Second generation’s family-driven ‘return’ migration and educational (dis-)integrations in the ancestral homeland

In this webinar, Dr Nilay Kılınç draws on her decade-long research on second-generation Turkish-Germans who have ‘returned’ to their ancestral homeland, Turkey. She specifically focuses on what happens when the second generation are required to ‘return’ as a result of their parents’ decision and find themselves in education systems and school environments with which they are unfamiliar. The webinar explores the interplay between return migration, educational integration and the second generation’s transnationalism, and uncovers the paradoxes that accompany relocation to the ancestral homeland. These include questions such as: to what extent is it ‘return’ when these individuals were not born and raised in the ancestral homeland? Can we speak of re-integration, or is it integration into educational systems, given that the second generation have no prior experience of the ancestral homeland’s structures? Are transnational ties and activities counterproductive to educational integration, or do they, in fact, help the second generation carve out their own niche for social upward mobility? Ultimately, the webinar aims to offer a critical discussion on the phenomena on second generation’s ‘return’ migration and how this relocation acts as a disruption, catalyser and enabler for second generation’s educational and later career paths.