Home, belonging and collage-identities: a case study on second generation Turks in modena

Official URL: http://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b1606911 (Table of Contents)

The presence of new generations born to immigrants has fomented the involvement of the scientific community of many European and non-European states, setting into motion a proliferation of numerous researches on the topic, mostly with reference to possible inclusion strategies into the host society. Together with the topic of inclusion/integration of migrants and the ability of contemporary societies to coexist with and accommodate increasing cultural diversity, the debates among social scientists also focus on the theme of cultural identity and belonging. Secondgeneration immigrants' path, especially during adolescence, often lies on a thin line between inclusion and exclusion, between the observation and respect of the values of the heritage culture and the adaptation to those of the receiving country. The industrialized province of Modena only since several years has been dealing with its own cultural diversity- in 2011 it housed 4,366 Turkish immigrants and their children, more than one-fifth of the total Turkish population residing in Italy. Differently from adolescents who identify with only one nation-state, secondgeneration adolescents shape and negotiate their identities through two journeys: a journey to the origins (their migration experience or their parents'), and their everyday life journey in the Italian society. The question this thesis aims to answer is, who is behind the term ‘second-generation Turk’? How did growing up in Modena as sons and daughters of Turkish immigrants shape their identities? Do they feel one can be both Italian and Muslim? What is their relationship with their origins and what trajectories do they draw for their future? And, perhaps the most important question: how does being born to immigrant parents shape one's sense of home and belonging?