THE CONSEQUENCES OF INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION FOR THE STATUS OF WOMEN -A TURKISH STUDY

As part of a larger inquiry into the consequences of international mig ration for those who remain in the country of origin, 234 adults in fo ur Turkish provinces were interviewed concerning matters (mostly opini ons) pertaining to the status of women. Three migrant-status categorie s were defined; (a) Returned migrants, (b) Non-migrant close kin or fr iends of migrants, and, as a control group, (c) All others. Controllin g for age, sex, urban-rural residence, and schooling, group (a) was th e most likely to express ''non-traditional'' views, and group (c) the least. Group (b) was in between. Of the two possible explanations for such a pattern - recruitment and socialization - we found recruitment highly significant. The evidence for socialization, however, was decid edly mixed. Some of the considerable diversity of viewpoints pertainin g to the status of women found in this inquiry are doubtless causally associated with the experience of migration, whether direct or indirec t. But there is also evidence here of a society in the process of rapi d change; and it is these more general social changes, not migration a s such, that would appear to be more likely to affect the status of wo men. There is little support for the contention that the type of inter national migration that has involved so many Turks these past three de cades - migration that has for the most part been temporary and econom ically motivated and has consisted of movement from relatively poor ag ricultural or but slightly industrialized areas to rich, highly indust rialized ones characterized by marked differences in language, religio n, and overall culture - is going to result in moving the status of wo men from a more to a less ''traditional'' plane.