'Glad to have honour': continuity and change in minority wo experience of honour Withaeckx Sophie - Coene Gily This is an Author's Original Manuscript of an article whose final and definitive form, Journal of Gender Studies, forthcoming in 2013 [copyright Taylor & Francis], http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/carfax/09589236.html Abstract The concept of honour and associated phenomena have often been associated with a forces women to obey restrictive moral prescriptions; accordingly, honour has some as unilaterally negative for women's well-being. A critical analysis reveals ho understandings of honour flow from a culturalist framing of issues such as honour-r failing to grasp the complexity of women's responses when socialized with traditional no Based on the theoretical reflections of authors such as Phillips (2007), Ewing (2008) a and drawing on the narratives of two women of Moroccan descent in Bel demonstrate how an analysis grounded in intersectionality theory and based on Bourdi may provide a deeper insight into the complexities of women's lived experiences of honor from fixed understandings of honour, it is argued that its content and meaning is Although closely linked with cultural ideologies and socialization processes which and experiences, these do not prevent personal choice and interpretation positioning of individuals and their families in and outside their communities continuity or bring about change. Keywords: honour; honour-related violence; gender; culture; intersectionality; habitus 1. Introduction 'I am proud that we have these boundaries. I am glad that there is honour'. This quote was expressed by Lamia, a young Belgian woman of Moroccan descent, when she was asked ab
women as actors able to redefine notions of honour and bring about change. Nevertheless, important constraints limiting personal creativity remain: but, rather than being produced by some essential culture, these limits should be situated in the interplay of personal experience within the context of migration in which these women find themselves. First, we sketch how a culturalist discourse, as has been developed on the topic of honour-related violence, has influenced understandings of honour and of women's experiences in immigrant communities. Secondly, we argue that an analysis grounded in intersectionality theory and based on Bourdieu's concept of 'habitus' may provide a deeper insight into the complexities of women's lived experience of honour. Drawing on the narratives of two immigrant women of Moroccan descent living in Belgium, we aim to demonstrate how these insights could better help us to grasp the dynamics of culture, change and continuity in individual lives. 2. Honour and violence: culture clashes in Europe Understandings of honour, and of women's responses to it, have been considerably shaped by dominant discourses on the problem of honour-related violence (HRV) occurring in immigrant communities in the West. HRV is defined as a form of patriarchal violence against women, centred on a notion of honour which makes the status of a family or larger community dependent upon female members' chaste behaviour. As such, violations of honour can be invoked to legitimate a variety of forms of violence, usually - but not exclusively - perpetrated by male family members against (young)