Syrians’ experiences of waiting and temporality in Turkey: Gendered reconceptualisations of time, space and refugee identity

Abstract

In recent years, the number of refugees has increased considerably throughout the world, and the difficulties they experience have become more visible in political and social science research. Refugees wait for uncertain amounts of time to cross borders, to obtain legal status and papers, and to establish their lives in a new country, where they try to find suitable housing and jobs, and to benefit from health care and educational services. This article explores how Syrian refugees in Turkey reconceptualise time and place when they narrate these periods of waiting as a way of managing its disadvantageous aspects. It argues that they acquire agency through creating narratives of waiting in their own terms, which also help them to redefine their refugee identities, subjectivities and senses of belonging. It suggests that Syrians in Turkey attribute new gendered and embodied meanings to temporality and spatiality in order to cope with their past traumas and the disempowering effects of waiting. Through their narratives, they aim to gain a sense of control over time in cognitive and emotional terms, maintaining their hope to establish new lives despite structural inadequacies and discrimination.