On Bricoleurs and Workers: Young Second-generation Men in Switzerland

Author(s) : Monika Müller

Source : http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07256868.2014.913012

Abstract:

The ability to switch easily between different cultures and to bridge different contexts seems to fit second-generation migrants perfectly for the present globalised age. By mixing and synthesising pre-existing elements they appear to be bricoleurs with the notion of impurity and openness. This paper focuses on processes of hybridity and multiple belonging and considers their complexity by taking a biographical view. It analyses two case studies of young Hindu and Muslim men in Switzerland and argues that dealing with different kinds of memberships may sometimes reflect something playful, but can likewise be connected with the notion of a worker, reflecting something rather harmful and stressful. Moreover, the case of these young Hindu and Muslim men illustrates the complexity of power relations.