Papers by Çetin Çelik
British Journal of Sociology of Education , 2022
The gradual restructuring of the political economy of Turkey after the 1980s has changed the posi... more The gradual restructuring of the political economy of Turkey after the 1980s has changed the positioning of the middle class and the importance of its social, economic, and cultural capitals. In particular, lowering the quality of public education through systematic privatization and Islamisation has constituted a significant threat to this class’ reproduction capacity. Drawing on three years of longitudinal qualitative data from parents in Istanbul, we show that this class experiences a reproduction crisis and follows a two-step strategy for ensuring their children’s social mobility: capturing public schools with a middle-class school-mix and transforming them into private-school-like spaces through intense engagement.
Society, 2021
This paper first critically assesses the sociology of immigration and refugee studies and demonst... more This paper first critically assesses the sociology of immigration and refugee studies and demonstrates that they have long ignored refugee adaptation. Immigration studies have focused on the assimilation of labor immigrants and their descendants in the Global North. Refugee studies have developed largely as a depoliticized humanitarian field with attention to refugees in the Global South. The paper, then, reveals the differences between immigrants and refugees in terms of networks, demography, mode of incorporation, and perceptions and argues that these differences result in dissimilar adaptation pathways. The paper finally points out that investigating refugee adaptation in the Global South can significantly modify existing assimilation/integration theories because of the blurry configurations of racial, ethnic, social, cultural, and religious boundaries between refugees and host societies.
Sociology, 2021
Institutional habitus is a useful concept for analysing how schools adopt certain dispositions
an... more Institutional habitus is a useful concept for analysing how schools adopt certain dispositions
and influence students’ educational trajectories. The literature, however, reduces its source to
collective social class mediated by an institution and only employs it to explain the reproduction of
inequalities. Instead, I offer a relational framework that ties the concepts of institutional habitus,
field and capital, and investigate how a secondary school improves the educational engagement of
working-class, second-generation Turkish immigrant youth in Germany. The findings reveal that
the school’s institutional habitus combines the communal values of the immigrant community
and the middle-class academic practices; the former narrows the gap between home and school,
and the latter modifies the classed feelings of students. The relational framework discloses that
schools’ educational status in the educational field constitutes the source of institutional habitus,
and that the institutional habitus can also explain the reduction of inequalities by schools.
Akdeniz Eğitim Araştırmaları Dergisi, 2018
Bu çalışma Bourdieu’nün sosyal sermaye kavramını kullanarak İstanbul’un dezavantajlı bölgelerinde... more Bu çalışma Bourdieu’nün sosyal sermaye kavramını kullanarak İstanbul’un dezavantajlı bölgelerinde yaşayan, halihazırda okula devam eden ve kısa bir süre önce okulu terk etmiş öğrenci ebeveynlerinin ağ yapılarını çocuklarının eğitim başarısına etkileri bakımından ayrıntılı olarak analiz etmektedir. Araştırmadan elde edilen bulgular şunlardır: (1) Her ne kadar aynı dezavantajlı mahallelerde yaşıyor olsalar da okula devam eden öğrenciler sosyoekonomik ve etnik açıdan okul terklerden ayrışmaktadır; (2) okul terkler ağırlıklı olarak marjinal yoksulluk koşullarında yaşayan Kürt ve Roman ailelerden gelmektedir; (3) okula devam edenlerin ve okulu terklerin ebeveynlerinin ağ yapıları sosyoekonomik ve etnisite olarak önemli derecede farklılaşmaktadır; ve (4) okula devam edenlerin ebeveynleri lehine olan ağ yapılarındaki farklılıklar, çocukların okul başarısını artırmak için mobilize edilmektedir. Araştırma, fırsat ve kısıtlara ilişkin bu grupsal farklılaşmaların onların Türkiye toplumda uzun süredir işgal ettikleri etnik konumlarının yarattığı bir toplumsal hafızadan kaynaklanabileceğini ileri sürmektedir.
