Among Brothers and Strangers: Identities in Displacement in Iraq

In: International migration: quarterly review, Band 57, Heft 2, S. 80-95

Abstract

AbstractThrough analysis of primary qualitative data collected in Nineveh, Kirkuk, and Sulaimaniya Governorates in Iraq, this article seeks to explore the rapidly shifting and fragmenting identity dynamics at play in the emerging aftermath of ISIS and the impact that this conflict – and previous legacies of violence and repression – has had on relationships within and between groups, and between groups and the state. Communities increasingly position themselves against one another in relation to vindication of rights and protection. This zero‐sum stance comes from a history of mismanagement of communities and their respective grievances by the state and international partners. Formal acknowledgement of suffering across groups by the state may serve as a first step to break this cycle of negation toward one of inclusion, in the midst of mass displacement and emerging population returns.