Gendered Encounters ıin Pıost-Migration: Joıint Daily Life Experiences of Syrian and Local Women in Hatay
- Autores: Selin Altunkaynak Vodina
- Directores de la Tesis: Enric Olivé Serret (dir. tes.)
- Lectura: En la Universitat Rovira i Virgili ( España ) en 2022
- Idioma: inglés
- Número de páginas: 280
- Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: Lourdes Rubio Rico (presid.), Blanca Garcés Mascareñas (secret.), Karsten Xuereb (voc.)
- Programa de doctorado: Programa de Doctorado en Estudios Humanísticos por la Universidad Rovira i Virgili
- Materias:
- Enlaces
- Tesis en acceso abierto en: TDX
- Resumen
- español
En 2011, al estallar la guerra siria intensificada, el Gobierno de Turquía abrió sus puertas a los refugiados de Siria y se encontró en condiciones de acoger a aproximadamente 3,5 millones de refugiados sirios en ausencia de una política de refugiados eficiente y una infraestructura adecuada. Los conceptos de anfitrión e invitado son el resultado natural de las relaciones moldeadas por las normas sociales y, por naturaleza, su característica fundamental es el elemento de temporalidad que está directamente relacionado con las discusiones de cohesión social. Teniendo en cuenta el hecho de que la mitad de los recién llegados son mujeres, esta investigación responderá las siguientes preguntas basadas en los hallazgos del trabajo de campo realizado con 77 mujeres participantes en la provincia de Hatay en Turquía, una ciudad fronteriza entre Siria y Turquía: ¿Cómo establecerán relaciones las mujeres? entre sí, dado su número y su papel crucial y significativo dentro de la sociedad en el establecimiento de relaciones cotidianas y rutinarias? Otra incógnita que se agregará a la ecuación es la dirección a través de la cual evolucionarán las relaciones entre el anfitrión y los invitados en el contexto de la amenaza percibida y el patriarcado. Estas preguntas, esta tesis tiene como objetivo analizar cómo se reproducen los roles de género en el período post migratorio en el contexto de la narrativa anfitrión-huésped, patriarcado y amenaza percibida, cómo estos roles entran en juego en las relaciones entre mujeres, que Los factores contribuyen a la determinación de las relaciones establecidas y cómo la comunicación entre mujeres se concreta en el mundo real.
- català
El 2011, a l'esclatar la guerra siriana intensificada, el Govern de Turquia va obrir les seves portes als refugiats de Síria i es va trobar en condicions d'acollir a aproximadament 3,5 milions de refugiats sirians en absència d'una política de refugiats eficient i una infraestructura adequada . Els conceptes d'amfitrió i convidat són el resultat natural de les relacions modelades per les normes socials i, per naturalesa, la seva característica fonamental és l'element de temporalitat que està directament relacionat amb les discussions de cohesió social. Tenint en compte el fet que la meitat dels nouvinguts són dones, aquesta investigació respondrà les següents preguntes basades en les troballes de la feina de camp realitzat amb 77 dones participants a la província de Hatay a Turquia, una ciutat fronterera entre Síria i Turquia : Com establir relacions les dones? entre si, donat el seu nombre i el seu paper crucial i significatiu dins de la societat en l'establiment de relacions quotidianes i rutinàries? Una altra incògnita que s'afegirà a l'equació és la direcció a través de la qual evolucionaran les relacions entre l'amfitrió i els convidats en el context de l'amenaça percebuda i el patriarcat.
- English
In 2011, at the outbreak of the Syrian war, the Government of Turkey opened its doors to refugees from Syria and found itself in a position to host approximately 3.5 million Syrian refugees in the absence of an efficient refugee policy and an appropriate infrastructure. The Government’s admission policy which is in fact, a requisite of the international customary law, within the meaning of the non-refoulment principle, has been built and carried upon a narrative of hospitality. This has resulted in the partial approval of Syrian refugees in the eyes of Turkish public opinion as guests who are hosted for a temporary period. Host and guest concepts are the natural result of the relations shaped by societal norms and by nature their fundamental characteristic is the element of temporariness which is directly linked to the social cohesion discussions.
The importance of the studies on social cohesion is increasing because migration movements cause significant social changes in many areas. During the process of change that occurs in the post-migration society, examining the relations between the groups, the phase of establishing a mutual daily life, the incompatibilities and cohesion experienced in these processes will help to come up with solutions to the issues that arise within the context of migration. For this reason, a qualitative research based on the social change aspect of migration and the relations between the local and migrant societies is important and would contribute to social cohesion and solution processes.
When the national database of Turkey on Master and PhD Theses is searched with a focus on Syrians a very limited number of researches could be found up until 2019. Although there have been theses at the very beginning of Syrian refugees arrival to Turkey, the main subjects of the theses concentrated on the e legal and security aspects. Theses containing subjects such as cohesion, attitude and mutual relations were only to be found after the end of 2016. Researches on social cohesion were to reach their peak between 2018 and 2019. No thesis regarding the gender dimension of the current situation could be observed.