International Migration, 2018
Education is the most effective tool for migrant and refugee integration. When successfully provi... more Education is the most effective tool for migrant and refugee integration. When successfully provided, it is particularly useful for eradicating the traces of trauma among refugee children, offering means to social mobility and enhancing social and structural integration into society. This article introduces schooling options for Syrian children in Turkey and deals with how school types shape experiences of these students through the accounts of their parents with attention to the notion of institutional habitus. Drawing on a comparative qualitative case study of refugee children in Temporary Education Centres and Public Schools in Turkey, it specifically investigates how schools with their practices, organization, and regulations contribute to or hinder the integration and adaptation of Syrian refugee children to school and society in Turkey.
Identities Global Studies in Culture and Power, 2016
In this study of minority groups, destigmatization strategies are revealed when it comes to ethni... more In this study of minority groups, destigmatization strategies are revealed when it comes to ethnic stratification, socio-economic segregation and the possible courses of second-generation immigrants’ adaptation. Although Germany – with its restrictive citizenship policies, exclusionary public discourses and socio-economic segregation – is characterized by robust ethnic boundaries, the destigmatization strategies of its minorities have been ignored so far. Using a case study of Turkish second-generation immigrant youth in Germany, this article aims to fill this gap in the literature. My findings illustrate that this group of youth mainly assert the moral inferiority of the dominant group through normative inversion, while a few of them appropriate equalizing strategies such as universalizing and contingent detachment. I argue that the reason for different destigmatization strategies can be explained by different degrees of exposure to ethnic boundaries, due to biographical scripts and individual resources. My findings empirically substantiate Lamont’s and Wimmer’s theoretical arguments within the understudied German context.
Ethnic and Racial Studies , 2015
The ethnic identity of second-generation immigrant youth has important implications for their ass... more The ethnic identity of second-generation immigrant youth has important implications for their association with, and integration in, receiving countries. This paper deals with the ethnic identity formation of second-generation Turkish immigrant youth in Germany, with particular attention paid to the notion of reactive ethnicity. While much of the literature discusses the ethnic retention of this specific group as unwillingness to integrate, this
paper frames their ethnic identity formation as reactive ethnicity, which emerges in reaction to social exclusion. Utilizing a case study of Turkish students of disadvantaged schools, the article illustrates that reactive ethnicity is strongly linked to perceived
discrimination and that it acquires characteristics of resistance when the dominant group denigrates and invalidates the immigrants’ culture.
Birikim, 2016
Türkiye toplumsal sınıf ile eğitim başarısının en güçlü olduğu ülkelerden birisi. Eğitim sistemin... more Türkiye toplumsal sınıf ile eğitim başarısının en güçlü olduğu ülkelerden birisi. Eğitim sisteminde düşük başarı gösteren öğrencilerin neredeyse % 70’i yoksul ve yoksun hanelerden geliyor. Diğer bir deyişle, Türkiye’de işçi ve alt-proleter sınıftan öğrencilerin eğitimle dikey toplumsal hareketlilik yapmaları oldukça zayıf bir ihtimal. Eğitimde fırsat eşitliği bir yana dursun, sistem toplumsal sınıflar arasındaki eşitsizlikleri adeta çimentolayarak yeniden üretiyor. Peki, bunu nasıl ve hangi mekanizmalar aracılığıyla ve çok daha önemlisi nasıl meşru bir şekilde gerçekleştiriyor?
Book Chapters by Çetin Çelik
German-Turkish Relations Revisited: The European Dimension, Domestic and Foreign Politics and Transnational Dynamics, 2019
In recent years, dialogue between Germany and Turkey has increasingly become subject to political... more In recent years, dialogue between Germany and Turkey has increasingly become subject to political, academic and public debates. The evolution of the bilateral relations between both countries has been a journey with numerous ebbs and flows for a long time. Lately, however, phases of conflict have started to last longer and have included magnified levels of estrangement and mutual distrust. Is the complex and dynamic relationship between both countries heading from a ‘rollercoaster ride’ to a ‘train crash’? Departing from the intermestic and exceptionally interdependent nature of German-Turkish relations, this edited volume revisits the dialogue between Germany and Turkey and examines the potential for future cooperation and conflict between both countries. To this end, the chapters of this volume focus on three dimensions of German-Turkish relations which particularly involve conflictual and cooperative dialogue: the European dimension, domestic and foreign politics and transnational dynamics.
