The Enigmatic Iraqi Community in Saudi Arabia - Essay Example

Introduction An aura of mystery encircles the enigmatic Iraqi community in Saudi Arabia as many curiosities revolve around them; it is mainly whetherthey have become more like Saudis than being Iraqis in their behaviour and beliefs through adopting the Saudi religious tradition of Wahhabism. This is represented in the concept of the “Saudizatiton” metaphor that I will use throughout my thesis. “Saudization” from the Saudi’s perspective is a discourse used by the Saudi government, which refers to a development strategy that seeks to gradually replace foreign labour with local workers. In this thesis, I use Saudization as a metaphor to highlight the impact of the Saudi culture and way of life on one immigrant community, namely the Iraqi migrants in Saudi Arabia. Further explanation for this definition will be provided in the following sections of this introduction. Moving from one social environment to another has an impact of changing the living pattern of emigrants in various aspects of their lives. This thesis will investigate and discuss the actuality of the Saudization of those families. The research will focus on the group of conservative Iraqi families who emigrated in late 1960s from Iraq to Saudi Arabia for socio-economical and political reasons. Whereas the notion of conservativeness has different meaning in both countries a comparison of the two concepts will be provided in the coming chapters. What these conservative Iraqi families faced while they were settling and how they managed to make their place in the society is what the research will be focusing on, concentrating on the social changes experienced as a result of moving into a more conservative Islamic state and highlighting the ability of these families to cope with the differing cultures whilst still trying to maintain their socio-cultural identity to enhance the feeling of belonging within their children of the second generation. These families were considered to be a minority amongst the other foreigners living in Saudi Arabia. The reasons for immigration also vary from one family to another significantly and each has their own stories to tell. Underneath the coherent appearance of these small community members, the disruptive effect of cross-cultural consequences plays out behind the facade. However, this can be identified only by one of its members or a highly involved individual who has a direct link which allows them to reach within the circle of innermost thoughts and experiences and break the barriers of pride. Saudization In order to provide a better understanding of the aims imbued within the title, I will first explain the multidimensional concept of “Saudization”. Manal Fakeeh comprehensively defined Saudization from a Saudi perspective in her doctorate thesis “as a solution for unemployment”, Saudization simply put, is the replacement of the expatriate work force in the Kingdom by Saudi nationals. Saudization translates in Arabic as ‘nationalization (as in ‘reclaiming ownership’) of the Saudi labour market’. In fact, the case of cultural homogenization (Saudization) in the labour force of Saudi Arabia requires that the existing expatriate workforce be reduced and then removed thus creating vacancies for indigenous Saudis. It is the government’s immediate means of ensuring that unemployment levels are reduced by this replacement and that the economy maintains a healthy cycle of a productive national workforce that is active and contributing to wealth generation, and that both the indigenous workforce and the Saudi economy profit from reducing the financial remittance by expatriates working in the kingdom (Fakeeh 2009). Upon hearing the title selected for this thesis, the first thing that comes to mind is the actual “Naturalization” of Iraqi families living in Saudi Arabia. This is the definition as understood by the Saudi societal perspective; however for foreigners “Saudization” means adopting the Saudi life style of beliefs, behaviours, dressing and way of living. Research Statement: In this thesis I will investigate the religious, social and cultural impact of Saudi Arabia on Iraqi families and their descendants as a result of migration which took place in 1960s. Firstly, I will analyze whether the Iraqi families adopted the Saudi way of living as part of the natural adaptation process or whether they have been able to maintain their own distinctiveness instead. Secondly, what particular category of problems of continuity have the two generations faced? Have the first generation been able to transfer their beliefs and thoughts to the second generation successfully? Or has the influence of the Saudi society been more forceful and powerful than they expected? What was the role of schools and classmates of the Saudi peers on the second generation; further did it cause any conflict with first generation teachings acquired at home? In this thesis I will focus on the impact of the Saudi religious tradition on the Iraqi community members in Saudi Arabia in an anthropological perspective. Anthropology is a holistic discipline that seeks to understand human behaviour and the influences on it from a number of different angles. The anthropology of religion does not focus on beliefs and ritual alone, but tries to contextualize religious behaviour within a broad social framework, and to expose the links between religion and other aspects of the social and natural world. (Bowie 2000: 117) therefore, four dimensions that will be employed in investigating the socio-religious changes accrued are as follows: 1- religious practices, 2- cultural differences, 3- Identification of belonging, 4- marriages pattern. Through these themes we can identify and highlight the changes that have taken place in the Iraqi community as a result of migrating, whether they were positive or negative consequences. These four points will be examined and investigated through the employment of fieldwork methodology and explained in greater detail in the relevant chapters of the thesis. Hypothesis: Within the last five years, Iraqi community members in Saudi Arabia were seen to be noticeably moving towards a trend of Saudization. Without a doubt, this transition process as a result of migrating has had an impact on their way of life in terms of religious beliefs, behaviours and values. This thesis contends that long-term living in Saudi Arabia has impacted the Iraqi families specifically those living in Jeddah, to significant amounts. It will focus on the adjustment patterns that they have adopted after settling. Also this study intends to highlight the effects of being exposed to a multicultural environment on second generation Iraqis. Methodology: This thesis is an exercise in descriptive ethnography as the substantial data has been obtained through participant observation and interviews. Short fieldworkings in Jeddah will consist of interviewing five (sunni and shei’e) Iraqi families. The ethnography will deal with the variations experienced as a result of changing Islamic environments in their migration to Saudi