Identificatieprocessen. Een onderzoek naar identificatieprocessen bij Turkse migranten in Nederland.

Abstract

In the Netherlands, there are 3,7 million immigrants. Turkish immigrants represent the largest group. The increase in the number of immigrants fuels the fear of deterioration of the national identity. Native Dutch people tend to stick to 'the' Dutch identity, and immigrants do not feel truly accepted. This leads to a decrease of mutual trust, and an increase in tensions between the ethnical groups. The integration-problem appears to be an identity-issue. Instead of searching for ‘the national identity’ one should look at identification processes. This research therefore attempted to refine the theory of identification processes among migrants. This research has been conducted among Dutch citizens with a Turkish migration history, and focused on differences between generations. The research question was: When do different generations of Turkish migrants in the Netherlands experience identification processes and how do they deal with this? The cultural and ethnic conception of the WRR are in line with this thesis. Furthermore, immigrants can have a hybrid identity and do not just feel connected to only one national identity. The environment (public or private) of an immigrant determines whether, and the extent to which, identification takes place. The WRR uses three categories to aid in analyzing the cause of identification processes among immigrants: functional, normative and emotional identification. By means of a survey, the following starting points - in the form of physical places and specific actions - have been discovered that induce identification processes: in the presence of the family, in the presence of friends, in the working environment, during cooking/eating and drinking, while hearing/reading about history, watching international competitions, hearing or watching news and speaking a specific language. The in-depth interviews show that the participants recognize these leads from the survey. Furthermore, the degree of dominance of the Turkish culture decreases throughout the generations, and that of the Dutch culture increases. The first generation is very attached to Turkish standards and values: isolation and a mild form of integration take place. The second generation experiences a lot of struggles and inner conflicts since they are trying to unite with competing identities. The third generation primarily embraces the Dutch culture, and is no longer physically recognized as Turkish by others. They are fully integrated and marginalization takes place. None of the participants identifies with only one single culture: they all experience a form of hybrid identity.