New Dynamics in Transnational Political Experience: A Narrative study of Educated Turkish Youth in Germany

Abstract

In 2012, Turkish Government changed voting regulation laws of Turkish citizens residing abroad, which allows citizens to vote for Turkish general elections at the nearest embassy rather than borders. Although Turkish population in Germany has always been a concern of international politics, it can also be observed that boundaries between international and domestic politics are now more blurred. Hence, the political participation of Turkish citizens in Germany is characterized as a period of intensive and highly intermixed transnational relations (Østergaard-Nielsen, 2004). In my study, I examine political experiences of Turkish youth and their self-identifications within the same domain of transnational space that involves Turkey’s diaspora politics and Germany’s domestic politics. In this, participants’ personal experiences of this transnational political field (Kivisto & Faist, 2010) are the main source of the analysis which is to understand their ways of identity formations. In this regard, this study asks “In which ways are recent politics on migrants reflected in Turkish young adult’s self- identifications?” While the concepts of “integration” and “national identities” are constantly used both in quantitative and qualitative researches on migrant youth, it is no surprise that those concepts are attached to the sense of ‘discrimination’ and being ‘disadvantaged’ (Çelik, 2018). However, in order to eliminate the sense of inferiority attached to Turkish population in Germany, this study analyzes the complexity of political experiences through personal narratives of 16 Turkish young adults with higher education by employing narrative ethnographic method (Riessman, 2012). My analysis of personal narratives shows how political discussions are translated into the everyday interactions and actions of the interviewees. In this regard, how they narrate their everyday interactions with others are related with how they perceive political structures as well as their own positions in the society. Instead of proposing a causal relation, I show the presence of politics in the everyday discussions and its echoes in the narratives about self-identities. It might be possible to tackle the concept of identity in relation to coeval presence and as a way of transformative action rather than focusing on the essential characters of being Turkish or German. For example, being interested in Turkish politics is something shared in German context both by Germans and Turkish people, and production of the categories of “German” and “Turkish” is highly related with the political experiences and discussions. Therefore, to understand their experiences for the production of the “other” is more important than their “actual” distinctions as a group. Here, the term “other” works as an operational concept in order to underline its discursively produced character from the interpretations of the interviewees’ narratives. Hence, how do Turkish young adults experience the political discussions about Turkey is attached to how do they produce the other as “Germans whom they do not want to discuss with”. In my study, identity formations of educated Turkish youth are approached as forms of transnational practices, and their self-identities are ways of action through their everyday discussions, interactions and imaginations, in form of “becoming”. (Kaya, 2007) Since the cultural identities appear in fluid forms in transnational spaces, using the method of narrative ethnography gave me a chance to examine the interplay between the social structures and personal stories.

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