To orient whilst orientalized: Narratives of face-veiling women in light of public mobility

Abstract

This thesis explores the narratives of face-veiling women, in light of mobility practices pertaining to public spaces. With Sweden emerging as the focal point of study, experiences and perceptions of face-veiled women, of, and in, public spaces are neared. Emphasised are spatial and social orientations, alongside personal conceptualizations of face-veiling in relation to movement. Rooted in contemporary discourse, and a public sphere in which the veil has become highly debated, this thesis exposes its reader to human narratives and personal affairs of scarce recognition. Following numerous Swedish policy proposals in favour of a national face-veil ban, the stories of veiled women invite us to explore their movement and mobility in a country where legal ramifications are a tangible potentiality. Participant observation, in-depth dialogues and jocular ethnography are merged, in a quest for uncovering everyday practices within civil society that sustain the fabric of the state. Grounded in depictions of interpersonal relations and public encounters, this thesis reflects on ways in which face-veiling is rendered a means for reaffirming religious perseverance and founding personal acceptance. Face-veiled women’s approaches to movement invoke a transcendence of the public space, as aspects of safety and statehood appear in a borderland between private and public. In states of both social stagnation and surge, these women dwell in past realities and future prospects of public spaces, fortifying their awareness of others and the self. Emerging by such states are practices of negotiation, of the layers of their own social position through channels of speech, belonging and conduct.