From ‘safe haven’ to ‘zone of precarity’: locating Istanbul through the perceptions and everyday urban practices of skilled migrants

Tuncer, Ezgi (2025) From ‘safe haven’ to ‘zone of precarity’: locating Istanbul through the perceptions and everyday urban practices of skilled migrants. Comparative Migration Studies, 13 (1). ISSN 2214-594X

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Abstract

This article seeks to position Istanbul through the practices of everyday life of middle-class, skilled migrants from both the Global North and South and their perceptions of urban safety and precarity. It examines individuals' processes of migration to Turkey, revealing their initial impressions of Istanbul as a safe city of opportunities, and then analyses their everyday urban lives, highlighting hidden forms of precarity and discrimination. Through in-depth interviews with 45 women and 34 men-more than half of whom are North American and European-and participant observation in people's living environments and at various social events, I argue that Istanbul, while perceived as a 'safe haven' at first, becomes a 'zone of precarity' where most of the participants have experienced intersectional forms of precarity, latent patterns of discrimination, and insecurities that belie the common perception that skilled migrants are privileged. To substantiate this argument, this ethno-spatial study presents an analysis of qualitative data as well as an online subjective mapping of Istanbul, where perceptions of urban safety and spatial precarity are displayed through socio-spatial experiences encountered in neighbourhoods, workplaces, and public spaces.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2025 The Author
Divisions:	LSE
Subjects:	J Political Science > JV Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration H Social Sciences G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > G Geography (General)
Date Deposited:	27 Feb 2025 10:36
Last Modified:	12 Mar 2025 08:21
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/127460

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