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Thinking Migration and Nationhood in the Realm of Sports: Migrant Track and Field Athletes in Turkey During the 2016 Event Cycle

Year 2023, Issue: Özel Sayı, 74 - 89, 10.08.2023

Abstract

This article aims to discuss the link between sports and migration in the context of how migrant athletes are perceived in terms of bringing about a reimagining of ethnicity and nationhood. Sporting migration is increasingly discussed within the framework of the debates concerning the economic premises of the understanding of postCold War migration and human mobilities in general. These include both the discussions revolving around the so-called “pull factors” of migration and the deriving of gains obtained through sporting success. In this article, the author aims to contribute to the opening of a discussion on the economic, as well as political and cultural consequences of sporting migration. In order to do that, a focus on the public debates, particularly in the related media output, revolving around the migrant athletes who competed for Turkey at the track and field events of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio and the 2016 European Athletics Championships. Through this, the author also discusses how the nationhood in Turkey is brought into question within the context of migrant athletes competing and obtaining honours for Turkey.

References

  • Ahmed, S. (2000). Strange Encounters: Embodied Others in Post-Coloniality. London: Routledge. Akın, Y. (2004). “Gürbüz ve Yavuz Evlatlar” Erken Cumhuriyet’te Beden Terbiyesi ve Spor. İstanbul: İletişim.
  • Allison, L., & Monnington, T. (2002). Sport, Prestige and International Relations. Government and Opposition, 37(1), 106–134. https://doi.org/10.1111/1477-7053.00089
  • Anderson, B. (1983). Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso. Bairner, A. (2001). Sport, Nationalism and Globalization. New York: State University of New York Press.
  • Bakhtin, M. (1984). Problems of Dostoevsky’s Poetics (C. Emerson, Trans.). Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press.
  • Binder, J. J., & Findlay, M. (2012). The Effects of the Bosman Ruling on National and Club Teams in Europe. Journal of Sports Economics, 13(2), 107–129. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527002511400278
  • de Haas, H., Castles, S., & Miller, M. J. (2020). The Age of Migration: International Population Movements in the Modern World (6th ed.). London: Red Globe Press.
  • Geertz, C. (1973). The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays. Basic Books.
  • Gellner, E. (1983). Nations and Nationalism. Oxford: Blackwell.
  • Güney, Ü. (2022). Syrian Refugees between Turkish Nationalism and Citizenship. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 20(4), 519–532. https://doi.org/10.1080/15562948.2021.1950256
  • Hage, G. (1998). White Nation: Fantasies of White Supremacy in a Multicultural Society. London: Pluto Press and Routledge.
  • Hobsbawm, E. (1983). Mass-Producing Traditions: Europe, 1870-1914. In E. Hobsbawm & T. Ranger (Eds.), The Invention of Tradition (pp. 263–307). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Irak, D. (2020). Mediatisation and Hyper-commodification of Sport in Post-1980 Turkey. In Y. Kaptan & E. Algan (Eds.), Television in Turkey: Local Production, Transnational Expansion and Political Aspirations (pp. 173– 188). London and New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Kaftan, G. (2022). Flexible Nation: The Turkish Nation under the Justice and Development Party’s Rule. Nationalities Papers, 50(6), 1232–1244. https://doi.org/10.1017/nps.2021.40
  • Kellas, J. G. (1991). The Politics of Nationalism and Ethnicity. London and New York: Macmillan.
  • Lehner, R. (2019). The EU-Turkey-’deal’: Legal Challenges and Pitfalls. International Migration, 57(2), 176–185. https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12462
  • Maguire, J., & Falcous, M. (2010). Borders, boundaries and crossings: Sport, migration and identities. In Sport and Migration: Borders, boundaries and crossings (pp. 1–12). London: Routledge.
  • Marks, J. (1999). The French National Team and National Identity: ‘Cette France d’un bleu métis’. In H. Dauncey & G. Hare (Eds.), France and the 1998 World Cup: The National Impact of a World Sporting Event (pp. 41–57). London: Routledge.
  • Reiche, D., & Tınaz, C. (2018). Policies for naturalisation of foreign-born athletes: Qatar and Turkey in comparison. International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, 11(1), 153–171.
  • Saraçoğlu, C., & Bélanger, D. (2019). Loss and xenophobia in the city: Contextualizing anti-Syrian sentiments in Izmir, Turkey. Patterns of Prejudice, 53(4), 363–383. https://doi.org/10.1080/0031322X.2019.1615779
  • Shachar, A. (2011). Picking Winners: Olympic Citizenship and the Global Race for Talent. The Yale Law Journal, 120(8), 2088–2139.
  • Şimşek, D. (2021). “Winners and losers of neoliberalism”: The intersection of class and race in the case of Syrian refugees in Turkey. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 44(15), 2816–2835. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2020 .1854812
  • Smith, A. D. (1991). National Identity. London: Penguin Books.
  • Turcott, R., & Ariyo, E. S. (2022). Disrupting the global refugee crisis or celebrity humanitarianism? Media frames of the refugee olympic team at 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo summer games. Sport in Society, 25(3), 671–686. https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2022.2017828
  • Wallman, S. (1986). Ethnicity and boundary pro-cesses. In J. Rex & D. Mason (Eds.), Theories of Race and Ethnic Relations (pp. 226–245). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Year 2023, Issue: Özel Sayı, 74 - 89, 10.08.2023

