Searching for “Alternative Diaspora Spaces”: Highly-Skilled Turkish Migrants’ Social and Professional Life Experiences in Europe
Searching for “Alternative Diaspora Spaces”: Highly-Skilled Turkish Migrants’ Social and Professional Life Experiences in Europe

Summary/Abstract: This paper explores highly-skilled Turkish migrants’ social and professional life experiences with several Others (i.e., “Turkish,” “European,” “international”) in their respective European host societies. Based on the life-story narratives collected from 40 highly-skilled Turkish migrants residing in Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden, the paper offers a qualitative analysis on how the sample group perceive and evaluate their individual identities vis-à-vis the general group identities (i.e., the Turkish diaspora and the host society). Moreover, the paper reveals the ways in which they build/maintain alternative social networks based on such perceptions, their social statuses, professions and lifestyles. The premise is, on one hand, that they feel a gap between themselves and the older Turkish diasporas, and, on the other hand, that they are unable to cross certain cultural boundaries of the wider European society. Subsequently, they find ways to navigate through “cultures of rejection” by searching for “alternative diaspora spaces” which promote openness, fairness and pluralism.

• Details
• Contents