The quest for a ‘better life’: Second-generation Turkish-Germans ‘return’ to ‘paradise’

Nilay Kılınç and Russell King
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Nilay Kılınç: University of Surrey
Russell King: University of Sussex

Demographic Research, 2017, vol. 36, issue 49, 1491-1514

Abstract: Background: This paper uses a lifestyle-migration lens to analyse the ‘return’ of the Turkish-German second generation to their parents’ homeland, Turkey. It focuses on a scenically attractive touristic region, Antalya on the south coast, where second-generation ‘returnees’ find a highly congenial environment to pursue their project of living a ‘better life’ in the ancestral homeland. Methods: Thirty in-depth interviews with second-generation Turkish-Germans, mostly in their 30s and 40s, were carried out in and around Antalya in 2014. Narratives were coded and prepared for thematic analysis using NVivo. Results: According to thematic analysis of interview narratives, many respondents were seeking to ‘escape’ from difficult personal, family, and economic situations. They mobilised their human capital of educational qualifications, language skills, and life experience to set up or get jobs in hotels, restaurants, and other tourist services, combining work with a relaxed attitude to life in what they saw as a ‘paradise’ of natural beauty and social open-mindedness. Alongside these practical considerations of seeking a better work-life balance were more existential themes of rediscovering their ‘true selves’ and reinventing the meaning of ‘home’ in this cosmopolitan niche. Contribution: The first contribution relates to the use of the concept of lifestyle migration to explain the experiences of second-generation Turkish-German 'returnees' who resettle in Turkey. Secondly we focus on a particular place in Turkey - Antalya - which offers a particular 'space' for the study population to achieve what they perceive as a 'better life'.

Keywords: second generation; return migration; work-life balance; lifestyle migration; Turkey (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J1 Z0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:dem:demres:v:36:y:2017:i:49

DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2017.36.49

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