From Return-Oriented to Integration-Related Transnationalisation: Turkish Migrants in Germany

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between transnational and integration-related practices of Turkish migrants in Germany on the basis of empirical data from the TRANS-NET project. The authors discuss well-known existing concepts of migrant incorporation (assimilation, multiculturalism, transnationalisation) and their relationships, and use their own research results to argue for a combination of these approaches. The analysis of qualitative interviews reveals a remarkable shift from return-oriented to integration-related transnationalisation among Turkish migrants in Germany, a shift that is apparently connected to different political and institutional opportunity structures.