Migration Regime and “Language Part of Work”: Experiences of Syrian Refugees as Surplus Population in the Turkish Labor Market

The literature on migration, language and employment is dominated by the human capital approach and promotes multilingualism as a universal good. This paper examines the relationship between language and work for migrants illustrating how they are ascribed value as capital according to their positio...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Critical sociology 2021-07, Vol.47 (4-5), p.763-776
Main Authors: Nimer, Maissam, Rottmann, Susan Beth
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ascription
Capitalism
Employment
Exploitation
Genealogy
Human capital
Labor market
Labor migration
Language
Language acquisition
Language attitudes
Migrant workers
Migrants
Migration
Multilingualism
Refugees
Social mobility
Wisdom
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The literature on migration, language and employment is dominated by the human capital approach and promotes multilingualism as a universal good. This paper examines the relationship between language and work for migrants illustrating how they are ascribed value as capital according to their position and the “language part of work.” First, we trace a genealogy of the migration regime in relation to the labor and linguistic market of migrants in Turkey, characterized by informality and exploitation. Then, we look at the experiences of refugees qualitatively to show how language is differentially valued and has modest effects on social mobility. We argue that language learning instead of stemming from individuals’ possession of capital should be examined within a broader linguistic and employment framework. This research goes beyond conventional wisdom about the centrality of language as a means to improve employment by shedding light on the structure that shapes language value.
ISSN:0896-9205
1569-1632
DOI:10.1177/0896920520964856