Upsetting ‘Others’ in theNetherlands: Narratives ofMuslimTurkish Migrant Businesswomen at the Crossroads of Ethnicity, Gender and Religion

In this paper we use insights from postcolonial feminism to explore the identity narratives of three M uslim businesswomen of T urkish descent in the N etherlands. We identify some of the ways in which contemporary political discourse in the N etherlands constructs M uslim ‘ O thers’ and discuss how this discursive positioning impacts on the multiple identities these women create for themselves in response. Postcolonial feminism challenges the discursive and material relations of both patriarchy and Eurocentric feminisms, which work together to obscure the rich diversity of women's lived experiences, their agency and identities. By exploring how O thering impacts on these women's multiple identities, we aim to enrich understandings of women's migrant entrepreneurship. These identity narratives, shared by women who each describe quite different ways of experiencing, interpreting and responding to marginalization, shed light on the W est's relationship to the O ther and reveal some of the underlying relations of power that shape identity.