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Paper short abstract:

Based on the first-person narratives collected by Gedik and Birkalan-Gedik with the first generation Turkish guest-workers, we focus on migration, masculinity, and fatherhood, and analyze the subjective accounts of “being” and “dwelling” as men and as fathers in the time of neo-liberalization.

Paper long abstract:

This paper relies on the first-person narratives collected by Gedik and Birkalan-Gedik from the first generation Turkish guest workers, as they "now" remember being a father "then." Focusing on the intersectionality of migration, masculinity, and fatherhood, we analyze accounts of "being" and "dwelling"—as men and as fathers in the time of neo-liberalization. In the "manly habitus" of the narrators, we aim to understand different and creative ways of inhabiting in neoliberal times, especially considering the men and manhood on the "making." We look at how fathers responded to work and family as place as well as issues of time and practices in these places. Yesterday's guest workers are today's aging narrators. How do they remember their ways of being a father, then? How did they dwell at home and at work—as men, as migrants, as workers, and as guests? For example, how father corporality affected their masculinity or vice versa? The first generation guest workers and their way of fatherhood should be analyzed in a greater context—that also includes aspects of displacement and as members of larger communities in Turkey and in Germany. We will share our findings on how first-generation Turkish fathers narrate their experiences in a place home away from home—now and here, and then and there.