Routledge , 2019
Youth and the Politics of the Present presents a range of topical sociological investigations int... more Youth and the Politics of the Present presents a range of topical sociological investigations into various aspects of the everyday practices of young adults in different European contexts. Indeed, this volume provides an original and provocative investigation of various current central issues surrounding the effects of globalization and the directions in which Western societies are steering their future. Containing a wide range of empirical and comparative examples from across Europe, this title highlights how young adults are trying to implement new forms of understanding, interpretation and action to cope with unprecedented situations; developing new forms of relationships, identifications and belonging while they experience new and unprecedented forms of inclusion and exclusion. Grounding this exploration is the suggestion that careful observations of the everyday practices of young adults can be an excellent vantage point to grasp how and in what direction the future of contemporary Western societies is heading. Offering an original and provocative investigation, Youth and the Politics of the Present will appeal to students and researchers interested in fields such as Youth Studies, Globalization Studies, Migration Studies, Gender Studies and Social Policy. Enzo Colombo is a Professor of Sociology and Culture at the
Crome Publishing , 2017
Gender differences in youth labour markets and school-to-work transitions are frequently underest... more Gender differences in youth labour markets and school-to-work transitions are frequently underestimated and there is often an assumption that gender gaps only emerge around parenthood, so that younger generations are largely unaffected (Plantenga et al. 2013). However, the evidence presented here from this comparative research suggests that gender differences open up early in the life course and that the policy environment across European countries is not well adapted to these differences on the youth labour market. Research methods In order to illustrate the differences between young women and men on the labour market we can map vulnerability by gender across countries (Gökşen et al. 2016). Vulnerability can be considered as individual risks to low quality, precarious or low-paid employment. However, gender differences are not the only factor shaping these risks and we can observe layers of risk whereby gender interacts with other risk factors such as country of birth and class. This is known as intersectionality (Verloo 2006). We then focus on the extent to which policies for young people recognise gender differences and adopt a gender mainstreaming approach (Gökşen et al. 2016). We use a sample of countries in order to represent four types of regimes for school-to-work transitions-universalistic (Denmark and the Netherlands), liberal (the UK), employment-centred (France and Belgium) and subprotective (Spain, Greece and Turkey); where the data permits, we also include an analysis of Slovakia as an example of a post-socialist regime, but we are unable to provide a policy analysis for this country. Furthermore, we benefit from specific, detailed inputs from national researchers in the case of five case-study countries covering four of the regimes-Denmark, Spain, France, Greece and the UK. Our analysis of the EU-SILC data demonstrates that gender gaps for young people exist across almost all measures of education and labour market statuses used to assess vulnerable outcomes. We also find strong evidence of the intersectionality of youth, gender and other forms of vulnerability linked to migrant status. The extent of these vulnerabilities varies across different school-to-work regimes but is nevertheless present.
Book Reviews by Çetin Çelik
Research and Policy on Turkey, 2016
W.B.E Du Bois ([1903] 2013), in his classic book, Souls of Black Folk, developed the concept of “... more W.B.E Du Bois ([1903] 2013), in his classic book, Souls of Black Folk, developed the concept of “double-consciousness” for problematizing the racial identity of Blacks in the US, requiring African Americans to balance between being Negro and an American. Özyürek operationalizes this concept to deconstruct the identity of German converts to Islam in a context that increasingly marginalizes and racializes Muslims. With her
ethnographic research conducted in various cities of Germany in 2006–7, 2009–11 and half of 2013, Özyürek explores the contradictions and challenges in the lives of the converts while they are trying to be Muslim and German at the same time. The rich data pulled from three and half years of participant observation, regular mosque visits, in-depth interviews and document analysis aim to examine how the German converts
try to open up a legitimate space for Islam.
