Multidimensional Strategies of Boundary-drawing towards Syrian Refugees in the Turkish Informal Market Economy

This thesis, with its specific focus on the labour-intensive economic sectors, analyses how boundaries are drawn in multiple forms towards Syrians refugees in Turkey’s informal market economy. Employing the case of Turkey as a new immigration country, the thesis provides a multidimensional analysis of boundary-drawing in relation to refugees. This study reveals how distinct framing strategies are employed towards Syrian workers in workplaces; how multiple forms of boundaries are drawn in everyday working life; and how the notions of ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ are produced, mobilized, negotiated, and contested through the lens of Turkish employers and employees. This single case study adheres to a qualitative methodology, based on ethnographic observations, structured expert interviews, and semi-structured interviews with Turkish employers and employees. It aims at identifying the multiple ways of creating boundaries toward ‘outsiders’ (i.e. Syrian refugees) by paying particular attention to how intersubjective meaning-making elements are (re)produced by members of a single community, the city of Adana, which is an economic hub close to the conflict region in Turkey. The research investigates different dimensions of boundary-drawing, namely moral, socioeconomic, institutional, and national identity, within the scope of symbolic and social boundaries. The results suggest that Turkish employers and employees view Syrians in three distinct ways: as workers, peers, and foreign nationals. These distinct ways of perceiving Syrians highly depend on intersubjective evaluative distinctions. These are generated by the host society members through narratives, repertoires, and background factors, such as historical, socioeconomic, sociopolitical, and institutional elements. Overall, the analysis reveals multiple ways of manifesting boundaries towards outsiders. Furthermore, these can be made and remade over time by the same social actors across different workplaces within the same city and/or country depending on the context in which varying forms of justifications are (re)produced.