Our Research Assistant İbrahim Emre Yanık Successfully Defended His Doctoral Thesis on Migration Studies

Our department's Research Assistant İbrahim Emre Yanık successfully defended his doctoral thesis at Syracuse University's Department of Sociology on April 2, 2025. Yanık prepared his thesis, titled “Stranded in Transit: Migrants’ Borderland Experiences En Route to Europe,” under the supervision of Edwin Ackerman. The jury members for his thesis defense included notable names such as Shannon Novak, Amy Lutz, and Lauren Woodard. The study critically examines the experiences of migrants stranded in transit areas due to tightening security policies at European borders.

Based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Istanbul, this research analyzes the resilience and survival strategies developed by migrants in response to the restrictions imposed by the European border regime. Focusing on how migrants cope with legal uncertainty, economic exclusion, and social isolation, the study emphasizes that migrants are not merely passive victims but also subjective actors with agency.

Yanık's thesis challenges traditional migration models by considering Istanbul as a space of transit and entrapment, offering significant contributions to the fields of migration, border, and critical urban studies. The thesis highlights the psychological impacts of prolonged uncertainty, critiques deterrence-based policies that harm migrants, and foregrounds the capacity for resistance and the struggle for dignity among migrants without normalizing the systematic violence these policies produce.

The research opens a discussion on alternative migration policy approaches that center on migrant mobility and human dignity while considering the consequences of border security policies. Positioning Istanbul as a microcosm of broader geopolitical dynamics, the study provides a unique contribution to understanding the contradictions and structural issues of contemporary migration management.

İbrahim Emre Yanık's doctoral work was supported by prestigious scholarships such as the Prof. Manfred Stanley Memorial Graduate Fellowship and the Goekjian/European Studies Research Fellowship.

As the Sociology Department of İbn Haldun University, we congratulate Dr. İbrahim Emre Yanık and wish him success in his future academic endeavors.