New Perspectives on Turkey, 2012
Saraçoğlu’s Kurds of Modern Turkey: Migration, Neoliberalism and Exclusion in Turkish Society is ... more Saraçoğlu’s Kurds of Modern Turkey: Migration, Neoliberalism and Exclusion in Turkish Society is a well-written book that provides a new lens for looking at an lingering and disconcerting phenomenon in Turkey; the Kurdish question. Unlike many other approaches that restrict the Kurdish question to a political issue regarding the cultural and political rights of the Kurds, the book successfully attracts attention to the anti-Kurdish sentiment in Western Turkish cities and its underlying conditions. Saraçoğlu employs refined conceptual tools and applies them well within a very coherent theoretical framework to explore the ethnicization of the Kurdish migrants by middle class people in the Western Turkish city of Izmir.
Working Papers and Reports by Çetin Çelik
Eğitim ve Toplumsal Eşitsizlikler, 2017
Ekim'17 Barometresi'nde TEOG vesileyle eğitim sistemine bakışı ele alıp, sadece TEOG konusunda de... more Ekim'17 Barometresi'nde TEOG vesileyle eğitim sistemine bakışı ele alıp, sadece TEOG konusunda değil, sisteme dair genel bir memnuniyetsizlik olduğunu görmüştük. Bu memnuniyetsizliğin nedenlerini ve yarattığı sonuçları daha iyi anlayabilmek için bu ayki araştırmanın temasını eğitim konusuna ayırdık.
STYLE Working Papers CROME, 2016
Gender differences in youth labour markets and school to work transitions are frequently under es... more Gender differences in youth labour markets and school to work transitions are frequently under estimated and there is often an assumption that gender gaps only open up around parenthood so that younger generations are largely unaffected. However, the evidence presented here from this
comparative research suggests that gender differences open up early in the lifecourse and that the policy environment across European countries is not well adapted to these gender differences on the youth labour market.
In this report we focus on two specific elements: Firstly we map vulnerability by gender across ethnic and class differences and secondly we focus on the extent to which policies for young people recognise gender differences and adopt a gender mainstreaming approach. We use a sample of countries in order to represent four types of regimes for school-to-work transitions – universalistic (Denmark and the Netherlands), liberal (the United Kingdom), employment-centred (France and Belgium) and sub-protective countries (Spain, Greece and Turkey); where the data permits we also include an analysis of Slovakia as an example of a post-communist, but we are unable to provide a policy analysis for this country. Furthermore we benefit from specific, detailed inputs from national researchers in the case of five case study countries covering four of the regimes – Denmark, Spain, France, Greece and the UK.
Policy Briefs by Çetin Çelik
MiReKoc Policy Brief Series, 2017
The civil war in Syria has displaced more than 6.5 million Syrians internationally, especially in... more The civil war in Syria has displaced more than 6.5 million Syrians internationally, especially in neighboring countries. Of those, Turkey alone accommodates around three million. Together with people taking shelter from Afghanistan and Iraq, the protracted situations refugees have become the norm rather than the exception in Turkey. This forces Turkey to develop new plans and strategies to cope with the challenges of protracted refugee situations particularly in the fields of education, housing, health, and the labor market. While new policies are urgently needed in each of these fields, the fact that 50 percent of Syrian refugees are under 19 years old and that there are around a million school-age children, make the regulations and reforms more acute particularly in the field of education. Education is the most important instrument for refugee children to remove the traces of trauma, provide significant aims for social mobility and enhance their social and structural integration to society. However, an unjust education system and exclusive schools may exacerbate the integration process and give way to potential conflicts between majority and minority groups.
This brief first sketches the current situation regarding educational opportunities and constraints for Syrian refugees in Turkey with a focus on primary and secondary education. Afterward, drawing occasionally on a study on a best practice model school on migrant and refugee education in Germany, the brief makes some recommendations about the transition from Temporary Education Centers (TECs) to Turkish public schools as well as the organization of Turkish public schools for smooth integration of Syrian children into the educational system.
