The Question of Belonging: Naturalized East Africans in the Washington Metropolitan Area

Abstract

The traditional literature concerned with the relationship between citizenship and belonging has oftentimes been viewed from a lens which perceives it as linear. Although more recent work has acknowledged the plethora of factors which contribute to this relationship, the case of naturalized East Africans emphasizes the importance of the transnational community and ethnic organizations in defining this relationship. This thesis considers the unique nature of naturalized citizenship for first-generation Ethiopian-, Somali-, and Sudanese-Americans. The study assesses why and to what extent naturalized citizenship coexists with transnational forms of belonging for East African migrants in the United States, and in particular, the Washington Metropolitan Area. The notion of belonging has been approached as a dynamic and multi-layered process. The primary finding this thesis makes is that the East Africans in this study find their sense of belonging starts at the community level, where they express strong community belonging by virtue of their membership and participation in ethnic organizations, networks, and enclaves. By finding strong community belonging on the basis of their regional or ethnic identity, many East Africans acquire the skills and confidence to then engage and interact with the larger American community.