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Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the work lives of Moroccan nationals who are employed by multinational corporations in Istanbul, Turkey. Based on fieldwork in the Turkish megacity, the ethnographic investigation aims to better understand current transformations of work life in the age of corporate capitalism.

Paper long abstract:

This paper addresses the work lives and livelihoods of Moroccan middle-class professionals who arrived in Istanbul in recent years. Since the free trade agreement between Turkey and Morocco in 2006, increasing numbers of Moroccan nationals have settled in the Turkish megacity. Relocating to interstices in the polycentric agglomeration, Moroccan middle-class residents of Istanbul bore testimony to the rise of multi-national corporations in the megacity connecting Asian and European markets. The main purpose of this paper is to more comprehensively understand the ways corporate capitalism changes contemporary work environments. Based on long-term fieldwork combining in-depth interviews with participant observation, the case of Moroccan residents of Istanbul provides much-needed insights into the social dynamics inherent in the development of projectised labour. The case study critically examines the working conditions and transnational networks of Moroccan nationals who were recently employed by multinational corporations. The anthropological analysis of the livelihoods of Moroccan residents of Istanbul is set in the context of their professional trajectories and personal strategies for making a living in the new urban environment. Moroccan nationals reported that they were often employed by multi-national corporations because of their language skill sets, including proficiency in Arabic, French and English. Many multinational corporations created digital work environments, in which employees experienced a loss of a clear-cut boundary between private and professional life. Grounded in the ethnographic evidence collected in Istanbul, the paper suggests avenues for exploring post-industrial work environments and lifeworlds.