Loading...
More Than Migrants: Navigating Intra-Group Social Belonging and Identity Among South Asians in the UAE
Qureshi, Zainab
Qureshi, Zainab
Files
29.232-2025.22a Zainab Qureshi.pdf
Adobe PDF, 379.92 KB
- Embargoed until 2027-03-10
Description
A Master of Arts in International Studies by Zainab Qureshi entitled, “More Than Migrants: Navigating Intra-Group Social Belonging and Identity Among South Asians in the UAE”, submitted in December 2025. Thesis advisor is Dr. Neha Vora. Soft copy is available (Thesis, Completion Certificate, Approval Signatures, and AUS Archives Consent Form).
Abstract
Despite sharing cultural and ethnic similarities, South Asian migrant identity and social belonging is nuanced in nature. The South Asian experience includes an intersectional aspect of intra-group cohesion and division as well as group identity that is colored by nationality, socio-economic status, religion, and language, and education. Furthermore, social belonging is particularly relevant in the Gulf, as migrants, including a significant proportion of South Asians, often lack access to citizenship. This transient residency reality ultimately leads to other factors of community building and identity formation becoming more salient, particularly as there is a growing number of second-generation migrants that have settled in the region despite a lack of legal permanence. As a result, South Asian ethnic intra-group identity tends to take precedence in states such as the UAE, especially when considering inclusive and exclusive experiences. Drawing on 23 qualitative interviews of second-generation South Asians in the UAE this study reveals that identity and belonging are shaped by family influence, peer networks, schooling, professional spaces, and broader diaspora engagement. Bargaining power, which is
mediated by linguistic fluency, socio-economic resources, as well as transnational exposure, enables some individuals to exercise greater autonomy in defining their inclusion, while others tend to face social and structural constraints. Intra-group dynamics are central, as shared South Asian identity is both a source of solidarity and a site of fragmentation along class, religious, language, and national lines. The findings demonstrate that belonging is relational, situational, and continually performed, producing hybrid identities that balance heritage and adaptation, offering new insights into diasporic life in legally constrained migration contexts.