The situation of women has been included only in a short part of the few theses that emphasized the gender aspect. However, when these theses are analyzed carefully it can be observed that out of 234 theses in total only 18 of them include keywords ‘gender’ and ‘women’. In almost the 10th year of Syrian refugee situation in Turkey, this observation leads us to conclude that gender issues have not been taken into consideration as much as they deserve in the world of academia and migration.
Even though, academic production can not be constrained to master’s and PhD theses, this brief literature review demonstrates that there is an lacunae in this field.
In the period between 2014-2016, when the preliminary preparation for this research were being made, very few sources could be found on the Syrians refugees in Turkey and the issue of cohesion, especially from its gender perspective. For this reason, a field study conducted from a gender perspective will take its place as an important resource in the international literature as well as in Turkey which is hosting around 3.5 million Syrian refugees. This study will also be very valuable in terms of shedding light on ‘women’ who have been invisible for so long. It also brings novelty to current gender and migration literature about Syrian women by revealing women’s thoughts and feelings, and offering them a place to raise their concerns as well as their perspective. Attempting to deliver specific results rather than generalizations by avoiding using the same perspective for Syrian or Turkish women whilst, considering the circumstances before the migration, differences, and subjective experiences after migration is one of the most important features of this study. Analyzing migration and cohesion issues from a genderless point of view would lead to neglect a very important aspect of these issues, especially in the Middle Eastern societies where gender is an important element of oppression mechanisms. A research based on gender and making women the subject of the topic will make a significant contribution to the literature on gender and migration, as well as enriching social cohesion studies in Turkey. Hence it will be a positive step towards enabling the women who are ‘invisible’ and ‘secondary’ in the fields of migration to become visible and the subjects of topics. Moreover considering Hatay provincewith its multi-ethnic structure, commercial and kinship proximity to Syria, its political and secterian diversity, along with the fact that it is a border city, it is safe to conlcude that a field study in this province would be very important and contribute significantly to the literature. As mentioned above, The province of Hatay has a a variety neighborhoods with different ethnic backgrounds , opening the door for a wide range of issues to be covered. As such, this field study has the opportunity to include people from different groups in the sample group, thus the analysis diversified and comprehensive. On top of having a multi-ethnic culture and ties with Syria, the fact that Arabic is the mother tongue of majority in Hatay makes it easier to measure the effect of language in social cohesion. Therefore, the province of Hatay provides a basis to crosscheck the assumption that speaking the same language is the primary condition for social cohesion and measure the extent of its effect.
Additionally, discussing the role and positionality of the researcher has an been an important aspect of this study and will contribute to academic literature. The field study, carried out from a feminist perspective in gender and migration researches, would be very useful for putting forward various arguments by exploring the subjective dynamics of post-migration encourters. Thus, such a study far from generalizations, addressing the root causes of the problem and including all kinds of different researches would be able to reflect the real situation in the field. This study treats each woman as a separate subject and follows an individualistic approach. To summarize, the study’s aim is to focus on the different dynamics in between different subjects such as an educated Syrian woman, an urban Turkish woman, a married Syrian woman, a Turkish businesswoman etc Such a goal can also respond to the need to analyze the possible conflict and solidarity situations in between different ethnicities or groups of different social and economic classes and help to explore the hierarchy of ‘otherness’. This study will present an important background in terms of developing solutions for social cohesion, synthesizing obtained data with the feminist approach and composing a literature that can help to achieve social cohesion. This research answers the following questions based on the findings of fieldwork conducted with 77 women participants in Hatay province of Turkey, a border city between Syria and Turkey: How will the women establish relationships with each other given their numbers and their crucial and significant role within the society in the establishment of daily, routine relationships? Another unknown to be added to the equation is the direction through which the relationships between the host and guests will evolve in the context of perceived threat and patriarchy. In the 10th year of the Syrian Humanitarian Situation what would be the main trend between guest refugee women of Syria and host women of Turkey, within the dichotomy of acceptance and refusal? In the light of these questions, this thesis aims to analyze how the gender roles are reproduced in the post migratory period in the context of host-guest, patriarchy, and perceived threat narrative, how these roles come into play in relations between women, which factors contribute to the determination of the established relations and how the communication between women concretize in the real world. Furthermore, within the scope of this thesis, the positionality of the researcher in a feminist methodology would be discussed by centering on the patriarchal structure.
The field study that forms the basis of this research has been conducted in 2014-2020 as a two-stage process. First stage encompassed the years 2014-2016 when refugees from Syria had just settled to live in the cities, outside the camps. Second stage is composed of interviews taking place in 2019-2020 when settlements were completed, the possibility of return had weakened, and social cohesion policies were given prominence. The two stage process of this thesis enables us to make a comparison throughout the years and presents a unique feature.
Based on the fieldwork results, main findings of the thesis is the importance of ‘’guest’’ and ‘’temporariness’’ discourse on the inter-women relations which affects negatively the social cohesion processes and the effects of patriarchal gender roles on the relations between local and refugee women which pushes the competition between local and refugee women.
- español
