Rural‒Urban Mobilities in Turkey: Socio-spatial Perspectives on Migration and Return Movements

M. Öztürk, Beşir Topaloğlu, A. Hilton, J.P. Jongerden*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

18 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Based on original data, this article discusses rural‒urban mobilities and the contemporary employment‒migration relationship. Starting with the observation of reduced rural population but maintained family-farm numbers, it engages with multiple issues, including rural employment, the process of urban migration, settlement in the city, the relation of migrants to the rurality and (return) counter-migration. It supports the thesis that migration is not so much about a ‘movement from one place to another’, the classical migration definition, and more about a coupling of practices (related to mobilities, residence, employment, etc.) with places over time. Thus, migration and counter-migration are conceptualized as socio-spatial strategies, conceptualized as ‘multi-place living’ or ‘dual life’, which are based on variable engagements with rural farming, urban wage labour and return movements (for retirement, refuge, etc.). The newly emergent and growing dual/multi-place structures that result from this are re-shaping village life in particular, expressed in various ways, such as in a changing village demography and function.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)513-530
JournalJournal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies
Volume20
Issue number5
Early online date8 Dec 2017
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018

Keywords

  • Counter-urbanization
  • Peasants
  • Precarity
  • Rural-Urban mobilities
  • Turkey

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