Where to Call Home and Where to Return as a Second Generation Turkish-German?: Gendered Experiences of Return Migration

About this episode

The episode discusses the complexities of return migration for second generation Turkish-Germans with guest Nilay Kılınç.

In this episode, I am hosting Nilay Kılınç. We will discuss the transnational phenomenon of ‘return migration’ and further complicate it by adding onto a gender dimension. In Nilay’s research, the term return migration refers to the second generation Turkish-Germans migrating back to Turkey from Germany. Nilay urges us to consider return migration as a paradoxical concept, especially for the second generation. Born and raised in Germany, the second generation had minimal physical contact with Turkey, which had been usually in the form of short holiday trips. Their memories of Turkey were mostly shaped by stories they acquired from their parents. Thus, Nilay warns us to be cautious of seeing return migration as a smooth departure from Germany and a warm welcome in Turkey.Nilay holds her PhD from the University of Surrey, wherein she wrote her thesis on the notion of ‘searching for self’ for the second-generation Turkish-Germans in their post-return lives in Turkey. She is currently a fellow at the Centre of Advanced Studies in Sofia, Bulgaria, researching about the highly-skilled Turkish immigrants’ ‘alternative diaspora spaces’ in Europe. Nilay has a BA in International Relations…

People in this episode

Guest: Nilay Kılınç

Topics covered

• return migration
• gender dimension
• second generation
• Turkish-Germans
• ethnographic fieldwork
• transnational phenomenon

Keywords

• return migration
• Turkish-Germans
• gender
• ethnography
• migration experiences
• Turkey
• Germany
• identity

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Surrey, Centre of Advanced Studies in Sofia, Istanbul Bilgi University, Lund University

Places: Turkey, Germany

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