Arabia. Anthropologists are interested in more than the who, when, and why of migration: they want to capture through their ethnography the experience of being an immigrant and the meaning, to the migrants themselves, of the social and cultural changes that result from leaving one context and entering into another.. This has led anthropologists to explore the impact of emigration and immigration on the social relations between men and women, among kin, and among people from the same cultural or ethnic background (Brettell & Hollifield 2000: 4). Therefore I have selected the Iraqi families living in Saudi Arabia, personally being a member of this society. This is part of the anthropological approach as a core method of anthropology at home. After finishing secondary school in Jeddah my family decided to move to Japan, returning after six years, punctuated by several visits to Saudi Arabia. Every time we visited a noticeable change occurred in the Iraqi community in Saudi. Often I felt like an outsider, allowing me to observe these changes from a neutral, uninvolved point of view. Within my own community in Jeddah, I was known for my ability of analyzing people’s behaviour and motivations behind their actions. Although many have encouraged me to further my education in such areas which are more compatible with my talents, when I actually continued my study I found restrictions while conducting fieldwork within the community itself. As mentioned before Iraqi families shield themselves in pride in order not to expose their vulnerability to both outsiders and especially insiders. Therefore for this reason and that the period of field work was short some have avoided contacting me meanwhile others were cautious and conscious in their answers while my interviewing. Thus, ethnography heavily relied on my observation skills along with the few clear and sincere answers received from some of the community members, to mention specifically among those who arrived in late 1960s. The First chapter of this thesis gives a historical glimpse into the presence of Iraqi community in Saudi Arabia till the present day, identifies their status and the reasons for migrating, and attempts to highlight their socio-economic profile. Chapter II depicts the changes in the religious conceptualization and practices; it will clarify differentiation in the meaning of conservativeness in both social contexts, and the impact of the variation in religious education between the two generations. Chapter III combines the cultural and identity changes. It will describe the cultural adaptation of the first generation in order to analyze its impact on self-identification of the second generation. Chapter IV deals with the factors affecting the changing marriage patterns among second generation. Literature Review: The Arab world is marked by considerable geographical, social, and cultural diversity. Arab society has traditionally been viewed as a trinity of Bedouins, peasants, and urban dwellers, living together in a kind of symbiosis. Detailed studies have tended to stress the differences between these and other categories of people, differences which the social and economic politics of Arab and foreign regimes have long tended to exacerbate. Treating the Arab world as one single cultural area and as one Arab society implies an emphasis on the broad cultural “unifiers” e.g. Language, religion, shared traditions, common history, and common aspirations. But there are just as many if not more cultural “diversifiers”. Thus within the common language there are different dialects, and within the common religion there are denominations and sects (Hopkins Ibrahim, 1997) I believe that my thesis will provide ample information with regards to the coexistence of first and second generation in diaspora and will fill a gap in the literature currently available on Iraqi migrants in Saudi Arabia. While I conducted a survey of the literature on migration to Saudi Arabia there was no available information and data using ethnographic strategies for research. In the Middle East anthropological/sociological approaches to study are considered to be relatively new disciplines, therefore ethnographic studies on migration are few. Due to the lack of such resources, I will rely in my research on direct interviews and discussions that will be held with the participants to support my work. There were numerous resources available related to the theme of the study in Britain and elsewhere, of which I have selected a few references to help in my research in terms of methodologies and structure. Some of these useful recourses: Al-Rasheed, M. (1994). ‘The Myth of Return: Iraqi Arab and Assyrian Refugee in London’, Jornal of Refugee Studies Vol. 7. No. 2. A journal written by Dr. Madawi Al-Rasheed (1994) ‘The Myth of Return: Iraqi Arab and Assyrian Refugee in London, represents a comparative study investigating the perspective of two refugee groups to ‘the myth of return’. Al-Rasheed chooses Iraqi Arabs and Iraqi Assyrians living in United Kingdom to examine the importance of communicating with the homeland and to what extent the two groups are attached to the ‘myth of return’ to the country of origin. The study claims to be ‘drawing on a theoretical development in the field of migration studies.. The paper rejects the assumption that refugees’ attachment to their attachment to their homeland and their desire to return to it are ‘natural givens’ (Al-Rasheed 1994: 199). Al-Hashmi,H. (2006). The Arab Communities and the Problem of Social Integration in the Western Countries: The Iraqi Emigrants in the Netherlands as a Sample. Unpublished PhD dissertation. University of Tunisia. The Al-Hashimi (2006) study addresses the phenomena of emigration to the West, specifically the Iraqi community in Netherlands. It investigates their social integration process in an empirical socio-anthropological study. The author conducted a fieldwork consisting of 45000 people in a theoretical and practical setup, using modern methods in data collecting alongside classical theories of social identity, self-identification and nation building. The study proceeds to introduce the social integration patterns between the emigrants and the host country while simultaneously examining the feeling of affiliation to the country of origin. The findings indicate of lack of integration and high commitment to cultural and religious background. Bibliography used: Al-Rasheed, M. (1994). ‘The Myth of Return: Iraqi Arab and Assyrian Refugee in London’, Jornal of Refugee Studies Vol. 7. No. 2. Brettell, C. Hollifield, J. F. (2000). Migration theory: talking across disciplines. Routledge. Bowie, F. (2000). The anthropology of religion: an introduction‬, London: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Fakeeh, M. S. (2009). Saudization as a Solution for Unemployment: The Case of Jeddah Western Region. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/1454/01/Fakeeh_DBA.pdf. Accessed on 20. August. 2010. Hopkins, N.S. Ibrahim, S.E. (1997). Arab society: class, gender, power, and development. American university in Cairo press. Read More