Abstract

This is an exploratory case study, which documents social change in the pattern of everyday life of Afghan women refugees in Iran and Pakistan. The central question of the thesis asks: Do significant changes affecting-self-perception take place in a refugee woman's life as result of migration? And, supposing that such changes do occur how might the UN, non-governmental organizations, and the international aid agencies take them into account when designing their policies? I have adopted a comparative approach in reviewing the literature of trends and patterns of various refugee experiences, including my own. I undertook field research (February-June 2000) that comprises a comparative study of refugee women's life in Iran and Pakistan and in the two locations of city and camp. It became evident that migration does indeed produce significant socio-cultural changes in a refugee woman's life, and that these affect her view of herself. Specifically, living in exile enabled a majority of women refugees to connect the economic well-being of the family with female education and the ability to find employment. (This phenomenon, though it may seem obvious in the west, is a revolutionary notion for women from rural sector backgrounds long defined by a tribal, semi-feudal structure). Such a development in turn challenges the traditional view of gender relations, in which the man is inevitably seen as head of the family, provider and protector