The project investigates how experiences of forcible displacement and life in exile involve reconstruction of identities. The analysis aims at challenging the categories of "refugee" and "Muslim woman" that are commonly associated with cultural "otherness" and helpless victimhood. Despite the growing presence of refugees from Chechnya (Russian Federation) in Europe, little is known about their situation and experiences of displacement and settlement. The lack of knowledge goes hand in hand with stereotyping of Chechens as "hard to integrate", as violent, as actual or potential "Islamic fundamentalists" and as a threat to Western liberal values. Chechen refugee women find themselves at the intersection of multiple forces of silencing and marginalisation based on their gender, asylum seeker/ refugee status and association with Islam.This research does not approach these identities as predetermined and stable. It approaches identity as a continuous and relational process which can be best examined by focusing on women's agency and diversity. Biographical method is used to analyse life stories of Chechen refugee women in Europe as embedded in wider socioeconomic, cultural and political developments in Soviet and post-Soviet Chechnya. Thus, it enhances our understanding of displacement and settlement by adding a historical and a gender dimension. At the same time, the impact of different socio-political and institutional settings on processes of identity reconstruction is investigated by bringing together Chechen women's narratives from Germany, Austria and Poland. These countries have received a large share of Chechen asylum seekers and now host significant populations of Chechen refugees. However, they differ significantly in the conditions of reception and settlement.The research focuses on renegotiations of femininities and masculinities in exile and examines how they intersect with ethnicity, class, age, religious affiliation, family status and urban/ rural settings. The project will result in a publication of a book. Thirty women from Chechnya who are living in Germany, Austria and Poland will be interviewed for the project. A biographical-narrative interview method will be used. The selection of interview partners will be based on a snow-ball technique with the focus on achieving a diversity of experiences and characteristics in the research sample. Refugee women of different generations, social classes, religious backgrounds and of both urban and rural origins will be included. Ten interviews will be carried out in each country (in Vienna, Berlin and Warsaw as well as in at least one smaller city or a town).