Webinar: Polarisation in Europe and Translocal understandings of home: the second-generation Turkish 'returnees' experiences

In 2015 one third of the second generation Turks in the Netherlands had the wish to return to Turkey forever (Huijnk & Andriessen, 2016). Since 2015 the number of actual return has dropped (CBS, 2020), possibly related to recent political and economic developments in Turkey (Yilmaz Şener & Elitok, 2018). The wish to return might however still be there. Based on empirical research we will discuss social and political polarization in Europe seen through the eyes of Turkish youth. And we will hear more about translocal understandings of home and real life experiences of Turkish youngsters’ who have returned to the country of their parents. How are issues of polarization, identification and belonging connected and what can we learn from experiences from Turkish returnees?

About the speakers and discussant

Prof. Ayhan Kaya is Professor of Politics and Jean Monnet Chair of European Politics of Interculturalism at the Department of International Relations, Istanbul Bilgi University. He holds a ERC Advanced Grant on youth radicalization.

Dr. Nilay Kılınç is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Helsinki Institute of Urban and Regional Studies. Her research focuses on Turkish highly-skilled migrants’ social and professional networks and she has done extensive research on second generation Turkish-German return journeys to the ‘homeland’.

Dr. Fenella Fleischmann (discussant) is Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Social Science at the European Research Centre on Migration and Ethnic Relations, at Utrecht University. Her research focuses on Muslim minorities in Europe, educational and labour market outcomes of (children) of immigrants as well religion, identity and discrimination.

Join us in this webinar organized by the Focus Area on Migration and Societal Change and moderated by Prof. Barbara Oomen.