Ethnic Residential Segregation among Seasonal Migrant Workers: From Temporary Tents to New Rural Ghettos in Southern Turkey

İngilizce (OpenAlex)

This paper analyses three underlying reasons for the unprecedented socio-spatial changes that have resulted in the emergence of rural ghettos in southern Turkey. First, neoliberal agricultural transformation has led to changes in crop composition, which have caused a need for cheap labour over longer periods of time. Second, the extreme poverty levels of Kurdish seasonal labourers compels them not to return to their homes and stay in tent settlements around farms. Third, the high level of poverty and vulnerability of Syrian refugees compels them to accept the lowest-paying jobs and the most rudimentary types of accommodation, such as tent settlements. I therefore argue that the co-existence of agrarian transformation and contemporary migration flows resulted in a socio-spatial change in Turkey’s rural areas.