The Precarious Lives of Syrians

Reviews / Votes

"Turkey hosts the largest refugee community in the world today and the Syrian refugee issue has far-reaching implications across that country. This book, with its succinct overview of Syrian refugees in that country and its vivid description of the socio-economic conditions of refugees in cities and host communities, is a welcome and long overdue effort." Cenk Saracoglu, Ankara University and author of Kurds of Modern Turkey: Migration, Neoliberalism and Exclusion in Turkish Society

"This captivating book offers a poignant, scrupulous, and provocative analysis of what Baban, Ilcan and Rygiel call the "architecture of precarity" composed of three layers, namely, precarious status, precarious space, and precarious movement. It provides a sophisticated and nuanced analysis of the impact of this "architecture" on the lives of Syrian asylum seekers in Turkey, as well as the way these uprooted people confront exclusions." Studies in Social Justice "[The Precarious Lives of Syrians] is distinguished in its presentation of an understanding of precarity that is different from the one in reference to industrial or post-Fordist capitalism in the West. Whereas the definition of precarity is usually limited to employment conditions, this book aims to provide a larger definition and show aspects of precarity namely inherent to migration. It does so by taking a perspective from the case of Turkey as a country that is currently developing its migration system with the arrival of a very important number of refugees. It thus constitutes a rich resource for students and scholars who are interested in delving into the topic of forced migration within the fields of social sciences, especially in the case of Turkey." International Migration

"A vital read - not only for those with an interest in the plight of Syrian refugees, but also for all those concerned about the 'death of asylum' as a concept and practice, and the 'discursive disappearance of the refugee' or erosion of the idea that people who seek asylum may be refugees. While the authors certainly document a bleak situation for many Syrians in Turkey, they also provide glimpses of strength of Syrians who continue to build their lives in the face of challenges, in solidarity with each other as well as with Turkish citizens." Journal of Refugee Studies