Places that Matter: Place Attachment and Wellbeing of Older Antillean Migrants in the Netherlands

It has been argued that attachment to place increases wellbeing in old age (Wiles et al., 2009). Feeling ‘in place’ can increase an older person's wellbeing. For older migrants it can be a challenge to live in-between cultures. The objective of the article is to explore how older Antillean migrants derive a sense of wellbeing from attachment to their everyday places. We do so by drawing on in-depth interviews and a photography project with Antilleans who live in a senior cohousing community in a city in the Northern Netherlands. Based on the study, we conclude that the cohousing community acted as a central setting of experience from which the participants explored their wider surroundings and developed new attachments in the neighbourhood

Made in the GDR : the changing geographies of women in the post-socialist rural society in Mecklenburg-Westpommerania

This thesis explores women's experiences in rural areas under state socialism in the GDR and in the New Germany since 1989. The study is located within feminist geographical thinking and draws on a variety of qualitative and quantitative sources. Data for the research were collated through various research methods both qualitative and quantitative including correspondence, focus group interviews, key informant interviews, and the consultation of documentary evidence and statistical sources. The thesis employs a modified grounded theory approach. Data were processed and analysed using the computer-assisted analysis programme NUD.IST Version 4.0. The thesis focuses on questions that emerge from a critical analysis of social transformation. A key concern is to evaluate how dominant patriarchal power structures have impacted upon women's everyday lives under socialism and capitalism. Three main themes are foci of this thesis: the changes in social dynamics in rural villages, the impact of economic rationalisations on women, and the nature and extent of women's participation in new political structures. With reference to the former GDR the research showed that many rural women found comfort in social relations they established within the village and the workplace. Such social networks became important elements for women's self-identification and helped counteract suppression through the patriarchal socialist State. German unification overthrew previous values and daily routines of many rural women through vast economic and political changes. The unfamiliarity with a new, sometimes undesirable framework of reference for everyday life and society caused many rural women to withdraw to the private sphere and question their previous identities as rural GDR citizens. Positive opportunities for women's futures have not outweighed negative experiences with transition. Instead, conflicts have prevented women's equal integration into the political and economic structures of the New Germany. Further areas of research are proposed that may add depth to insights gained from this thesis as well as offering possible areas for gender-sensitive policy development in rural Mecklenburg-Westpommerania.Department of Geographical Sciences at the University of Plymouth, the Dudley Stamp Memorial Fund

Mundane mobilities in later life - Exploring experiences of everyday trip-making by older adults in a Dutch urban neighbourhood

Mobility in later life is key to ageing actively and well. Mobility is not merely about moving around, but is related to aspects such as perceived reasons for trip-making, feelings of (in)security and (lack of) confidence, and social and spatial knowledge. Through adopting a relational and contextual perspective, the complexities and nuances of everyday mobility can be uncovered. In this context, the aim of this paper is to examine how older adults experience their everyday trip-making in the interplay between increasing losses and deficits in the process of ageing, and characteristics of the environment in which they perform daily activities. We draw on an exploratory study with older adults living in a suburban post-war neighbourhood in the Northern Netherlands. Methods used include in-depth interviews and neighbourhood walks. We found that mundane and everyday routines and practices at the level of the body and neighbourhood are pertinent to the everyday mobility and quality of life of older adults. In conclusion, we emphasise the relationality of experienced mobility based on how older adults assessed their daily perception of fitness and the various aspects that comprised the trip to be made, i.e. social, physical and affective. To facilitate mundane mobilities in later life, it is important that accessible, clearly structured and predictable urban environments are provided, as these allow older adults to make daily use of their neighbourhood on their own terms

Hegemonic masculinities after forced migration:Exploring relational performances of Syrian refugee men in The Netherlands

Masculinities research has started to disentangle the gendered challenges men face after forced migration. This paper aims to contribute to this emerging work by exploring constructions of masculinities of young Syrian refugee men in the Netherlands. It builds on the accounts of twenty-two Syrian men between nineteen and thirty-five years old whose experiences were explored using in-depth interviews and walking interviews. Our respondents construct masculinities predominantly in relation to labour market access, paid work and perceived social status, however, meanings of masculinities are differentiated by age, social class, race, and religion. Hence, we illustrate how respondents use personal biographies and generational narratives to shape these masculinities in relation to a restrictive host society. We find that older, higher educated respondents shape masculinities in relation to status loss and unrealised aspirations emphasised by experiences of racialisation and marginalisation in the local labour market. We go on to argue that younger respondents, who did not obtain any higher education due to the civil war, seem more flexible in finding work. As a result, they are able to maintain more traditional breadwinner masculinities, masculinities they use to counter societal narratives in the Netherlands concerning Muslim men. Last, we demonstrate how these generational differences affect perceptions and performances of masculinities in relation to gender, generational relations and life course advancement. The paper emphasises masculinities of young refugee Syrian men in the Netherlands as geographical and temporal constructions, remaining highly nuanced, plural and contextual

Young Muslims’ religious identities in relation to places beyond the UK:a qualitative map-making technique in Newcastle upon Tyne

Transnational relations can play an important role in young people’s identity negotiations and transitions to adulthood. In this article, we explore how young British-born Muslims construct and contest their religious identities and experience their changing religious identities from their lateteens until their early-twenties. We analyse how places beyond the UK shape their religious beliefs and identities in Newcastle upon Tyne in the North East of England, and present a methodological tool to understand young people’s complex and changing (religious) identities and spatialities. We draw on in-depth interviews–including map-making methods–with a small number of young Muslims living in Newcastle upon Tyne whose parents migrated from Pakistan or Bangladesh. This article contributes to youth geographies, by illustrating that when the participants begin to negotiate ‘being Muslim’ more independently, the spatial orientation of their religious identities starts to change as well. We show that the changing meaning and importance of the places beyond the UK should be understood in relation to other spatial notions when explaining religious identity negotiations of young people. Moreover, the paper provides a methodological contribution in demonstrating how map-making can help to examine young people’s identities and changing relationships to places in a transnational context