Housing and everyday life from the perspective of the pioneer generation of Turkish migrant workers - a project report

In the project, which Prof. Dr. Noyan Dinçkal and PD Dr. Yasemin Niephaus will present and which was funded by the Wüstenrot Foundation, they turn their attention to the housing situations and living arrangements of migrant workers from Turkey in an urban context. This is a group that has been a relevant group of actors in many West German cities and districts since the 1970s at the latest. The focus is on migrant perceptions, interpretations and practices of housing.

The focus is on the so-called pioneer generation of Turkish migrant workers, i.e. all those who came to West Germany from Turkey in the 1960s after the recruitment agreement concluded between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Turkey on October 30, 1961. The researchers captured their perceptions, interpretations and practices of living in the process of arriving with the help of open survey methods. Based on the experiences of the pioneer generation, housing must include not only apartments but also work shacks and hostels for "guest workers".

Without wishing to anticipate the findings, Prof. Dr. Noyan Dinçkal and PD Dr. Yasemin Niephaus assume, firstly, that housing encompasses diverse aspects of everyday migrant life, such as food, leisure, sexuality, family relationships, experiences of inequality and difference, to name but a few. Secondly, they assume that the associated migrant practices in urban space become comprehensible. These include, for example, the formation of neighborhoods, neighborhood networks, self-help groups, but also economic activity at the small business level. Thirdly, the researchers suggest that migrant practices should be viewed as the appropriation and active transformation of urban living conditions in line with their own specific needs and interests.

Registration is not necessary, participation is free of charge.