This thesis seeks to account for diversity in the migratory decisions of Afghan migrants who have recently arrived in Turkey. It proposes that social theories on risk provide a framework that rectifies a theoretical gap in the migration literature with respect to intra-group heterogeneity in the decision-making processes of migrants. The thesis adopts Rosa’s (1998: 28) definition of risk as: ‘a situation or event where something of human value (including humans themselves) has been put at stake and where the outcome is uncertain.' I argue that variation in what migrants view as being ‘at stake’ and in how they evaluate the associated uncertainties— in other words, how migrants perceive risk— accounts for the diversity in the migration decisions of similarly situated migrants. Risk is therefore an analytical tool for understanding decision-making in its subjective and socio-cultural context. The thesis offers a typology as an analytical device for categorising the ways in which informants managed the risks associated with migration decisions. I identify three modes of managing risk, defined as resigned, restless and resilient, on the basis of migrants’ engagements with their social environment, their efforts at advocating for themselves and others, and their ability to gather and disseminate information. The thesis also explores subsidiary themes concerning migrants’ legal consciousness with regard to irregular immigration status, and the process of embodying the physical and emotional consequences of migration. Most of the ethnographic fieldwork for this project was conducted in the cities of Istanbul, Van, Kayseri and Sivas from February 2011 until December 2012.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:692881 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Kaytaz, Esra Stephanie |
| Contributors | Shaw, Alison ; Franck, Duvell |
| Publisher | University of Oxford |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:82055b1f-a6df-4e32-9182-bf4c600df12e |
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