Citation

Roggeband C. Signs 2010; 35(4): 943-967.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, University of Chicago Press)

DOI

10.1086/651050

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Based on a case study of eight migrant women’s associations, this article examines how migrant women’s organizations in the Netherlands negotiate their way through the contradictory policy frame that positions migrant women as both victims and agents of change. While the state tries to engage migrant women’s organizations in its policy, mainly as an instrument to reach the target group, these organizations do not agree with the assumptions underlying the government frame and therefore sometimes refuse state funding. In their view this frame serves only to stereotype and exclude migrant women and is not helpful in improving the situation of migrant women. Instead, the activism of migrant women makes clear that they are by no means passive victims and that their agency extends well beyond the limited role the state envisions for them.