Narratives of Belonging: Religion, the Gendered Body and Claims of Autonomy and Authenticity

Feminism is in constant movement. Since the late twentieth century, the concept of post feminism has been used in many, often contradictory ways. A post feminist reading of the (legal) narratives of belonging allows critical assessment of the underlying, seemingly self-evident conceptions that uphold ethnification and exclusion. In April 2016, a heated debate over greeting traditions occupied news media headlines in Sweden as Yasri Khan, a Green Party MP and candidate for the Central Committee, refused on religious grounds to shake hands with journalist Ann Tiberg in a television show. Instead of shaking hands Khan put his right hand on his heart and nodded his head. According to D’Amato in Switzerland the meaning of integration has been open to both a liberal and conservative interpretation. The liberal interpretation is that integration means encouraging immigrants to participate in mainstream society, while the conservative interpretation emphasises the need for mandatory and coercive measures.