2,000 Families: identifying the research potential of an origins-of-migration study

Despite recent advances, critical areas in the analysis of European migration remain underdeveloped. We have only a limited understanding of the consequences of migration for migrants and their descendants, relative to staying behind; and our insights of intergenerational transmission is limited to two generations of those living in the destination countries. These limitations stem from a paucity of studies that incorporate comparison with non-migrants – and return migrants – in countries of origin and which trace processes of intergenerational transmission over multiple generations. This paper outlines the theoretical and methodological discussions in the field, design and data of the 2,000 Families study. The study comprises almost 50,000 members of migrant and non-migrant Turkish families across three family generations, living in Turkey and eight European countries. We provide indicative findings from the study, framed within a theoretical perspective of “dissimilation” from origins, and reflect on its potential for future migration research

Are Movers More Religious than Stayers? Religiosity of European Majority, Turks in Europe and Turkey

Turks, most of them Islamic, are establishing themselves in European countries. Studies mostly compare migrant religiosity to other migrants and to majority population in the destination societies. We add those left behind in origin country to this comparison. Using the unique possibility offered by the European Social Surveys, this study compares subjective, individual, and communal religiosity of first and second generation-Turkish origin Europeans with non-migrants in Turkey and European natives in the destination societies. Results show that the mechanisms of religiosity differ for migrants and second generation. Religion fuels the creation of ethno-religious space in the new social environment and intensifies subjective and communal manifestation of piety. However, it is also subject to the secularizing impact of the receiving society in individual religious practise. Second-generation Europeans pray less in their personal sphere but consider themselves more religious than and attend religious meetings as often as non-migrants in Turkey. European natives score much lower on all three dimensions of religiosity than first and second-generation Turkish origin Europeans