Politik Olmak Ya Da Olmamak: Beyrut’taki Genç, Eğitimli Suriyelilerin Aktif Genç Vatandaşlığı Üzerinden Uluslararası Gelişme Söylemini Sorgulayan Bir İnceleme

Yıl 2017, Cilt: 5 Sayı: 13, 59 - 76, 01.01.2017

Marieke Schöning

Öz

Uluslararası gelişme sektörü toplumun ilerlemesi için dünya üzerindeki aktif genç vatandaşlara güvenmektedir. Ana akım gelişme söylemi, böylece yüksek eğitimli gençler arasında bireysel bir zorunluluk olarak aktif genç vatandaşlığın olumlayıcı bir görünümünü aktarmaya eğilim gösterir. Ancak yer değiştirme durumlarında vatandaşlık alanları tartışmaya açık hale gelir. Bu makale Beyrut’taki genç, eğitimli Suriyelilerin nasıl ve neden Lübnan’daki mültecilere yardım sektörüne katılımlarını inceler. Uluslararası gelişme söylemine olan bu katılımların öznel yorumlamalarını sıralayarak bu çalışma aktif genç vatandaşlığın temel etkinliklerine ışık tutar. Makale 2016 yılının başlarında Beyrut’ta toplanan niteliksel gözlemsel veriye dayanır. Araştırma bu katılımların aktif genç vatandaşlığın örnekleri olduğunu gösterir. Katılımcılar kendilerini hem Suriyeli hem de küresel vatandaşlar olarak konumlandırırlar ve katılımlarını Suriyeli hemşerilerine olduğu kadar evrensel insan hakları düşüncesine karşı da bir sivil adanmışlık olarak anlamaktadırlar. İlginçtir ki, bu katılımlar hala apolitik olarak çerçevelenmektedir çünkü yerel bağlamda ‘politik olmak’ hem istenmeyen hem de karşı çıkılan bir şey olarak değerlendirilmektedir. Bu politikadan uzaklaşma durumları uluslararası gelişme söyleminin ifade ettikleri ile ters düşmekte ve genç Suriyelilerin çabalarını tehlikeye sokmaktadır. Böylece çalışma, Suriye krizine getirilen bağımsız uluslararası müdahalelerin, genç, eğitimli Suriyelilerin meşru akış düzenleme rolünün uzlaşma ve kapsayıcı gelişme süreçlerini besleme potansiyelini göz ardı ettikleri sonucuna varmaktadır

Anahtar Kelimeler

Suriye, Zorla Yer Değiştirme, Genç Vatandaşlığı, Mülteci Vatandaşlığı, Kimlik

To Be or Not To Be Political: An Investigation of Active Youth Citizenship Among Young, Educated Syrians in Beirut to Question International Development Discourse

Öz

The international development sector confides in active young citizens around the globe to advance society. Mainstream development discourse therefore tends to transport an affirmative vision of active youth citizenship as individual obligation among highly educated youth. In the context of displacement, however, the realms of citizenship become contested. This article investigates how and why young, educated Syrians in Beirut engage in the refugee aid sector in Lebanon. By juxtaposing the subjective interpretations of their engagements with international development discourse, the study sheds light on substantive practices of active youth citizenship. The article draws on qualitative empirical data collected in Beirut in early 2016.The research reveals that the engagements constitute instances of active youth citizenship. The respondents positioned themselves both as Syrian and global citizens, and understood their engagements as civil commitment towards fellow Syrians as well as towards the idea of universal human rights. It was striking that the engagements were still framed as apolitical, because ‘being political’ was assessed as either undesirable or thwarted within the local context. The depoliticising circumstances contradict what international development discourse purports, and jeopardise the efforts of young Syrians. The article therefore concludes that the interdependent international interventions towards the Syrian crisis disregard the potential that the legitimate gatekeeping role of young, educated Syrians bears for processes of reconciliation and inclusive development

Anahtar Kelimeler

Syria, Forced Displacement, Youth Citizenship, Refugee Citizenship, Identity, Interna

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