. These two notions allow a deep understanding of how Latin American women negotiate their identity in the diasporic context. Understanding identity as something dynamic allows the analysis to be more in line with the lives of these women who find themselves rebuilding and reshaping their identities according to their circumstances. In order to bring light to the both the concept of “identity” and “diaspora” authors such as Stuart Hall and Avtar Brah are key inputs to the analysis. They both work in the field of Cultural Studies with issues of race, gender and representation. It is important to highlight that, for them, “identity” and “diaspora” are always defined by context and are dynamic and always embedded in power relations.