The Lost and Fractured Identities of Third Generation Immigrant Youth in Belgium: A Case Study of the Borgerhout Neighbourhood of Antwerp

Abstract

Following the recent terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels, there has been growing interest in the suburbs where young Belgians of Moroccan origin live. This has once again raised the question of their integration into Belgian society. These young people living in the suburbs of Belgian cities were born and/or raised and educated in Belgium, yet most of them have not succeeded academically, are unemployed, and many of them live as part of fractured groups culturally isolated from both their parents' culture and the wider society around them. This preliminary study is based on field work undertaken in the Borgerhout neighborhood in the city of Antwerp, whose population is predominantly of Moroccan origin. It highlights and examines the violent identity rupture experienced by third-generation youth and their experience of the quest for a meaningful and secure identity.