The household, the street and the labour market: masculinities and homosocial solidarity networks of Afghan migrant boys in a squatter neighbourhood in Istanbul

ABSTRACT

This study focuses on how undocumented Afghan migrant boys construct homosocial solidarity networks in the absence of their families in a squatter neighbourhood in Istanbul, Turkey. Based on the findings of qualitative field research conducted in 2015, this study argues that the homosocial solidarity networks among young Afghan migrant boys are developed in three different spatial contexts: the household, the street and the labour market. These homosocial solidarity networks enable them to survive in a foreign country which is full of challenges. Being a part of those networks provides employment in a competitive labour market, as well as security. In that process, while trying to survive, young Afghan migrant boys engage in gender stretching in the household. At the same time, in spite of their fragility as undocumented young migrants in a foreign land, they develop stern-yet-fragile transnational migrant masculinities challenging local masculinities in the public sphere, at the cost of losing their childhood in an early age.

KEYWORDS:

• Youth migration
• Afghan migration
• homosociality
• migrant masculinities
• solidarity networks
• Turkey

Notes on contributors

Mehmet Bozok is a sociologist who is specialized on masculinities, and forced migration. He obtained his bachelor’s degree from Philosophy Department at Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey. He began studying the social construction of masculinities during his Master’s studies at Anthropology Department at Hacettepe University in the early 2000s; and continued in his Doctorate studies, focusing on the local construction of masculinities in Trabzon, at Sociology Department, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey. Afterwards, he began studying forced migration, conducting fieldworks amongst Syrian and Afghan migrants in Turkey. He now works as an Assistant Professor at Sociology Department, Maltepe University, Istanbul, Turkey.

Nihan Bozok is a sociologist who studied on postmodern medicine by focusing on the organ transplantation case in her Doctorate study, which she completed in 2015 at Sociology Department, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey. She has studies on sociology of health and aging, gender and literature, disadvantageous children, and forced migration in Turkey. From 2009 to 2012 she conducted a longitudinal field research on orphanages in Turkey. Recently, she began studying forced migration, conducting fieldworks amongst Syrian and young Afghan migrants in Turkey. She now works as an Assistant Professor at Sociology Department, Beykent University, Istanbul, Turkey.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Mehmet Bozok http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9841-6324

Nihan Bozok http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8217-4711

Notes

1 We are using the ‘Karasu’ (literally ‘black stream’) as a pseudonym.

2 As discussed by authors like Jones (1999) and Wacquant (1992), migrant communities have specific socio-spatial qualities. Migrant communities are interrelatedly connected to the social qualities of the spaces, such as the ghettos, rural areas, or slums, the peripheral neighbourhoods and the suburbs of the cities.

3 Actually, this is a highly problematic issue related to Turkey. Despite Turkey being among the states to have signed the Fourth Geneva Convention on the legal status of refugees (with a number of exceptions), this country gives refugee status predominantly to those who come from the west (Icduygu & Keyman, 2000). Therefore, forced migrants arriving in Turkey from the east seeking asylum, either have a temporary protection status (an odd status developed for Syrian migrants), or else no legal status whatsoever. In the case of Afghans, many of the forced migrants are undocumented.

4 Although we are investigating a related issue in this article, we are discussing the notion of ‘network’, and are not limited to debates surrounding network theory in migration studies (Brettell, 2008, pp. 124–125; Hollifield, 2008, pp. 194–195).

5 According to TurkStat, the population of the city is officially over 15 million registered residents. Retrieved from http://www.tuik.gov.tr/PreHaberBultenleri.do?id=21507

6 Retrieved from http://rapory.tuik.gov.tr/26-03-2015-16:52:37-209640237415680443631812235191.html

7 We use pseudonyms for both Afghan and local participants, in order to maintain their privacy.

8 A poorer city on the western Black Sea coast of Turkey.

9 As of mid-August 2015, the rent of a typical house, in which the Afghan migrants lived, was between 500 and 1000 Turkish Liras (160–320€).

10 As of mid-August 2015, 40TRY was about €12.5 and 70TRY was about €22.