Elazığ’da Yaşayan Çingenelerin Değişen/ Dönüşen Meslekleri Üzerine Nitel Bir Araştırma
Muhammet Fırat, Reşat AçıkgözBu çalışmada, Çingeneler değişen/dönüşen meslekleri bağlamında ele alınmakta; bu mesleki dönüşümün Çingeneler açısından ne tür sonuçlara yol açtığı ve onları kentsel ortamlarda hangi mesleki süreçlere sürüklediği irdelenmektedir. Endüstriyel kapitalist toplumlarda teknolojik gelişmelerle birlikte değişen/dönüşen çalışma ilişkileri, Çingeneleri sadece etniklik açısından dışlamakla kalmayıp aynı zamanda onları mesleki açıdan çoğunlukla tercih edilmeyen güvencesiz/düzensiz/riskli işlerde çalışmaya da zorlamaktadır. Çalışmada nitel araştırma yöntemlerinden derinlemesine görüşme tekniği kullanılmıştır. Araştırma, değişen çalışma koşullarının Çingeneleri ekonomi, kültür, kimlik, toplumsal statü ve yaşam biçimi gibi süreçlerde nasıl etkilediğini sorgulamak amacıyla, Elazığ şehir merkezinde Çingenelerin yoğun olarak yaşadığı 4 mahallede, gençyetişkin 20 görüşmeciyle Kasım-Aralık 2018 ve Ocak 2019 tarihleri arasında gerçekleştirilmiştir. Araştırmanın bulgularına göre, değişen/ dönüşen çalışma koşullarıyla birlikte yeni gelişmelere ayak uyduramayan Çingeneler, kültürel ve ekonomik açıdan daha zorlu süreçlere girmişlerdir. Çingene kimliğini yansıtan mesleklerinin (elekçilik-kalaycılık vs.) azalması/ yok olması, Çingeneleri genellikle Çingene olmayanların hoşlanmadığı ya da yapmak istemedikleri marjinal, geçici ve kayıt dışı sektörlerde çalışmaya zorlamaktadır. Ayrıca, toplumsal statülerini ve kimliklerini olumlayan mesleklerinin kayboluşu, Çingene kelimesinin pejoratifliğini daha görünür kılmakta; hurdacılık, dilencilik, hamallık gibi marjinal işlerin de Çingenelerle özdeşleşmesine yol açmaktadır. Sonuçta Çingeneler, geleneksel mesleklerinin kaybolduğu bir dünyada kentsel çalışma koşullarının onlara dayattığı, kendi tercihleri olmayan işleri yaparak geçinmeye ve hayata tutunmaya çalışmaktadırlar.
A Qualitative Research on the Changing/Transforming Professions of Gypsies Living in Elazığ
Muhammet Fırat, Reşat AçıkgözIn this study, Gypsies are discussed in the context of changing/transforming professions and the results of this professional transformation for Gypsies and their professional processes in urban environments are examined. The changing/transforming labour relations in industrial capitalist societies with technological developments not only exclude Gypsies in terms of ethnicity, but also compel them to work in precarious/ irregular/risky jobs, which are often not preferred professionally. The in-depth interview technique, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the study. The study was conducted between November-December 2018 and January 2019 with 20 young-adult interviewers in order to probe how changing working conditions affect Gypsies in such processes as economy, culture, identity, social status and way of life in 4 neighbourhoods in Elazig city centre where Gypsies are densely populated. The results show that Gypsies have started to experience more challenging processes both culturally and economically as a result of being unable to keep up with the new developments with their changing/transforming working life. The decrease/disappearance of the professions reflecting their Gypsy identity (metalworking, siever, etc.) leads them to work in marginal temporary and informal sectors, which are often disliked, or which are not willing to be done by non-Gypsies. Furthermore, the disappearance of their profession, which affirms their social status and identity, makes the pejorative connotation of the word Gypsy more visible, causing marginal jobs such as begging, porters, etc. to be identified with Gypsies and such jobs to become more of a necessity than a preference for Gypsies. As a result, Gypsies, because of their traditional profession disappearance try to make a living and hold on to life by doing jobs which are not their own choices but which urban working conditions impose on them.
