Making Sense of Belonging: Translocal Subjectivity and Rootedness of Turkish-Born Women in Sweden

Previous Research on Migration from Turkey

Sweden was one of the European countries that recruited low-skilled labour from Turkey under bilateral agreements during the 1960s and 1970s (Akgündüz 1993). Many Turkish-born workers brought their partners, children and, in some cases members of their extended families to Sweden in the following years. In addition to this, Sweden received migration from Turkey in the years following the military coup in Turkey in September 1980 (Akgündüz 1993). Some migrated due to the political oppression and unrest in the country, while others sought asylum on the grounds of oppression of ethnic/religious minorities. Most of the interviewed women in this study came to Sweden under family reunification regulations, following their partners who had been recruited as workers.

Although there is extensive research on migration from Turkey to European countries (Abadan-Unat 2011; Avci 2006; Baser & Levin 2017; Ehrkamp & Studies 2005; Erder 2006; Fassmann & Içduygu 2013), and some research on women migrating from Turkey to Europe (Akpinar 2003; Dedeoglu 2014; Erel 2002; Inowlocki & Lutz 2000; Liversage 2009), sense of belonging often remains an overlooked aspect. A similar claim can be made about research on older migrants from Turkey; there is increasing research interest in older Turkish migrants (Buffel 2017; Liversage & Jakobsen 2016; Naldemirci 2013; Palaz 2020; Palmberger 2017). However, these studies have tended to focus on specific aspects of migrant experiences such as care, social capital, housing or class.

An important aspect that has informed this previous research on Turkish-born migrants is the concept of gurbet¹ which also informs the analysis in this article. Gurbet refers to both an imagined place that is far from home, and a feeling of ‘longing for belonging’ (Ilcan 2002 in Naldemirci 2013). It is often characterised as being in one place and longing for another. This can be a material, geographic location or a feeling that is charged with emotions of alienation and longing. It is symbolically codified as a place that is ‘not home.’ Therefore, it is often culturally embedded within migration experiences. It has been used by the Turkish diaspora for many years in stories, songs and novels and therefore has also been operationalised in previous research on migrants (see Hristov 2015; Naldemirci 2013). In this sense, gurbet emerged as key to understanding what can be described as temporal belonging and belonging from afar, as will be presented in the theory chapter.

Previous Research on Older Migrant Women

This article specifically focuses on women’s experiences of belonging as they age and starts from the assumption that migrant women’s experiences differ qualitatively from those of men. Previous studies on Turkish-born women in Europe show that they experience specific forms of disadvantages regarding acquiring education, occupational skills and the language of the country of settlement (Inowlocki & Lutz 2000; Liversage 2009; Sachs 1983). As Calasanti and Slevin (2001) point out, early studies on older women ‘problematised’ them as passive and dependent. This was later criticised by feminist scholars (Gibson 1996; Payne & Whittington 1976) who argued for a more agency-oriented perspective. In a similar vein, Torres (2015) points out that migration scholars were ‘oblivious’ to old age until recent decades, since they mainly focused on identity orientations and culture specific traits of ethnic minority groups who were labelled as others. This was a common pattern in research on migrant women as well: they have been studied from culturalist/essentialist perspectives. Especially in the case of migration from low-income countries to high-income/Western countries, migrant women’s experiences were primarily studied through an ethnic lens, meaning that their experiences and feelings were reduced to cultural traits. Nevertheless, studies on ageing migrants (Ciobanu, Fokkema & Nedelcu 2017; Machat-From 2017; Walsh & Näre 2016) as well as migrant women (Akpınar 2003; Ghorashi 2010; Martínez-Conde et al. 2020; Ryan 2007; Rydzik & Anitha 2020) have become more diverse in the last decades.

Most literature on the sense of belonging among older migrants is framed in relation to the experiences of ‘ageing in between,’ as in having two countries, two languages and consequently, ‘two lives’ (Portes, Guarnizo & Landolt 1999). These ‘in between’ experiences are often conceptualised as transnational or dual belonging (Vertovec 2004). This article hopes to contribute to the existing literature on women’s experiences of sense of belonging using a translocal lens as a starting point for discussion that is both non-linear and multi-scalar (comprising the local, national and international scales). In doing so, it suggests a framework that goes beyond these ‘in-between’ understandings of migrants’ experiences.

