Migrants, Work and Social Integration Women's Labour in the Turkish Ethnic Economy Introduction

Abstract

Work, Migrants and Social Integration is an account of the interaction between gender, labour in the ethnic economy and the social integration of migrants into their host society. With particular reference to the Turkish community in Britain, it investigates the relationship between Turkish women’s work and their position in British society by focusing on how ethnically based employment affects their capacity to become socially integrated in the dominant society. The material presented here explores how women have been silent contributors to the expanding family-based establishment of the Turkish ethnic economy in Britain. It further shows how women’s work in the ethnic economy and their role in social ties and networks on which this economy depends preclude their social integration within the wider society. The agency of women in maintaining community networks and representing ethnic/national identity has been essential in the establishment and success of the Turkish community, which places more emphasis on women’s traditional gender roles as mothers and wives.