Child-Rearing Practices within Mixed European-Turkish Families in Istanbul: Setting Symbolic Boundaries
Child-Rearing Practices within Mixed European-Turkish Families in Istanbul: Setting Symbolic Boundaries

Author(s): Nevena Gojkovic Turunz
Subject(s): Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology, Family and social welfare, Migration Studies
Published by: Transnational Press London
Keywords: Europe; Turkey; mixed families; Istanbul; child-rearing practices;
Summary/Abstract: Introduction: Once a typical emigration country, Turkey has since 1990s been established as a transit and receiving society. Furthermore, a significant number of foreigners live in Turkey not only for work, pleasure, or education but also for personal reasons. Hence, the article focuses on a particular group of migrants – ‘love' migrants – men and women from several European countries, who settled in Istanbul due to their emotional ties with Turkish citizens and established families with them. The key questions of the article are: a) how foreign parents perceive family relations, a concept of a good mother and child-rearing practices in the Turkish society; and b) how on the basis of perceived differences, the foreign parents create symbolic boundaries specifically toward their Turkish in-laws, perceived typical Turkish “mothers”, and Turkish society as a whole.

• Details
• Contents