Home Binds: Naturalization Among Somalian Refugees in Minneapolis and St. Paul

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This project examines how gender affects the naturalization process among Somalian refugees in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. The project develops two sets of propositions that hinge on whether men or women become naturalized at proportionately higher rates. On the one hand, if the idea of citizenship is historically male, American citizenship may increase Somalian men's status within the household and men may provide the family liaison to the "public" sphere. Consistent with these ideas is the further consideration that bureaucratic and discriminatory barriers to citizenship may disproportionately affect Somalian women. On the other hand, Somalian women may seek American citizenship at higher rates than men because they have greater exposure to Western ideals through their interaction with welfare and educational institutions, and they have more to gain from the rights rhetoric that accompanies the notion of citizenship. In addition to exploring the effect of gender, the project will consider the effect of education and family structure on men and women's naturalization choices. To explore these questions, interviews will be conducted with a total of 140 Somalian refugees in the Twin Cities. In these interviews, the project will assess the local, national, and international forces that encourage certain individuals to seek citizenship while explicitly or implicitly discouraging others. This is a significant undertaking as the project will facilitate the incorporation of men and women refugees into their new environment in the United States by identifying formal and informal barriers that inhibit their efforts to participate in the community. This project will also have broader implications for understanding "world polity" as American citizenship can privilege individuals as ambassadors of "global" principles-human rights, environmental protection, democratic process-to their native countries.