Kurdish movers from Turkey are usually considered as Turkish by researchers. Therefore, very little is known about the experiences of Kurdish movers in the labour market in the United Kingdom. Drawing on field research I conducted in 2014 and 2015 about the ethnic economy and labour market conditions of Kurdish, Turkish, and Turkish-Cypriot movers in London, this study contributes to the literature on migration through analyses of the labour exploitation of Kurds who moved to the UK from Turkey. It demonstrates that the reasons underlying the difference between Kurds and Turks and Turkish-Cypriots in terms of status and working conditions are complex. First of all, Kurdish movers in the UK are relative newcomers, have a limited grasp of English and share a strong sense of solidarity, and also a significant percentage of those Kurds left Turkey in order to escape discrimination and political violence, which makes the possibility of return “impossible”.
Despite the extensive literature on the labour market outcomes of migration, little attention has been given to labour market inequalities within ethnic economies containing internal ethnicity. This article, using a field-study, multi-segmented labour market approach and the enclave hypothesis, contributes to the literature by demonstrating the key roles of different migration patterns and ethnic disparities in shaping labour market segmentation. It focuses on how and why Kurdish migrants are located in the lower segments of the labour market in their shared ethnic (migrant) economy in London. It argues that the Kurds’ underprivileged position associated with an ethnic penalty for them in the UK results from their relatively recent migration history, (un)documented asylum status and the ongoing persecution against them in Turkey. The article concludes that different migration histories, particular motivations for migration and ethnic disparities stratify migrants into distinct segments of the labour market in the country of destination.
Since the existing research on migration from Turkey to Western Europe does not employ multiple theoretical perspectives, this article, based on two field studies, focuses on the changing phases and forms of this human mobility by utilising a number of relevant international migration theories. The article examines the uncovered socio-economic, demographic, and political aspects of migration from Turkey to Germany and the United Kingdom and unpacks how the parameters and motives for these two routes have changed from a comparative historical perspective. In this way, it deepens the discussion on the factors and circumstances leading to migration and demonstrates that while individual, household, and historical-structural distinctions and conflicts initiate human mobility, it is perpetuated by ongoing differences, a culture of migration, networks, and ethnic economies.
Saniye Dedeoğlu (2014). Migrants, Work and Social Integration, Women’s Labour in Turkish Ethnic Economy (Göçmenler, Çalışma ve Sosyal Entegrasyon, Türkiyelilerin Etnik Ekonomisinde Kadın Emeği). Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship Series, Palgrave-Macmillan, ISBN: 9781137371119, 1. Baskı, 202 Sayfa.Göç, göçmenler ve çalışma hayatı konuları akademik yazında üzerinde çokça çalışılan alanlardır. Bu çerçevede 2014 yılında yayınlanan Göçmenler, Çalışma ve Sosyal Entegrasyon / Türkiyelilerin Etnik Ekonomisinde Kadın Emeği isimli, önsöz kısmında bir nevi kendi durduğu yeri ve pozisyonu tarif ettiği kitabıyla, Dedeoğlu, göç, emek piyasaları ve sosyal entegrasyon literatürüne, toplumsal cinsiyet perspektifiyle katkıda bulunmaktadır. Avrupa toplumlarındaki sosyoekonomik dönüşümlere toplumsal cinsiyet ve göç çalışmaları yoluyla eğilmenin ve bu dönüşümlerde kadınların etkisinin/rolünün ortaya konulmasının önemine işaret eden kitap, yazarın sözleriyle, bir kadın tarafından yazılmış, kadınların seslerinin, yaşamlarının ve hikâyelerinin ifade edildiği, Türkiyeli topluluğun Britanya’ya göçünün hikâyesi olarak tarif edilebilir.Londra’da kadınlar, işyeri sahipleri, aileler ve topluluk liderleriyle derinlemesine görüşmelerin ve gözlemlerin yapıldığı, 15 aylık alan araştırması üzerine kurgulanmış bu kitapta özetle Londra’daki Türkiyelilerin etnik ekonomisinde kadın emeği/çalışması ve Türkiyelilerin sosyal entegrasyonu ve Türkiyeli toplumun toplumsal cinsiyet ideolojilerinin ve yapısının kadınlar üzerindeki sonuçları işlenmektedir.
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