Belonging and Rootedness

As mentioned in the introduction, belonging is understood in this article as a sensitising concept. With roots in grounded theory (Bowen 2006), sensitising concepts are useful tools for analysing empirical materials in an inductive manner, since they provide a starting point to build and guide the analysis. They offer ‘ways of seeing, organising and understanding experience’ (Charmaz 2003: 259), which is crucial to this study since it relies on the narratives and life course experiences of the interviewed women. In this way, belonging can be understood in relation to the affective and relational experiences of migration.

Although the article does not rely on a fixed definition of belonging, it is inspired by previous researchers who conceptualised belonging as a process. It is not understood as a fixed and stable status (being), but rather as a contingent, dynamic, multi-scalar and temporal process (becoming) (see Antonsich 2010; hooks 2009; May 2017; Probyn 2015). In other words, belonging is understood as a non-linear process that changes over time as individuals are continuously influenced by different places and relations.

Migrants are active agents who perform, reflect, create and negotiate their experiences, including belonging. Belonging is thus seen as performative (Bell 1999) or as ‘doing belonging’ (Skrbiš, Baldassar & Poynting 2007), and this performativity becomes explicit when belonging shifts due to place and time. Belonging is performed by individuals who strategically highlight or tone down certain aspects of their affective and material relations to space over their own life course. This dynamic and temporal understanding of belonging overcomes the dual/in-between approaches to migrants’ experiences as being either ‘here’ or ‘there’ (such as transnational belonging), while also providing space to think about belonging in terms of non-material and de-territorialised dimensions such as emotions, social ties and imaginary places. Transnational belonging (Klok et al. 2017; Naujoks 2010) does not deterritorialise migrants’ everyday lives, but instead reproduces a dual and fixed form of migrant belonging. It assumes a constant contact between two national borders, which generates an in-between belonging that is ‘rooted’ in cultural (ethnic) backgrounds or countries of origin.

This understanding of rootedness – as a stable relation between belonging and territory – has been questioned (Gupta & Ferguson 1992; Malkki 1992), as one’s sense of rootedness is informed by and derived from multiple sources. Family and kinship ties, shared ethical and moral values, familiarity, time and attachment to place constitute these sources over the life course of an individual. They create a certain situatedness that grows from both old and newly cultivated roots that shape one’s sense of belonging. Individuals form their rootedness by materially and emotionally investing in their relationships with places and people, even if they are physically elsewhere (Racles 2018). As I argue in the following section, the translocal lens provides a multi-scalar and non-linear framework for analysing migrant experiences without narrowing down these possible dimensions.

Translocal Subjectivity

Translocality emerged as an umbrella term to overcome the limitations of transnationalism and offer a more ‘grounded’ version of it (Greiner & Sakdapolrak 2013). It is mainly concerned with the dynamics of mobility, migration and socio-spatial interconnectedness, and describes mobilities and multiple forms of spatial connectedness beyond nation-state borders (Grillo & Riccio 2004; Ma 2002). It pays attention to the situatedness of the mobile actors in a non-linear, temporal way to capture their diverse experiences in different times and locations. Looking at belonging through a translocal lens has the potential to unpack the ‘interconnections between mobility and locality, routes and roots, as well as transnational and local attachments’ (Buffel 2017: 13). Migrants’ sense of belonging is thus not bound to a fixed material space or to some ethnic norms but is rather understood in a shifting and interacting sense.

The idea of translocal subjectivity draws upon Appadurai’s (1996) framework, in which he argues that communities become extended via mobility because the ‘localised’ experiences are ‘internationalised’ and generate new identities and meanings. Conradson and McKay (2007) discuss translocal subjectivity in relation to the ‘felt’ dimensions of mobility and affective relations to place. All the interactions that occur in different localities are interconnected, as they shape the translocal subject and create a more nuanced sense of belonging. For instance, ‘belonging from afar’ (Fields 2011; May 2017) tells us about the possible temporal locations where a sense of belonging is constructed. Personal histories, feelings of nostalgia and emotional attachments to places are maintained by the translocal subjects as they continue to imagine, talk and speculate about places. Spaces are re-imagined, reproduced and new meaning are attached to them over the life course.

Profile of the Interviewed Women

Nine of the 20 interviewees lived in large cities, while the rest lived in medium-sized or small cities. Three had a university degree, and two had no formal education prior to migrating. The rest of the women had either a middle school or high school diploma. Eleven of the women continued their education in Sweden, mostly at SFI² schools where in addition to studying Swedish, they learned about available jobs or further educational opportunities in their cities. Most of them started working in low-income jobs (such as factory workers or cleaners) upon arrival but switched to higher-income jobs (such as nurses, teachers, office workers) and subsequently retired.

