Groundbreaking in its comprehensiveness, Labour Migration from Turkey to Western Europe illuminates the subject of this book with new perspectives previously overlooked in research. Beginning with analysis of migrations to and from Turkey before 1960, Ahmet Akgündüz documents the erroneousness of prior-given explanations for 'push' factors and, in so doing, offers forth an alternative analysis. Explored are the role of the sending state, the system and channels through which labour exits, the labouring populations's attitudes towards going to the West and the relevance of social networks in the migration process. A critical assessment is made of the significance of Thrkish labour migration vis-à-vis the demand for foreign labour in Europe, especially in Germany and the Netherlands. Akgündüz examines why and under what circumstances the guest worker system as a whole was introduced into Western Europe, while also specifically focusing on Turkish migrants through a cross-comparative analysis of their employment by sector of economy. This study is further enriched by a chapter onto itself that provides detailed characteristics of the migrants.
Ahmet Akgündüz is a social scientist affiliated with the Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies (IMES) at the University of Amsterdam.
"This is a very well-written boby of research on an important but largely neglected topic. The book offers many new and fresh insights into the migration processes of Turkish guest workers to Western Europe. It is a pioneering work and, as such, is unique to the field." Leo Lucassen, University of Amsterdam and Leiden University
"This study demonstrates a scholarly perspective, an organizing conceptual and analytical framework, skills in the methodology of research and a capacity to relate research to the broader framework of the literature within which it falls." Ahmet lçduygu, Koç University, Istanbul