{"id":742,"date":"2021-01-28T18:56:33","date_gmt":"2021-01-28T17:56:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.u-bourgogne.fr\/aci2020\/?page_id=742"},"modified":"2021-02-13T15:13:01","modified_gmt":"2021-02-13T14:13:01","slug":"new-dynamics-in-transnational-political-experience-a-narrative-study-of-educated-turkish-youth-in-germany","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blog.ube.fr\/aci2020\/new-dynamics-in-transnational-political-experience-a-narrative-study-of-educated-turkish-youth-in-germany\/","title":{"rendered":"New Dynamics in Transnational Political Experience: A Narrative study of Educated Turkish Youth in Germany"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tugba G\u00f6cer – Kadir Has University, Turkey<\/span><\/p>\n

Keywords<\/strong><\/p>\n

transnational politics, political experience, identity formations<\/p>\n

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Abstract<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2012, Turkish Government changed voting regulation laws of Turkish citizens residing abroad, which allows citizens to vote for Turkish general elections at the nearest embassy rather than borders. Although Turkish population in Germany has always been a concern of international politics, it can also be observed that boundaries between international and domestic politics are now more blurred. Hence, the political participation of Turkish citizens in Germany is characterized as a period of intensive and highly intermixed transnational relations (\u00d8stergaard-Nielsen, 2004). In my study, I examine political experiences of Turkish youth and their self-identifications within the same domain of transnational space that involves Turkey\u2019s diaspora politics and Germany\u2019s domestic politics. In this, participants\u2019 personal experiences of this transnational political field (Kivisto & Faist, 2010) are the main source of the analysis which is to understand their ways of identity formations. In this regard, this study asks \u201cIn which ways are recent politics on migrants reflected in Turkish young adult\u2019s self- identifications?\u201d While the concepts of \u201cintegration\u201d and \u201cnational identities\u201d are constantly used both\u00a0<\/span>in quantitative and qualitative researches on migrant youth, it is no surprise that those concepts are attached to the sense of \u2018discrimination\u2019 and being \u2018disadvantaged\u2019 (\u00c7elik, 2018). However, in order to eliminate the sense of inferiority attached to Turkish population in Germany, this study analyzes the complexity of political experiences through personal narratives of 16 Turkish young adults with higher education by employing narrative ethnographic method (Riessman, 2012). My analysis of personal narratives shows how political discussions are translated into the everyday interactions and actions of the interviewees. In this regard, how they narrate their everyday interactions with others are related with how they perceive political structures as well as their own positions in the society. Instead of proposing a causal relation, I show the presence of politics in the everyday discussions and its echoes in the narratives about self-identities. It might be possible to tackle the concept of identity in relation to coeval presence and as a way of transformative action rather than focusing on the essential characters of being Turkish or German. For example, being interested in Turkish politics is something shared in German context both by Germans and Turkish people, and production of the categories of \u201cGerman\u201d and \u201cTurkish\u201d is highly related with the political experiences and discussions. Therefore, to understand their experiences for the production of the \u201cother\u201d is more important than their \u201cactual\u201d distinctions as a group. Here, the term \u201cother\u201d works as an operational concept in order to underline its discursively produced character from the interpretations of the interviewees\u2019 narratives. Hence, how do Turkish young adults experience the political discussions about Turkey is attached to how do they produce the other as \u201cGermans whom they do not want to discuss with\u201d. In my study, identity formations of educated Turkish youth are approached as forms of transnational practices, and their self-identities are ways of action through their everyday discussions, interactions and imaginations, in form of \u201cbecoming\u201d. (Kaya, 2007) Since the cultural identities appear in fluid forms in transnational spaces, using the method of narrative ethnography gave me a chance to examine the interplay between the social structures and personal stories.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Bibliography<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00c7elik, \u00c7. (2018). Disadvantaged, but morally superior: ethnic boundary making strategies of second- generation male Turkish immigrant youth in Germany. Identities, 25(6), 705\u2013723. <\/span>https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/1070289X.2017.1305218<\/span><\/p>\n

Gerdes, J., Reisenauer, E. and Sert, D. (2012) \u2018Varying Transnational and Multicultural Activities in the Turkish\u2013German Migration Context\u2019, in Pitkanen, P., I\u00e7duygu, A., and Sert, D. (eds) Migration and Transformation. 1st edn. London: Springer, pp. 103\u2013159.<\/span><\/p>\n

Isotalo, R. (2012) \u2018Politicizing the Transnational: On Implications for Migrants, Refugees, and Scholarship\u2019, in Glick Schiller, N. and Faist, T. (eds) Migration, Development and Transnatianalization: A Critical Stance. New York: Berghahn Books, pp. 100\u2013142.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kaya, A. (2007). German-Turkish Transnational A Separate Space: A Separate Space of Their Own. German Studies Review, 30(3), 483\u2013502.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Kivisto, P., & Faist, T. (2010). Beyond a border: The causes and consequences of contemporary immigration. In Beyond a Border: The Causes and Consequences of Contemporary Immigration.<\/span>https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4135\/9781483349404<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00d8stergaard-Nielsen, E. (2004). Transnational Politics Turks and Kurds in germany. New York: Taylor & Francis e-Library.<\/span><\/p>\n

Phoenix, A. (2008) \u2018Analysing narrative contexts\u2019, in Andrews, M., Squire, C., and Tomboukou, M. (eds) Doing Narrative Research. London: SAGE, pp. 64\u201377.<\/span><\/p>\n

Riessman, C. (2012). Analysis of Personal Narratives. In T. Gubrium & E. Al. (Eds.), Sage Handbook of Interview Research. The Complexity of the Craft (2nd ed., pp. 367\u2013379). London: Sage.<\/span><\/p>\n

Schunck, R. (2014) Transnational Activities and Immigrant Integration in Germany. 1st ed. Springer. Edited by P. Li and B. Abu-Laban. London: Springer.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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