Remaking Home in the Face of Racism: Young Migrants Everyday Experiences in London and Istanbul

This paper aims to answer the question of how young migrants make a home in a postcolonial city like London and a ‘superdiverse’ city like Istanbul. Both London and Istanbul are cities of migration. An established research area on conviviality and diversity is western-oriented, but many diverse cities in non-Western parts of the world have not been included in the literature. Migrant receiving cities in the Global South have become ‘superdiverse’ and how can we understand conviviality in these- non-Western- superdiverse cities is crucial. By comparing the potentials of conviviality in the case of London and Istanbul, this research will contribute to the literature on diversity and multiculturalism in exploring how we can live together with and in difference. Moving beyond the methodological nationalism and the ethnic lens, I focus on the everyday experiences of young migrants in London and Istanbul. I develop the theorisation of multi-ethnic solidarity using the term conviviality and show how positive forms of social solidarity are maintained through building cultures of coexistence in the face of racism among young migrants in London and Istanbul. Drawing on in-depth interviews with young migrants in London and Istanbul, I explore how young migrants develop emancipatory practices despite the racism and discrimination they experience, and how they establish a culture of conviviality that is of central importance for living together in society. I argue that everyday conviviality in multicultural neighbourhoods of London and Istanbul has been strongly developed among young migrants who are working-class even in the face of exclusion and racism.