ABSTRACT
In the context of post 9/11, Muslim migrant men in Europe have come under scrutiny with their masculinity perceived as problematic. This chapter analyses how first-generation migrant men from Bangladesh, living in The Hague, the Netherlands, have experienced the process of marginalisation resulting from post 9/11 perceptions. I argue that the process of marginalisation for Bangladeshi Migrant men in The Hague is embedded in the intersection of gender, race, colour, class, religion and ethnicity. I focus on three social spheres – the workplace, the family, and the wider Dutch society – to understand the positionality of Bangladeshi migrant men in relation to other Muslim communities as well as white Dutch men. The results of my research reveal an ambiguous and complex scenario where Bangladeshi migrant men, while participating in certain racist discourses of Dutch society, also reject others; simultaneously reproducing negative stereotypes of other communities while asserting certain similarities with them. At the same time, Bangladeshi migrant men live in a ‘Bangladesh bubble’ where their life is organised around links and relationships with people from Bangladesh, and with other Bangladeshis in the Netherlands. While this means a (self)isolation from Dutch society, this bubble allows them to ignore hegemonic notions and practices of white Dutch masculinity in Netherlands and create their own ideals of masculinity.
