UNDERSTANDING STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE THROUGH THE INTERSECTIONALITY THEORY : A THEMATIC ANALYSIS OF GAY REFUGEE’S EXPERIENCES OF OPPRESSION AND MARGINALIZATION IN SWEDEN

• Main Author: Borgqvist, Julius
• Format: Others
• Language: Swedish
• Published: Malmö högskola, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS) 2016
• Subjects: LGBTQ; Refugee; Structural Violence; Asylum process Intersectionality Theory; Thematic Analysis; Social Sciences; Samhällsvetenskap
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-23200

Research in Canada and Turkey suggests that LGBTQ asylum seekers are particularly vulnerable among an already marginalized group, the refugee community, where different forms of structural violence manifest itself in particular ways towards gay refugees.Given that few studies exist in the Swedish context, the aim is to gain a preliminaryunderstanding of LGBTQ refugee’s experiences of structural violence in Sweden, legally,socially and economically.The material is based on interviews of four male gay refugees from different countries all living in Malmö.Using a thematic analysis by categorizing the material into patterns of meaning, two mainthemes have been identified: structural violence in the asylum system and structural violence in social life. The intersectionality theory will be applied in order to understand how oppression expresses itself in particular ways towards these individuals, because of their intersecting identity as gay and as refugee.The results indicate that LGBTQ refugees experience structural violence through economic marginalization and the re-telling of traumatic experiences in the asylum process. However, structural violence expressed via social marginalization they cannot be sufficiently understood through the intersectionality theory, urging future studies to further explore and expand the topic and scope of the thesis.