The contingent home: how second-generation Arab migrants negotiate belonging in Qatar?

Abstract

Utilising semi-structured interviews, this study aims to explore how second-generation Arab migrants perceive and negotiate their belonging in Qatar. It is argued that second-generation Arab migrants construct their belonging to Qatar beyond the legal definition (Citizen/resident) imposed on them as temporary migrants. However, the same legal definition is key to understand how their sense of belonging to Qatar is perceived and negotiated. Participants’ reflections on their sense of belonging were analyzed based on two analytical levels: the place-belonging level, and the politics of belonging level. Three general strategies for negotiating the gap between the sense of place-belonging and being exposed to the boundaries of belonging in the Qatari context were identified. The study concludes that while second-generation Arab migrants construct their positions on the spectrum of belonging–unbelonging beyond the legal status imposed on them, such status is still the rigid criteria on which inclusion and exclusion are based.