Migrant Respectability: An Intersectional Bourdieuan Approach to Iranian Migrants’ Experiences of Class and Religion

Respectability is a concept that is classically linked to the notion of social class. It lies within economic, cultural, social, and symbolic capitals. The notion of respectability for migrants, however, needs to be understood differently. In this chapter, we look at ethnicity, gender, and routes of migration. Through two separate studies that we conducted with migrant Iranian women and men in the UK, we argue that the notion of respectability is intersectionally and transnationally constructed in a complex way. For the male group, respectability was driven by their gendered and religious identities placing them in a position of power towards women, a hegemonic form of masculinity that is transported from Iran. However, for migrant women, respectability was defined in relation to the educational level, professional independence, and classed identities. Using a situated intersectional framework to analyze these experiences in relation to respectability (Yuval-Davis 2015), we discuss a variety of discriminatory narratives that emanate from the differential treatment that women receive in Iran. The notion of “migrant respectability” as such moves beyond social class and is presented here as a heuristic tool to understand intersectional experiences of respectability in a transnational context.