Four of the interviewed women moved to Sweden for political reasons; two were asylum seekers and the other two moved because of the political unrest after the military coup in 1980 in Turkey. However, most of the interviewees moved within the framework of family reunification laws, following their husbands or parents who had found jobs in Sweden, often as industrial workers. Some women got married in Turkey with the intention of moving to Sweden after meeting their future husbands who were looking for a woman to marry from their hometown.

Ten of the women were married or were living with their partners at the time of the interviews. The rest were single (four were widowed and six were divorced). Among the women who were living with their partners, two had Swedish-born partners, while the rest had Turkish-born partners. All but one of the interviewees had children. Seven of the interviewees were living with their adult children. These children were either single or were recently divorced/separated from their partners and had therefore moved back in with their parents. Among the women with children, all but one had grandchildren. These diverse backgrounds of participants have been taken into consideration in the analysis process.

Family and Kinship Ties

Family and kinship ties came up as a significant aspect of belonging in most of the interviews. When they were asked to elaborate on their decision to stay in Sweden, having children in Sweden came to the forefront as the key determinant for staying. Here, it is important to note that most of them had their first child in Sweden. Their answers had two parts: First, many women stated that it was ‘too late to return’ after their children were born here, and especially after they began attending day-care. Second, as they grew older, they increasingly wanted to be close to their children and grandchildren.

When the children started at day-care, they learned to speak Swedish, and the mothers thought their children would have to go through a ‘second integration process’ if they move back to Turkey. The women considered their kids to be more ‘Swedish’ than they were:

Aydan, who moved to Sweden after the 1980 coup had a similar reason for staying:

This explicit discussion between Aydan and her son about return migration was a defining moment in her decision to stay. She talked about how Sweden became her home through her children. Halide had a similar conversation with her son when he started school. She stated that she was already feeling ‘very close’ to Swedish society herself and wanted to stay. But the first time the decision was ‘verbalised’ was during a conversation with her son about ‘feeling Swedish’:

However, children and grandchildren are not the only determinants; relationships with the stay-behind family also play a key role. Many interviewed women expressed feelings of detachment towards Turkey after the death of their parents:

As can be seen from Neziha’s answer, her weakening ties with stay-behind family in Turkey contribute to her willingness to stay in Sweden. Most women stated that their emotional attachment to Turkey decreased after the death of their parents, which also reduced the frequency of travels as Yesim pointed out: ‘there is nothing connecting me there’ (Yesim, 73). The deaths minimised the women’s mobility as many of them did not really see a reason to travel to Turkey if not to visit family.

Shared Values and Non-Belonging

The interviews showed that the sharing moral/ideological values with the society in a locality constituted a significant aspect of belonging. For instance, some of the interviewed women migrated to Sweden as asylum seekers when they were young adults and realised that their personal values were more in line with Swedish society than Turkish society, and they therefore felt at home in Sweden. Halide, who sought asylum in Sweden after the 1980 coup recalls her first memories of feeling ‘at home’ in Sweden:

As a woman who was involuntarily displaced, Halide frequently talked about the importance of human rights and freedom in Sweden, and how this was an important factor in her decision to stay, because, like most of the interviewees, she did not originally plan to remain in Sweden for a long time. She was one of the few interviewed women who explicitly used the word ‘belonging’ during the interview, and she explained that she feels like she belongs in Sweden because of the moral and ideological views she shares with the society. A similar opinion was expressed by Aysel:

Aysel’s answer illustrates how home making informs sense of belonging to a place through similarity and adaptation. But not all interviewees felt this way. During the interviews, some women talked about feelings of non-belonging, especially in relation to anti-immigrant sentiments and discourses. The category ‘foreigner’ was ambivalent for many interviewees. Some referred to themselves as foreigners, while others only considered a specific group of migrants (refugees) to be foreigners, and therefore, did not view themselves as belonging to this category. In many cases, those who referred to themselves as foreigners made a distinction between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ foreigners:

