Diaspora Erdoganism Among Turkish Post-Migrant Workers in Germany: A Case Study of Two Regional Events in the Metal Sector in 2018

Abstract

During the 2018 work council (Betriebsrat) elections, the possible impact of the rise of the extreme right on trade union movement attracted a great deal of attention in the media and in academic circles in Germany. Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) were not able to break through the long-lasting dominance of social democrats in work councils and unions. Reflecting on that I have focused on the growing hegemony of Erdoğan and his party among diaspora workers with reference to workplaces and union movements. I have chosen two significant case studies in 2018, each with its own dimensions and ramifications, to understand the issue. The first case was the Sevim Dağdelen- IG Metall-Salzgitter-Peine incident, and the other was the election of many migrant workers, including Turks, in Stuttgart Untertürkheim from the lists of AfD supporters’ association, called Zentrum Automobile (from now on Zentrum) in the Betriebsrat elections. Many non-German right-winger groups, diaspora Erdoganists mainly have met with Zentrum members due to the discomfort they feel about the recent refugee flow to Germany. It seems some German Turks’ support shifted from Social Democrats to extreme-right. Besides revealing itself as distancing from the ballot box and SPD at the electoral level, diaspora Erdoganism expresses itself within various decision making processes in workplaces and the union branches. One case in point is a mutual distancing that occurred between pro-Erdogan Turks and IGMetall secretariats, traditionally dominated by staff affiliated with the SPD. Like the case of Sevim Dağdelen, in many incidents, they also acted as a lobbying group for preventing critics to Erdogan and his regime.