Feyzi Baban

This book discusses the ways civil society initiatives open communities to newcomers and why, how, and under what circumstances some are more welcoming than others, exploring the importance of transgressive cosmopolitanism as a basis for creating more inclusive and pluralistic societies. The question of how to live together in increasingly multicultural, multi-ethnic, and multireligious societies is a pressing political and policy issue, particularly as we witness a rise in right-wing populism and anti-immigrant sentiments. This book addresses the limitations of approaches that seek to secure borders, preventing the arrival of newcomers altogether, or that vacillate between assimilation and multiculturalism. The authors explore the concept of cosmopolitanism and its utility, by theorizing from real-world examples, including Germany’s Welcome Culture and Denmark’s Kind Citizens movements and other smaller-scale initiatives, such as arts and museum projects, kitchen hubs, and shared living accommodation. Interdisciplinary in nature and bringing conceptual discussions together with everyday examples, this book focuses on forms of activity generally left out of wider debates around protest and social movement literature. It emphasizes different types of activities undertaken by civil society groups, who do not necessarily self-identify as political, but whose activities can counter right-wing populism. This dialogue between concepts and everyday politics makes the volume a very useful companion to classroom discussion and will facilitate its own exchange between scholars, activists, and practitioners.

This book discusses the ways civil society initiatives open communities to newcomers and why, how, and under what circumstances some are more welcoming than others, exploring the importance of transgressive cosmopolitanism as a basis for creating more inclusive and pluralistic societies. The question of how to live together in increasingly multicultural, multi-ethnic, and multireligious societies is a pressing political and policy issue, particularly as we witness a rise in right-wing populism and anti-immigrant sentiments. This book addresses the limitations of approaches that seek to secure borders, preventing the arrival of newcomers altogether, or that vacillate between assimilation and multiculturalism. The authors explore the concept of cosmopolitanism and its utility, by theorizing from real-world examples, including Germany’s Welcome Culture and Denmark’s Kind Citizens movements and other smaller-scale initiatives, such as arts and museum projects, kitchen hubs, and shared living accommodation. Interdisciplinary in nature and bringing conceptual discussions together with everyday examples, this book focuses on forms of activity generally left out of wider debates around protest and social movement literature. It emphasizes different types of activities undertaken by civil society groups, who do not necessarily self-identify as political, but whose activities can counter right-wing populism. This dialogue between concepts and everyday politics makes the volume a very useful companion to classroom discussion and will facilitate its own exchange between scholars, activists, and practitioners.

Turkey now hosts the largest number of Syrian refugees in the world, more than 3.6 million of the 12.7 million displaced by the Syrian Civil War. Many of them are subject to an unpredictable temporary protection, forcing them to live under vulnerable and insecure conditions. The Precarious Lives of Syrians examines the three dimensions of the architecture of precarity: Syrian migrants' legal status, the spaces in which they live and work, and their movements within and outside Turkey. The difficulties they face include restricted access to education and healthcare, struggles to secure employment, language barriers, identity-based discrimination, and unlawful deportations. Feyzi Baban, Suzan Ilcan, and Kim Rygiel show that Syrians confront their precarious conditions by engaging in cultural production and community-building activities, and by undertaking perilous journeys to Europe, allowing them to claim spaces and citizenship while asserting their rights to belong, to stay, and to escape. The authors draw on migration policies, legal and scholarly materials, and five years of extensive field research with local, national, and international humanitarian organizations, and with Syrians from all walks of life. The Precarious Lives of Syrians offers a thoughtful and compelling analysis of migration precarity in our contemporary context.

Turkey now hosts the largest number of Syrian refugees in the world, more than 3.6 million of the 12.7 million displaced by the Syrian Civil War. Many of them are subject to an unpredictable temporary protection, forcing them to live under vulnerable and insecure conditions. The Precarious Lives of Syrians examines the three dimensions of the architecture of precarity: Syrian migrants' legal status, the spaces in which they live and work, and their movements within and outside Turkey. The difficulties they face include restricted access to education and healthcare, struggles to secure employment, language barriers, identity-based discrimination, and unlawful deportations. Feyzi Baban, Suzan Ilcan, and Kim Rygiel show that Syrians confront their precarious conditions by engaging in cultural production and community-building activities, and by undertaking perilous journeys to Europe, allowing them to claim spaces and citizenship while asserting their rights to belong, to stay, and to escape. The authors draw on migration policies, legal and scholarly materials, and five years of extensive field research with local, national, and international humanitarian organizations, and with Syrians from all walks of life. The Precarious Lives of Syrians offers a thoughtful and compelling analysis of migration precarity in our contemporary context.