In this thread, I would like to share some insights from my MA dissertation titled: "Critical Enquiry into the Marginalized Narratives of Expression: Reconstruction of Identity, Citizenship, and Means of Participation in Kuwait" that I recently submitted.

to start with, I want to point out that this dissertation would not have been without the input and participation of the participants and co-enquirers that I have worked during my fieldwork. So thank you, anonymously, you are the best thing that happened.

Another reminder for the reader, this is a thread where I am going to express my 'feelings' about the process of writing my dissertation and the topic selected.

Intro: I will start from the beginning: I was born and raised in Kuwait. As I got older, I noticed that there is an ill-balanced exercise of power in the socio-economic context when it comes to Kuwaitis versus non-Kuwaitis.

Here, I am referring to two persons who have both been born and raised in Kuwait and have grown up in similar contexts but with different expressions of identity, citizenship, and means of participation.

These differences can become more complex when we include factors such as ethnicity and gender. Thus, the paper is going to examine these different groups and the dynamic claim to authenticity, voice, as well as their sense of belonging in Kuwait.

Background: Historically, the process of institutionalization in Kuwait was not smooth in terms of inclusivity across the broader Inhabitants of Kuwait. One of the main reasons was the Nationality Law, that left people behind when it was enacted in 1959.

The law grants the nationality to who is born to a Kuwaiti father (male) only, and whoever could prove through documents a continuous residence in Kuwait since 1920. Therefore, new socio-political classifications have emerged as a result:

Original Kuwaitis, Naturalized Kuwaitis, Children of a Kuwaiti mother, Bedoun (Stateless), and foreigners (non-citizens) emerged as new classifications in regard to their economic, social, and political rights.

Each category has certain accessibility to public benefits such as healthcare and education, the right to own property. Each with different expressions of identity, agency, and means of participation.

Historically, tribal, sectarian, and familial groups have had an open, tolerant society to a certain degree. However, in recent years, a series of crises have threatened to undermine this pluralism and led to a rise of xenophobia and divisiveness.

Although tribal, sectarian, and other familial ties remain paramount, new cleavages have emboldened various resistance forces. At times, Kuwait’s relative openness has encouraged the collaboration of particularly youth-led associations, groups, and movements.

In order to contextualize the dynamic of these new cleavages, I have proposed an experiential and participatory approach to address these new 'cross-social-youth-led' initiatives as I refer to them across my dissertation. My research questions are as follow:

- What are the values of ‘cross-social-youth-led initiatives’ in the context of Kuwait?
- How do these initiatives claim their voice and agency?
- How does it enhance the sense of belonging in Kuwait?
- How can we promote and sustain an inclusive approach for the future?

Throughout the process, I questioned my positionality a lot. For example, a question like “Who am I?”. Who am I to interview a bedoun [stateless], or a non-citizen who has been born, raised in Kuwait and ask them about their sense of agency and belonging?

It took me a lot of reading, reflexivity, and conversations to overcome my fear. I incorporated elements of co-creating knowledge together in order to achieve collective interpretation. Thus framing my enquiry toward a more neutral stance.

The methodology I used, I tried to frame it in the most power diffusing approach with a highly reflexive stance. The answers to these questions are highly ‘experiential’, and related to the individual experience, therefore, traditional methods would not be appropriate.

Thus, my methods consisted of elements such as storytelling, highly flexible interviews, and workshop to understand the sense of belonging in an experiential way.

the workshop had two main questions: 1) What are the factors that enhance the sense of belonging in Kuwait? and 2) What are the barriers to feeling ‘belonged’ in Kuwait? The process to answer these questions followed a consensus workshop method.

All of this is done under power, participation, and sense of belonging lenses. Many findings on social power and intertwined relations, manifestations of participation, and identity formation and belonging emerged from these series of interviews and workshops.

I do not think Twitter is the ideal platform to share the findings or the analysis, however, I am more than happy to discuss it in person over coffee. The journey of doing my fieldwork in my home country was an eye-and-soul opener.

This whole experience of re-examining my own context, and in the country where I consider home was a transformative one. This transformation has been on the deeper conscious level, where I requestioned my own positionality and in particular moments of the fieldwork.

Thus, it made me realize how positionality is not a static lens, but rather a fluid concept that adapts accordingly. Therefore, this reflection process has humanized the experience and it was therapeutically rewarding to write this dissertation.

Hopefully, at some point in the near future, I will publish an edited version of my thesis. Once, I am done working on my current papers. Thank you for your time reading the thread.