Generational Differences Between Pakistani Migrant Women in Their Feelings of Belonging to Qatar: An Explorative Study

This thesis explores migrant Pakistani women’s feelings of belonging to Qatar. Women and their migration experiences remain understudied despite the growing literature on migrants and migration in the Gulf. Pakistani migration to Qatar increased around the 1960s and 1970s when Qatar experienced an oil boom, and the state’s development plans for the country opened up new job vacancies. Many generations of Pakistani migrant families have been living in Qatar for decades. Data gathered from participant observation and ethnographic interviews conducted during fieldwork in Muaither, Ain Khaled, Al Waab and Al Matar Al Qadeem, areas that are inhabited by large groups of Pakistani migrant families, was used to address the core questions of this thesis: are there any generational differences between Pakistani mothers’ and Qatar-born and Qatar-raised daughters’ feelings of belonging to Qatar? If so, how do they experience belonging differently? I investigate this question by contextualizing Pakistani migrant women’s narratives of belonging in their migration experiences, Pakistani migration to Qatar and the kafala system that controls their presence in the country. In this thesis, I argue that Pakistani migrant mothers and Qatar-born and Qatar- raised daughters form different forms of multiple belongings to the same and different places simultaneously. Moreover, due to their temporary legal status, both the migrant mothers and daughters engage in transnationalism practices; however, the mothers do so actively by maintaining backup homes for their families in Pakistan, but the daughters do so passively by supporting their mother as they are more concerned with advancing their careers. When Pakistani migrant women narrate their feelings of belonging to Qatar, they are preoccupied with the welfare of their families. However, the migrant daughters think independently of any group, concerned more with personal welfare.