The aim of this research is to reflect the social imaginaries of highly educated Turkish migrants on their migration to their parents' home country. Based on fieldwork and interviews with 19 Turkish-origin Belgian and Dutch citizens in a post-migration setting, this study demonstrates their pre- and post-migration lifestyles, and propounds the way they attribute meaning to their movement. The gap between personal wills of the actors of migration and expectations of them clearly shows how policies are flawed in their considerations of socio-cultural and economic development through 'development agents'.
AbstractDespite this being the era of migration, no systematic theory of international migration has emerged, nor is there an academic or political agreement on ways in which migration is a 'gendered' process. Both theoretically and as inputs in the policy‐making process, gender‐blind approaches have actually rendered the gender dimension of migration more or less invisible. Through an in‐depth examination of the place of gender in the key theories of migration and relevant sources of data, the paper seeks to take stock of how these theories treat this dimension and investigate the cross‐sectional challenges in uncovering gender in international migration data. It, therefore, provides a critical review of both theory and data by shedding much‐needed light on their neglect of the gender aspects. Our findings based on a conceptual review of the literature and a case study based on Eurostat data on migration drivers demonstrate that migration theories and statistics typically equate gender with sex, which limits our ability to develop a comprehensive understanding of how complex gender dimensions shape the migration process. Moreover, given the extent to which existing data and theories overlook the intersectionality between the drivers of migration and diversity within migrant groups, this gap in knowledge presents an obstacle to gender‐responsive migration governance. In light of this, the paper discusses priorities for 'gendering' international migration research. We argue that in addition to improving accuracy and coverage of sex‐disaggregated statistics on international migration, both regular and irregular, it is crucial to develop quantitative as well as qualitative indicators to monitor the gender dimension in this area.
In: Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü dergisi: Dokuz Eylul University the journal of Graduate School of Social Sciences, Band 16, Heft 2, S. 325
Migration is humming with activity and fuelled by the changing nature of typologies, geographies, drivers and, more importantly, changing societies. At the same time, 'migration' continues to be a key concern of public and policy debates, especially as intersectional issues of labour rights, citizenship, ethnicity and health inequalities. Alongside the traditional migration categories, new typologies have developed that present particular internal dynamics. The complexity of current migration phenomena, the obstacles in data collection and the limitations in theoretical framework pose challenges for migration studies. Valid, reliable, scientifically driven conceptualisations and arguments on migration are a critical need of the hour – not only for researchers and policymakers, but also for the public whose opinion has a significant role in policymaking. It is important to develop theoretical frameworks and statistical resources that capture the dynamism of migration, the various intersections of identity, economics, globalisation and gender accurately. Ongoing efforts for harmonising definitions and new data sources have contributed to the availability and quality of information on migratory flows. Nevertheless, coherence, consistency and comparability in national and international migration statistics may still be the exception rather than the standard. Today in 2020, although a lot of things have drastically changed, the same challenges and gaps about migration statistics continue to persist. These shortcomings constitute a notable obstacle for researchers and authorities to understand global migration patterns better, develop scenarios, design effective policies, monitor the needs of the population, and to identify how these needs change over time. In the last few decades, there have been multiple attempts by national governments, international and regional organisations, and private institutions to collect better data on migration. However, the existing data on international migration suffers from problems ...