Migration Experience

Bu yazıda, 2014 yılının Temmuz  -  Eylül ayları arasında Avustralya’nın Melbourne kentinde, Hacettepe Üniversitesi Bilimsel Araştırmalar Birimi’nin proje desteğini alarak gittiğim Avustralya’da Monash Üniversitesi Kadın Çalışmaları ve Toplumsal Cinsiyet Araştırmaları Merkezi ve Moreland Türk Derneği işbirliğiyle gerçekleştirdiğim “Orada ve Burada: Melbourne’de Yaşayan Türkiye’den Göç Etmiş Kadınların Gündelik Hayat Anlatıları” projesi kapsamındaki üç dijital hikâye anlatımı atölyesinin ilkinden seçtiğim iki  dijital hikâyeye odaklanıyorum. Türkiye’den Avustralya’ya 1968-1982 yılları arasında yapılan iki göç dalgasında misafir işçi olarak gelen dört kadın katılımcıyla Melbourne, Coburg’de gerçekleştirdiğim ilk dijital hikâye anlatımı atölyesinde göç edilen döneme dair hatırlananların izinde Avustralya’da kurulan yeni yaşamın gündelik meselelerini, İlmiye ve Remziye’nin hikâyesinde takip etmeye çalışıyorum.

This article examines the reasons, strategies, experiences and future plans of international students who relocate to Switzerland for tertiary studies. The University of Bern serves as a case study. An online survey was sent to all international students who were enrolled in the academic year 2015-2016 for their Bachelor, Master or Doctoral studies. The results show that their decisions to study in Switzerland are mainly shaped by a desire to experience a new culture. The good quality of life in Bern is particularly appreciated. Thus, contrary to expectations based on human capital theory, students’ mobility is not primarily motivated by a wish to obtain better wages in the future.

Keywords : migration, motivations, strategies, experiences, mobility intentions.

What are the social roots of the migration process for the Romanian youth of today? This is the key question of the analysis. ”Today” means here the period after the global recession of 2008-2011/2012. The Romanian youth is considered in a multiple comparisons approach. First of all, it is compared to the youth from eight other UE countries (Germany, Sweden, United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Latvia and Slovakia), using data from a large survey interviewing at the end of 2015 about 30 thousands persons of 16 to 35 years old (YMOBILITY H2020 project - http://www.ymobility.eu/ )
The migration process is addressed as a sequence of territorial mobility actions starting with first emigration/immigration and continuing with first return migration, circular migration and intention to leave (combined or not with previous migration experiences). The roots of the process are identified by typologies and causal (prediction) analysis. We are using typologies of young migrants/stayers and typologies of motivation for migration. The motivation during the migration process is reconstructed in a four-dimensional space of job, personal communities (family and friends), human capital and lifestyle. These four dimensions combine in different ways for different stages of migration to generate types of migration motivations. Lifestyle motivations are, usually, associated with job, personal problems and personal networks. The whole analysis of this topic is developed in the theoretical framework of the nexus motivation-experience in the migration process and the concept of community of migration practices.
Romanian youth through the lances of this methodology proved to be closer to Latvian and Slovakian youth on some dimensions and on Irish youth on the basis of other criteria that are detailed in the presentation. Why lifestyle motivation is of high intensity for some segments of the Romanian youth? How to explain the fact that significant segments of youth from poor and rich countries are highly motivated by lifestyle in their migration? These are examples of questions that are fully addressed by the presentation.

Résumé

Cet article se propose de réfléchir sur comment l’expérience migratoire transforme les configurations et les fonctions des familles à partir de deux études réalisées dans la région de Naples (Italie). La première regarde les femmes des pays de l’Europe centre-orientale qui s’emploient comme badanti (assistantes de vie) ou collaboratrici domestiche (femmes de ménage) ; leurs migrations remettent en question les ajustements existant entre appartenance de genre et rapports familiaux dans les sociétés d’origine et d’arrivée. La deuxième étude considère le processus de stabilisation de jeunes étrangers ou d’origine étrangère qui arrivent par suite d’un regroupement familial  ; leurs parcours remettent en question la manière à travers laquelle les liens familiaux sont incorporés dans des configurations migratoires mondialisées.

Abstract

Gender and Generational Dynamics in Transnational Families

On the basis of two studies conducted in the area of Naples, Italy, this paper discusses how the migration experience transforms family configurations and functions. The first study concerns women from east central European countries who work as badanti (personal caregivers) or collaboratrici domestiche (cleaning women); their migrations raise questions about how homeland gender roles and family relationships are adjusted in the host country. The second study investigates the stabilization process of young foreigners, or young people of foreign origin, who arrive as a result of a family reunification; their experiences suggest we need to rethink the role ascribed to family ties in global migration models.

Alors que depuis plus d’une dizaine d’années l’actualité voit périodiquement ressurgir la tragédie de migrants échoués aux frontières de l’Europe, ma thèse s’arrête sur la période qui précède l’embarquement, lorsque la question de « prendre la mer » se pose mais que la réponse ne s’impose pas encore. C’est à partir du petit port de Nouadhibou situé au nord de la Mauritanie à moins de 1 000 km des côtes espagnoles (îles Canaries) que naît la remise en question de cette expérience du transit. Ville industrielle d’une centaine de milliers d’habitants, Nouadhibou fut le théâtre, entre 2005 et 2007, du départ en pirogue de dizaines de milliers de migrants ouest-africains vers l’Espagne via les îles Canaries. Cette route migratoire s’est constituée comme une nouvelle porte vers l’Europe suite au renforcement des frontières entre le Maroc et l’Espagne dans les enclaves de Ceuta et Melilla notamment. Anticipant l’émotion qui a entouré le drame des nombreux naufrages ayant accompagné ces départs, l’agence européenne Frontex et différents pays européens sont intervenus dès 2006 pour aider la Mauritanie à rapatrier ces migrants plus au Sud, à renforcer ses frontières et à modifier son arsenal juridique, pourvoyant ainsi à une vision particulière des mouvements migratoires dans le monde, celle de la contingence. Le constat qui est au commencement de cette thèse est celui du décalage entre les moyens répressifs mis en œuvre et les projets des migrants rencontrés à Nouadhibou. S’inspirant d’une approche compréhensive des migrations articulée autour des récits (De Gourcy, 2005) et de la prise en compte des migrants en tant qu’acteurs de leur mobilité (Ma Mung, 2009), ma thèse dessine une analyse en miroir de l’évolution des logiques politiques à l’échelle globale et de celle des pratiques sociales et spatiales des migrants à l’échelle locale. Ce travail est avant tout une monographie d’expériences de l’espace par des mobiles dans un contexte de contraintes fortes et de ressources faibles. Les récits de pratiques migratoires livrent une approche où les lieux et les hommes se partagent l’espace problématique, à travers les liens qu’ils entretiennent et les influences qu’ils exercent réciproquement.