An ethnographic view on African football migrants in Istanbul

Abstract

Research on African migration to Turkey has so far neglected further inquiry into the presence of footballers from West African countries in İstanbul. Present approaches to football migration tend to victimize ‘stranded’ migrants and in migration research in general, various migration pathways are put into fixed categorizations, losing sight of their diversity. Based on ethnographic research with a group of African football players, I argue that there is a need to shift the view on African migrations in the context of international football. The different migration biographies and everyday experiences of football players in İstanbul presented in this article show a nuanced picture of migration phenomena within global football. Acknowledging the football players as actors in their own right and looking at their practices and rhetoric with regard to their ambitions in football is a necessary step toward overcome too narrow categorizations and allows a better understanding of their migrations.

Keywords

• African migration
• football
• İstanbul
• migration biographies
• ambitious football players

İstanbul’daki Afrikalı Futbol Göçmenleri Üzerine Etnografik Bir İnceleme

Abstract

Türkiye’deki Afrikalı göçmenler konusunda yapılan araştırmalar genellikle Batı Afrika’dan gelen futbolcuları inceleme konusu pek yapmamışlardır. Fubolcu olmak amacıyla yapılan göçlere genellikle başarısız olmuş göçler gözüyle bakılmakta ve göçmenler kurbanlaştırılmaktadır. Genel göç çalışmalarındaki eğilim de farklı göç yol ve yöntemlerini içindeki çeşitliliği görmeden standartlaştırma eğilimindedir. Bu çalışma kapsamında, Türkiye'deki etnografik araştırmalarıma dayanarak, futbolcu olma saikiyle göç eden Afrikalılara dair bu yaklaşımın değiştirilmesi gerektiğini öne sürmekteyim. Yaptığım görüşmeler sonucu edinilen hikaylerden anlaşılmakta ki göçmenlerin günlük hayatına dair pratiklerdeki farklılıklar, futbolcu olma saikiyle yapılan göçlerin tüm göç kategorileri içinde yeniden yorumlanması ihtiyacını doğurmaktadır.

Keywords

• Afrika göçü
• futbol
• İstanbul
• göç biyografileri
• hırslı futbolcular

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