Interviews by Çetin Çelik
Koç Üniversitesi Sosyoloji Bölümü'nden göç ve eğitim sosyoloğu Çetin Çelik'le Türkiye'de ilk ve o... more Koç Üniversitesi Sosyoloji Bölümü'nden göç ve eğitim sosyoloğu Çetin Çelik'le Türkiye'de ilk ve ortaöğretim sistemini konuştuk. Meslek liselerinden kolejlere, değişen sınav sistemlerinden velilerin stratejilerine mevzumuz, eğitim alanının toplumsal eşitsizlikleri pekiştiren yapısıydı.
Columns by Çetin Çelik
Open Democracy, 2016
Any encounters that exist between newcomers and long-term inhabitants end at the school gate.
Meslek liselerinin, sayıları artan şekilde yoksul ailelerden öğrencilerin adresi haline gelmesi, ... more Meslek liselerinin, sayıları artan şekilde yoksul ailelerden öğrencilerin adresi haline gelmesi, istemli seçimle değil, böylesi bir yapısal mekanizma ile anlaşılmalıdır.
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Papers by Çetin Çelik
and influence students’ educational trajectories. The literature, however, reduces its source to
collective social class mediated by an institution and only employs it to explain the reproduction of
inequalities. Instead, I offer a relational framework that ties the concepts of institutional habitus,
field and capital, and investigate how a secondary school improves the educational engagement of
working-class, second-generation Turkish immigrant youth in Germany. The findings reveal that
the school’s institutional habitus combines the communal values of the immigrant community
and the middle-class academic practices; the former narrows the gap between home and school,
and the latter modifies the classed feelings of students. The relational framework discloses that
schools’ educational status in the educational field constitutes the source of institutional habitus,
and that the institutional habitus can also explain the reduction of inequalities by schools.
paper frames their ethnic identity formation as reactive ethnicity, which emerges in reaction to social exclusion. Utilizing a case study of Turkish students of disadvantaged schools, the article illustrates that reactive ethnicity is strongly linked to perceived
discrimination and that it acquires characteristics of resistance when the dominant group denigrates and invalidates the immigrants’ culture.
Book Chapters by Çetin Çelik
Book Reviews by Çetin Çelik
ethnographic research conducted in various cities of Germany in 2006–7, 2009–11 and half of 2013, Özyürek explores the contradictions and challenges in the lives of the converts while they are trying to be Muslim and German at the same time. The rich data pulled from three and half years of participant observation, regular mosque visits, in-depth interviews and document analysis aim to examine how the German converts
try to open up a legitimate space for Islam.
Working Papers and Reports by Çetin Çelik
comparative research suggests that gender differences open up early in the lifecourse and that the policy environment across European countries is not well adapted to these gender differences on the youth labour market.
In this report we focus on two specific elements: Firstly we map vulnerability by gender across ethnic and class differences and secondly we focus on the extent to which policies for young people recognise gender differences and adopt a gender mainstreaming approach. We use a sample of countries in order to represent four types of regimes for school-to-work transitions – universalistic (Denmark and the Netherlands), liberal (the United Kingdom), employment-centred (France and Belgium) and sub-protective countries (Spain, Greece and Turkey); where the data permits we also include an analysis of Slovakia as an example of a post-communist, but we are unable to provide a policy analysis for this country. Furthermore we benefit from specific, detailed inputs from national researchers in the case of five case study countries covering four of the regimes – Denmark, Spain, France, Greece and the UK.
Policy Briefs by Çetin Çelik
This brief first sketches the current situation regarding educational opportunities and constraints for Syrian refugees in Turkey with a focus on primary and secondary education. Afterward, drawing occasionally on a study on a best practice model school on migrant and refugee education in Germany, the brief makes some recommendations about the transition from Temporary Education Centers (TECs) to Turkish public schools as well as the organization of Turkish public schools for smooth integration of Syrian children into the educational system.
Interviews by Çetin Çelik
Columns by Çetin Çelik