Abstract

References

  • Ahmed, S. (2000). Strange Encounters: Embodied Others in Post-Coloniality. London: Routledge. Akın, Y. (2004). “Gürbüz ve Yavuz Evlatlar” Erken Cumhuriyet’te Beden Terbiyesi ve Spor. İstanbul: İletişim.
  • Allison, L., & Monnington, T. (2002). Sport, Prestige and International Relations. Government and Opposition, 37(1), 106–134. https://doi.org/10.1111/1477-7053.00089
  • Anderson, B. (1983). Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso. Bairner, A. (2001). Sport, Nationalism and Globalization. New York: State University of New York Press.
  • Bakhtin, M. (1984). Problems of Dostoevsky’s Poetics (C. Emerson, Trans.). Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press.
  • Binder, J. J., & Findlay, M. (2012). The Effects of the Bosman Ruling on National and Club Teams in Europe. Journal of Sports Economics, 13(2), 107–129. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527002511400278
  • de Haas, H., Castles, S., & Miller, M. J. (2020). The Age of Migration: International Population Movements in the Modern World (6th ed.). London: Red Globe Press.
  • Geertz, C. (1973). The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays. Basic Books.
  • Gellner, E. (1983). Nations and Nationalism. Oxford: Blackwell.
  • Güney, Ü. (2022). Syrian Refugees between Turkish Nationalism and Citizenship. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 20(4), 519–532. https://doi.org/10.1080/15562948.2021.1950256
  • Hage, G. (1998). White Nation: Fantasies of White Supremacy in a Multicultural Society. London: Pluto Press and Routledge.
  • Hobsbawm, E. (1983). Mass-Producing Traditions: Europe, 1870-1914. In E. Hobsbawm & T. Ranger (Eds.), The Invention of Tradition (pp. 263–307). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Irak, D. (2020). Mediatisation and Hyper-commodification of Sport in Post-1980 Turkey. In Y. Kaptan & E. Algan (Eds.), Television in Turkey: Local Production, Transnational Expansion and Political Aspirations (pp. 173– 188). London and New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Kaftan, G. (2022). Flexible Nation: The Turkish Nation under the Justice and Development Party’s Rule. Nationalities Papers, 50(6), 1232–1244. https://doi.org/10.1017/nps.2021.40
  • Kellas, J. G. (1991). The Politics of Nationalism and Ethnicity. London and New York: Macmillan.
  • Lehner, R. (2019). The EU-Turkey-’deal’: Legal Challenges and Pitfalls. International Migration, 57(2), 176–185. https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12462
  • Maguire, J., & Falcous, M. (2010). Borders, boundaries and crossings: Sport, migration and identities. In Sport and Migration: Borders, boundaries and crossings (pp. 1–12). London: Routledge.
  • Marks, J. (1999). The French National Team and National Identity: ‘Cette France d’un bleu métis’. In H. Dauncey & G. Hare (Eds.), France and the 1998 World Cup: The National Impact of a World Sporting Event (pp. 41–57). London: Routledge.
  • Reiche, D., & Tınaz, C. (2018). Policies for naturalisation of foreign-born athletes: Qatar and Turkey in comparison. International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, 11(1), 153–171.
  • Saraçoğlu, C., & Bélanger, D. (2019). Loss and xenophobia in the city: Contextualizing anti-Syrian sentiments in Izmir, Turkey. Patterns of Prejudice, 53(4), 363–383. https://doi.org/10.1080/0031322X.2019.1615779
  • Shachar, A. (2011). Picking Winners: Olympic Citizenship and the Global Race for Talent. The Yale Law Journal, 120(8), 2088–2139.
  • Şimşek, D. (2021). “Winners and losers of neoliberalism”: The intersection of class and race in the case of Syrian refugees in Turkey. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 44(15), 2816–2835. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2020 .1854812
  • Smith, A. D. (1991). National Identity. London: Penguin Books.
  • Turcott, R., & Ariyo, E. S. (2022). Disrupting the global refugee crisis or celebrity humanitarianism? Media frames of the refugee olympic team at 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo summer games. Sport in Society, 25(3), 671–686. https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2022.2017828
  • Wallman, S. (1986). Ethnicity and boundary pro-cesses. In J. Rex & D. Mason (Eds.), Theories of Race and Ethnic Relations (pp. 226–245). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
There are 24 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language Turkish
Subjects Migration Sociology
Journal Section İnceleme Makalesi
Authors

Yavuz Yavuz 0000-0002-7298-7604

Publication Date August 10, 2023
Published in Issue Year 2023 Issue: Özel Sayı

Cite

APA Yavuz, Y. (2023). Thinking Migration and Nationhood in the Realm of Sports: Migrant Track and Field Athletes in Turkey During the 2016 Event Cycle. İnsan Hareketliliği Uluslararası Dergisi(Özel Sayı), 74-89.