Identity and Context Change: Case Study of Saudi Women in the UK

Saudi women’s social and religious position, rights, agency, and identities are gaining more academic prominence inside and outside Saudi Arabia. This project brings these aspects together with a focus on their intersection in international mobility. This research project examines the impact of changing social and religious contexts on Saudi women’s identities abroad. Saudi women in the UK are then put forward as a case study examined using a qualitative research design. This research draws on academic literature, 21 in-depth interviews, and photo-elicitation to discuss how Saudi women (re)construct and negotiate their identities during their stay in the UK with relevance to their self-understanding, aspirations, and interpersonal relationships. The findings of this research conclude that relocating to a foreign environment with distinct social and religious landscapes from those of Saudi Arabia had a positive transformative impact on the Saudi research participants because it offered them more space to navigate diverse possibilities, negotiate their identities, including cultural, social, and religious dimensions. It also enabled them to grow on personal and professional levels, articulate their voices with newfound clarity, and reclaim their agency. These findings contribute to the scarcity of academic works on the Saudi women diaspora, in particular, and the Arab Muslim female diaspora, in general. They also contribute to building contemporary and accurate accounts of Saudi women and debunking long-lasting and widespread stereotypes and misconceptions about this population.