NETWORKING, BELONGING AND IDENTITY: HIGHLY SKILLED TURKISH IMMIGRANTS IN HALIFAX AND TORONTO by Serperi Beliz Sevgur Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia April 2012 © Copyright by Serperi Beliz Sevgur, 2012 DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT STUDIES The undersigned hereby certify that they have read and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate Studies for acceptance a thesis entitled “Networking, Belonging and Identity: Highly Skilled Turkish Immigrants in Halifax and Toronto” by Serperi Beliz Sevgur in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. Dated: April 2nd, 2012 Supervisor: _________________________________ Readers: _________________________________ _________________________________ ii DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY DATE: April 2nd, 2012 AUTHOR: Serperi Beliz Sevgur TITLE: Networking, Belonging and Identity: Highly Skilled Turkish Immigrants in Halifax and Toronto DEPARTMENT OR SCHOOL: Department of International Development Studies DEGREE: MA CONVOCATION: May YEAR: 2012 Permission is herewith granted to Dalhousie University to circulate and to have copied for non-commercial purposes, at its discretion, the above title upon the request of individuals or institutions. I understand that my thesis will be electronically available to the public. The author reserves other publication rights, and neither the thesis nor extensive extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author’s written permission. The author attests that permission has been obtained for the use of any copyrighted material appearing in the thesis (other than the brief excerpts requiring only proper acknowledgement in scholarly writing), and that all such use is clearly acknowledged. _______________________________ Signature of Author iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................... VIII ABSTRACT ………………… ..................................................................................................... IX LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS USED ............................................................................................. X ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................... XI CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................................... 10 2.1 INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION THEORIES ................................................................... 10 2.2 MIGRATION OF THE HIGHLY SKILLED ........................................................................ 15 2.2.1 DEVELOPMENT AND MIGRATION OF THE HIGHLY SKILLED ............................... 16 2.2.1.1 Brain Drain to Brain Circulation ............................................................. 17 2.2.1.2 Remittances –Financial and Social .......................................................... 19 2.2.2 THE COMPOSITION OF THE HIGHLY SKILLED MOVEMENT ................................. 20 2.2.3 MIDDLE CLASS –LOCAL TO GLOBAL ................................................................. 22 2.2.4 WHAT MOVES THE MIDDLE CLASS HIGHLY SKILLED ........................................ 23 2.2.5 HIGHLY SKILLED WOMEN MIGRANTS ............................................................... 25 2.2.6 NETWORKS OF HIGHLY SKILLED MIGRANTS ..................................................... 28 2.2.6.1 Transnational Networks of Highly Skilled ................................................ 29 2.2.6.2 Local Networks ......................................................................................... 32 2.2.7 NETWORKS AND SETTLEMENT ........................................................................... 36 2.3 IDENTITY, BELONGING AND CITIZENSHIP .................................................................. 38 2.3.1 ETHNIC IDENTITY ............................................................................................... 40 2.3.2 BELONGING ....................................................................................................... 42 iv 2.3.3 CITIZENSHIP ....................................................................................................... 43 CHAPTER 3 THE SOURCE COUNTRY OF IMMIGRATION: A FOCUS ON TURKEY IN THE CONTEMPORARY GLOBAL SOCIETY ......................................................................... 46 3.1 THE ECONOMIC TRAJECTORY ........................................................................................ 47 3.2 MODERN SOCIETY AND IDENTITY ................................................................................ 49 3.3 CLASS FORMATIONS IN MODERN TURKEY ................................................................ 50 3.4 TURKISH WOMEN AT HOME ........................................................................................... 51 3.5 EMIGRATION FROM TURKEY .......................................................................................... 54 3.5.1 EMIGRATION OF THE HIGHLY SKILLED .............................................................. 55 3.5.2 STUDENTS GOING ABROAD................................................................................ 57 3.5.3 TURKISH WOMEN MIGRANTS ............................................................................ 58 3.6 TURKS IN CANADA .......................................................................................................... 61 3.6.1 TURKISH ETHNO-CULTURAL ASSOCIATIONS IN CANADA .................................. 64 3.6.2 TURKISH COMMUNITIES IN HALIFAX AND TORONTO ......................................... 65 CHAPTER 4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ........................................................................... 67 4.1 EPISTEMOLOGY ……… ..................................................................................................... 67 4.1.1 SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM ................................................................................. 67 4.1.2 FEMINIST THEORY ............................................................................................. 68 4.2 RESEARCHER’S POSITION ................................................................................................ 69 4.3 INTERSECTIONALITY THEORY ....................................................................................... 71 4.4 RECRUITMENT OF RESPONDENTS ................................................................................. 73 4.5 INTERVIEWS ………. .......................................................................................................... 75 4.6 DATA ANALYSIS ….. .......................................................................................................... 78 4.7 RESPONDENT PROFILES ................................................................................................... 79 v CHAPTER 5 IMMIGRANT NETWORKS ................................................................................. 84 5.1 TRANSNATIONAL NETWORKS ....................................................................................... 84 5.1.1 MOVING TO CANADA ......................................................................................... 84 5.1.2 TRANSNATIONAL CONNECTIONS AFTER THE MOVE .......................................... 89 5.1.2.1 Staying Connected Transnationally -Family ............................................ 89 5.1.2.2 Staying Connected Transnationally -Friends ........................................... 93 5.1.2.3 Transnational Professional Connections and Others ............................... 95 5.2 LOCAL-NATIONAL NETWORKS .................................................................................... 100 5.2.1 ETHNO-CULTURAL ASSOCIATIONS .................................................................. 101 5.2.2 PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS ......................................................................... 108 5.2.3 RELIGIOUS AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS ........................................................ 109 5.2.4 FRIENDS ........................................................................................................... 111 5.3 THE GENDER DYNAMIC ................................................................................................. 119 CHAPTER 6 CONSTRUCTING A TURKISH ETHNIC IDENTITY IN CANADA .............. 121 6.1 NEGOTIATING AN ETHNIC IDENTITY ......................................................................... 121 6.2 TURKISH IDENTITY THROUGH ITS CANADIAN MANIFESTATION ...................... 123 6.3 CANADIAN IDENTITY THROUGH A TURKISH INTERPRETATION ........................ 127 CHAPTER 7 WHERE IS ‘HOME’ ............................................................................................ 130 7.1 WHAT IS HOME ……. ....................................................................................................... 130 7.2 LOCATING HOME: WITH LOVED ONES ....................................................................... 131 7.3 LOCATING HOME: CANADA AND/OR TURKEY ....................................................... 133 7.4 HALIFAX VERSUS TORONTO IN CANADA ................................................................. 134 7.5 LOCATING HOME: IN LIFE ............................................................................................. 136 CHAPTER 8 PATHWAYS AND BARRIERS