Gypsies, who have historically continued to experience the biggest levels of prejudice, still face inequalities such as poverty, unemployment, discrimination, exclusion and absence of formal education in Turkey - as in many countries. The fact that Gypsies are primarily engaged in risky, dangerous, precarious and low-paid jobs, are laging in education, are left publicly accused, have shamed jobs in the fields of employment, and experience spatial stigmatization gives rise to the thought that they continue to have limited relationships with other areas of life in today’s societies. In this study, the transformation of occupations performed by Gypsies and the problems caused by this transformation are discussed. Gypsies, who started to live in cities with the disappearance of rural occupations in the past, are most likely engaged in informal employment, known as low status jobs. In this respect, the relationship between ethnic identity and insufficient access to job/employment opportunities and their concentration in precarious jobs is also examined.
The study is based on in-depth interviews conducted between November-December 2018 and January 2019 with 20 young-adult interviewers in order to probe how changing working conditions affect Gypsies in such processes as the economy, culture, identity, social status and way of life in 4 neighbourhoods in Elazig city centre where Gypsies are densely populated. Gypsies’ being unable to keep up with the new developments with their changing/transforming working life led to a push towards challenging processes culturally and economically. A host of occupations Gypsies have pursued (metalworking, sieve maker, etc.) have declined in number, causing them to work in marginal, temporary and informal sectors which non-Gypsies do not like or do not want to do. Furthermore, the disappearance of their profession, which affirms their social status and identity, makes the pejorative connotation of the word Gypsy more visible, causing marginal jobs such as begging, porters to be identified with Gypsies and such jobs to become more of a necessity than a preference for Gypsies.
It is expected that the results of the study will contribute to the works of public and non-profit organizations in the fields of social policy for employment problems of Gypsies with the changes in working life. In addition, considering the lack of publications of sociological approaches on issues related to the working life of Gypsies in Turkey, it is also thought that this study will make an important contribution to the literature related to other ethnic groups along with Gypsies.
The study specifically seeks answers to the following questions: What kind of problems did the change/transformation of Gypsies’ mostly rural occupations with technological developments lead to? What kind of problems did the loss of the profession of the sieve maker job, which mainly provided for the livelihood of Gypsies living in Elazığ in the past, bring about today? What are the problems Gypsies have in achieving regular and secure employment opportunities? What problems do unemployment and/or informal/marginal jobs cause in Gypsies, and how effective is ethnic identity in Gypsies’ informal lifestyles?
The disappearance of their jobs due to the influence of new production systems negatively affected Gypsies, not only economically but also culturally. These difficulties experienced by Gypsies, who are precarious and forced into job opportunities based on saving the day, cannot be considered separate from the technological transformations in the last three decades. Today, where regular and secure employment is gradually decreasing, the employment areas of Gypsies are replaced by precarious, irregular, risky/dangerous and manual labour jobs. Shepherding, metalworking, selling of wares, sieve maker, etc. The former occupations of Gypsies living in Elazığ like sieve maker, sheet metal worker are linked to their nomadic lives, while the marginal jobs they are engaged in today are occupations brought with a settled life. This also indicates that Gypsies are forced to change their profession fundamentally in parallel with the changing settlement structures. Therefore, the professional transformation that has emerged with the decline of Gypsy-style occupations has also negatively affected the socio-economic/cultural characteristics such as settlement forms, lifestyles, living strategies. The exclusion of Gypsies working in precarious jobs such as shoemaking, shepherding, porters, and their low prestigious jobs shares the perception of Gypsy identity in society.
Prejudices against their ethnic identities are an important factor in explaining the disadvantaged position of Gypsies in economic activities. These prejudices not only affect their employment in formal business areas, but also cause them to encounter a number of problems in activities in mid-level informal business areas (e.g. trades). It is widely accepted that ethnic groups or ethnic minorities have significant barriers to accessing the labour market (see Standing, 2014, s. 150; Fraser, 2005; Hancock, 2002). Working on the reasons for the widespread tendency of ethnic groups towards marginal jobs, Wilson found that these groups work extensively in informal labor markets due to their different personal qualities, structural characteristics not similar to existing labor market habits, and the discrimination they face while employed (2003, s. 429).
The results of this study carried out in Elazığ province are not intended to generalize all Gypsies. However, it can be said that the work can be generalised towards Gypsies with similar characteristics, especially the Dom group Gypsies. The Gypsies interviewed stated that their relatives in Malatya, Diyarbakir, Mardin and Adiyaman had also practiced the profession of sieve maker in the past and that they were subjected to similar problems as a result of the disappearance of this profession today.