Identity and space: The case of Turkish Americans


Kaya I.

GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW, cilt.95, sa.3, ss.425-440, 2005 (SSCI) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 95 Sayı: 3
  • Basım Tarihi: 2005
  • Dergi Adı: GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.425-440
  • Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Hayır

Özet

Until recently, Muslim Americans have often been overlooked in studies on immigration, ethnicity, and race. Their loyalty to America and their integration into the larger culture have frequently been questioned by the media, and academia's interest has mostly been limited to establishing links between Muslims, fundamentalism, and terrorism. Muslim American experiences-their social, political, and cultural institutions and spaces in the United States-have drawn little attention from geographers. But stereotypes play an important role in intergroup relations and public-policy making. Thus, it is important to understand Muslim ethnic-group experiences of immigration and their place-making activities in the United States. Based on research in the greater New York metropolitan area, this study explores one facet of the Muslim experience in the United States by investigating Turkish American identity-construction spaces and their role in the preservation and reformation of Turkish American identity; that is, how these spaces emphasize and shape particular identities and discourage others.