Migrants, Work and Social Integration: Women’s Labour in the Turkish Ethnic Economy (Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship)

Exploring recent contemporary debates on gender and migration, this book scrutinizes the relationship between women's work in ethnic economies and social integration, arguing that women in Britain zigzag their way to social integration. Exploring recent contemporary debates on gender and migration, this book scrutinizes the relationship between women's work in ethnic economies in Europe and social integration. Based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork in London, it critically engages with the contemporary political discourses of integration and the ways in which the Turkish community constructs their own forms of integration through the expansion of the ethnic economy. The book shows how women are silent contributors to the ethnic economy and how women's work and their role in the maintenance of social ties and networks play an important role in the economic success of the Turkish community. Questioning the role of the ethnic economy in increasing emphasis on women's traditional gender roles as mothers and wives and in representing ethnic/national identity, this book provides evidence that Turkish women in Britain zig-zag their way to social integration and underlines the need for context-specific integration policies in Europe Exploring recent contemporary debates on gender and migration, this book scrutinizes the relationship between women's work in ethnic economies in Europe and social integration. Based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork in London, it critically engages with the contemporary political discourses of integration and the ways in which the Turkish community constructs their own forms of integration through the expansion of the ethnic economy. The book shows how women are silent contributors to the ethnic economy and how women's work and their role in the maintenance of social ties and networks play an important role in the economic success of the Turkish community. Questioning the role of the ethnic economy in increasing emphasis on women's traditional gender roles as mothers and wives and in representing ethnic/national identity, this book provides evidence that Turkish women in Britain zig-zag their way to social integration and underlines the need for context-specific integration policies in Europe.-- Provided by Publisher Front Matter....Pages i-xi Introduction....Pages 1-15 Women Migrants, Work and Social Integration....Pages 16-41 The Ethnic Economy and the Turkish Ethnic Economy in London....Pages 42-66 Migratory Trends and the ‘Turkish’ Community in London....Pages 67-91 Turkish Immigrant Women in London....Pages 92-117 Women’s Work in London’s Turkish Ethnic Economy....Pages 118-145 Zigzag Paths to Social Integration....Pages 146-169 Conclusion....Pages 170-181 Back Matter....Pages 182-202