This conditional acceptance by Swedish society, as expressed in both answers, was justified in their eyes, as they viewed themselves as agents who can negotiate, adapt and change their conditions. There are many aspects of this boundary making and maintenance process to unpack (especially regarding class and gender), but this discussion is outside the scope of this article. Nevertheless, it is important to note that some interviewees expressed feelings of non-acceptance or non-belonging due to how they were perceived by Swedish society. For example, Hatice (large city, 61) stated: ‘You’re a foreigner in this country if you have a black head.³ That’s it!’ Similarly, Sibel said:

Although Sibel talked about the ‘obvious markers’ of her foreignness such as her name or hair colour, she cultivated her sense of belonging through her family ties, similar to other interviewees. As she was describing her feelings, she explained that the feelings of ‘foreignness’ went away for her once she realised that her whole family was here with her in Sweden, and that the only times she felt she did not belong in Sweden was when she received occasional reminders from ‘others.’ Thus, she talked about ‘still’ and ‘sometimes’ feeling like a migrant, depending on these encounters with ‘others’ which are the concrete reflections of today’s political climate of anti-immigration discourses. These encounters with others were daily reminders of non-belonging to the category of ‘Swedishness’ while Sibel, among others, kept her familial ties as the main source of belonging to Sweden.

Gurbet

When the women talked about the affective dimensions of belonging, feelings of gurbet became prominent in relation to their past experiences. Not all of them talked about gurbet, but the ones who did talked about ‘feeling in gurbet’ during the years immediately after they migrated. Sweden was gurbet until they started to feel ‘at home.’ During this process of home making, the women maintained close ties and emotional attachments to Turkey, which can be categorised as ‘belonging from afar’ (Fields 2011; May 2017). They continued to feel a sense of belonging regarding Turkey through their memories and emotions. However, the feelings of longing connected with being in gurbet subsided over time, and Sweden stopped being gurbet. In other words, the perception of gurbet as an imaginary place that is entangled with feelings of longing dissolved after they developed a sense of belonging to Sweden. For instance, Neziha referred to it as a former period of her life that had ‘passed’:

Her answer reflected the temporal and contingent aspect of belonging. Sweden was no longer gurbet after she had her children there.

Localities

The specific localities in which the interviewed women lived were an important dimension of their sense of belonging, because feelings of ‘being at home’ were linked to their neighbourhoods and the houses/apartments they lived in. For instance, Piraye, who lived in a large Swedish city, spoke of the city as her ‘home’ during the interview. She explained that she has lived on the same street so long, that she knows every detail, every shop owner. Her daily routine consists of going for a walk in her neighbourhood, chit chatting with some neighbours and drinking tea at the cafe on her street. She talked about how the familiarity of the physical space and the small daily exchange with neighbours makes her feel ‘at home.’ Similarly, another interviewee, Halide talked about the material familiarity in relation to her memories of place:

Her answer illustrates how home making and belonging are interconnected with people, places and time. As she gains familiarity with her surroundings and creates memories of the place over the years, she feels more at home in Sweden.

Cigdem’s experience of feeling at home is different from Halide’s, but it too illustrates a connection to a specific locality. Cigdem was one of the labour migrants who moved to Sweden in the 1970s and since then have lived in one of the ethnically segregated areas in a large city. She moved to a neighbourhood inhabited by people from her village in Turkey and has lived in the same apartment building with some of her relatives ever since: ‘I don’t really miss Turkey because our community here is full of our own people (referring to people from her village in Turkey)’ (Cigdem, large city, 68). Due to this community, she felt ‘at home’ in Sweden.

Material Rootedness

The analysis showed that the interviewed women’s relations to material space were closely tied to having or maintaining ‘roots.’ Building affective connections through materiality was a common way to maintain ties among the women. In some cases, rootedness was achieved through mundane practices in everyday life. Watching Turkish TV channels, celebrating holidays with family, cooking Turkish food, and following the news from Turkey are concrete, material practices of commemorating their roots.

As aforementioned, for many women rootedness was achieved over time by establishing new ties in Sweden, that is, by having children. However, in some cases, the interviewed women viewed having property (i.e. a house/apartment) as a form of rootedness. Those who could afford to do so, bought summer houses, mainly on the Mediterranean coast, and some kept the houses they had inherited from their parents to use when visiting Turkey. Pinar, who migrated to Sweden in 1969 after her parents were recruited as labour migrants, had recently bought a summer house in Turkey. She explained her reason as follows:

As the quote illustrates, for Pinar, buying a house was a strategic decision to keep her children connected to their ‘roots.’ This was, of course, a privileged position since many other interviewees talked about the constraints regarding mobility due to lack of economic resources.