INTERNAL MIGRANTS AND EVERYDAY ISLAM IN THE TURKISH CONTEXT Hasan Ali Yılmaz Thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Department of Sociology, Lancaster University DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY LANCASTER UNIVERSITY May 2018 Declaration I hereby declare that this thesis is my own work and that it has not been submitted in any form for the award of a higher degree elsewhere. Hasan Ali Yılmaz May 2018 Signature: Acknowledgements Writing the thesis has been a long journey, which I could not have embarked on and endured without the support of many people and institutions. First, I would like to thank my supervisors, Professor Anne-Marie Fortier and Professor Kim Knott. Their words, advice, patience and guidance have been invaluable and indispensable. I am also grateful to my panel examiners, Dr. Sossie Kasbarian and Professor Celia Roberts, and viva voce (oral) examiners, Dr. Shuruq Naguib and Professor Seán Mcloughlin, who provided advice and gave comments on the thesis, thus helping me to improve my final submission. Finally, I am thankful to the Turkish Ministry of National Education for the grant that allowed me to carry out this study. The research would never have come about without the invaluable input of all those who participated in this study through generously sharing their time and stories with me. I am grateful to the men, women and association leaders who welcomed me into their associations, workplaces and homes. In addition, I would also like to thank my friends Ethem, Adnan, Nurettin and Barış for their friendship, which helped me to overcome the difficult times and made my PhD experience much more worthwhile. Special thanks goes to my friend Hiba, who has patiently endured the upheavals that this project has brought about and supported me throughout. I also wish to thank Laura Key for proofreading the thesis and for her insightful comments on several drafts of the thesis. My family members deserve a special mention for their support, their belief in me and their love. Thank you to my parents (Huri and Ömer), sisters (Elif, Hafıze, Emine Gül, Mukaddes and Hacer Fatıma), and my brothers (Aşkın Sabit and Muhammet), and my aunt (Ayşe). ii Table of Contents Declaration ..................................................................................................................... i Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... ii Abstract ......................................................................................................................... v List of Charts, Maps, Figures and Tables ................................................................ vii Modern Turkish Transliteration Chart .................................................................. viii Glossary ....................................................................................................................... ix Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 Motivations .............................................................................................................. 14 Outline of the thesis ................................................................................................. 17 Chapter 1: Internal Migration and Religion in the Translocal Context ............... 20 1.1 Religion and internal migration ....................................................................... 21 1.2 Religion, translocalism and everyday life ........................................................ 30 1.3 Spaces of belonging ......................................................................................... 40 1.4 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 56 Chapter 2: Placing Religion and Internal Migration in the Turkish Context ..... 59 2.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 59 2.2 The descriptive characteristics of internal migration ....................................... 59 2.3 The role of the state in migration movements and housing ............................. 69 2.4 Religion in the context of migration and institutions ....................................... 77 2.5 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 98 Chapter 3: Methodology .......................................................................................... 100 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 100 3.2 Ethnographic multi-sited research .................................................................. 100 3.3 Methods: Interviews and observations ........................................................... 102 3.4 Limitations ..................................................................................................... 112 3.5 Issues .............................................................................................................. 115 3.6 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 128 Chapter 4: Migration to Gebze: Associated Reasons and Conditions ................ 130 4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 130 4.2 Life histories ................................................................................................... 133 4.3 Leaving Giresun and Erzurum ....................................................................... 140 4.4 Being a gurbetçi in gurbet .............................................................................. 143 4.5 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 151 Chapter 5: Grounding oneself in a Squatter Neighbourhood ............................. 153 5.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 153 5.2 The transition period: Creating spaces of sociality and intimacy .................. 167 5.3 The re-grounding period: Affiliation with associations ................................. 170 5.4 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 178 Chapter 6: Migrants’ Associations: ‘Home-Making’ and Feeling ‘at Home’ .... 181 6.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 181 iii 6.2 Dernek: ‘My home’ ........................................................................................ 190 6.3 Beyan: The ‘garden of heaven’ ...................................................................... 201 6.4 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 213 Chapter 7: The Boundaries between Islamic Identities ....................................... 216 7.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 216 7.2 The boundaries of parental Islam ................................................................... 230 7.3 The boundaries between Sufi and Salafi Islam ............................................. 239 7.4 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 254 Chapter 8: Translocal Family Relations ................................................................ 258 8.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 258 8.2 Care and obligation through translocal connections ...................................... 265 8.3 The changing religious lives of migrants’ families ........................................ 270 8.4 Boundaries and kin relationships In Giresun: ............................................... 276 8.5 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 288 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 290 1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 290 2 Main findings ................................................................................................. 290 3 Empirical and conceptual contributions ......................................................... 295 4 Future research ............................................................................................... 305 Appendices ................................................................................................................ 309 Appendix 1: Summary of data sources, descriptions and aims.............................. 309 Appendix 2: Lineage: Golden chain ...................................................................... 310 Appendix 3: Descriptive characteristic of participants .......................................... 311 Appendix 4: Sample of interview schedule — migrants in Gebze ........................ 315 Appendix 5: Sample of information sheet and consent forms ............................... 319 References ................................................................................................................