Paper long abstract:

This paper is based on my dissertation fieldwork and will focus on the aspirations, dreams and projects of Kabyle (Algerian) immigrants to the Czech Republic. This exclusively male migration started after the fall of Communism. I will analyze how the immigrants design their dreams and plans to live a ‘Western’ life style through narration. This narration is framed according to a discourse about their Kabyle identity in opposition to an Arab identity. The immigrants associate the ‘kabylity’ with secular principle, modernity, individualism and freedom. This attitude is future-oriented and prevents them from experiencing homesickness/nostalgia, but may sometimes induce misunderstanding between them and their families in Algeria. My paper will illustrate how the immigrants’ dreams shape their practice. I will concentrate on the immigrants’ perception of success and on the different strategies they rely on to achieve it. I will also show how the successful migrants encourage their kin to join them and thus initiate chain migration.