SANİYE DEDEOĞLU, Syrian Refugees and Agriculture in Turkey: Work, Precarity, Survival (London: I. B. Tauris, 2022). Pp. 165. $120.00 cloth, $39.95 paper. ISBN 9780755634491.

REVIEWED BY DENİZ PELEK, Assistant Professor, Izmir Democracy University, email: deniz.pelek@idu.edu.tr

Dedeoğlu’s book is an important study for understanding the evolving dynamics of the labor market and gender relations in rural areas following the involvement of Syrian refugees as seasonal migrant workers. She argues that global agricultural production relies on various forms of labor with intersecting vulnerabilities and labor control practices that lead to bonded labor. This book addresses the question: “Under what conditions does precarization occur for workers in Turkey’s agricultural labor? and how does women’s and children’s labor play a central role in the precarization of Syrians in a work regime that continuously seeks paths to bond labor” (1).

The main argument states that “the influx of Syrian refugees has led to the further precarization of agricultural labor in Turkey since Syrian agricultural worker families practice family-based work arrangements in which fathers/husbands wield patriarchal control more aggressively over women and children who disproportionately work in seasonal harvesting cycles” (5–6). Thus, productive work in agricultural fields and reproductive work of women are interlinked and contribute to the subsidization of capital and ultra-exploitation of migrant labor.

This study is based on fieldwork that lasted four years and took place in different rural areas in Turkey between 2015 and 2019. Methodologically, Dedeoğlu combines quantitative (statistics) and qualitative (interviews) methods with fieldwork photographs to enable readers to visualize the lives of Syrian refugees in Turkey. This book is structured around six chapters.

Following the introduction that frames objectives, research questions, arguments, methodology, and the plan of the book, chapter 2 discusses the theoretical concept of precarization by focusing on the intricate relationship between production and social reproduction. Dedeoğlu uses the term “feminization of precarity” and explains the increasing need for women in the agricultural workforce, care-related duties, and housework. Women and children are an in-demand because their wages are usually cheaper, and this enforces the ability of refugee families to compete in the market. This chapter provides substantial theoretical tools to understand how gender and refugee labor interplay in the case of seasonal agricultural workers.

Chapter 3 provides an overview of how the new migrant influxes have shaped seasonal agricultural labor and the precarization of immigrant workers in Turkey. This chapter introduces traditional forms of labor practices and changing labor structure with new migrant flows from Georgia and Azerbaijan as well as from Syria and Afghanistan. Chapter four focuses on Syrian refugees and outlines their temporary protection status and work permits, demographic characteristics, and integration into the agricultural labor market. In particular, Dedeoğlu underscores how the refugees’ harsh working conditions and low wages position them as the lowest rank in the seasonal agricultural workers’ hierarchy.

Chapter 5 and 6 delve into the book’s argument, discussing the main assumptions outlined in the introduction. Dedeoğlu applies “intersecting vulnerabilities,” a term based on feminist theory, to analyze women’s roles in production and social reproduction and their contributions to the household as low-cost workers in the competition for jobs. According to the author, Turkish employers prefer to hire women and young girls because they are seen as hard-working and easily controllable, making them “ideal” workers. Indeed, once the work is completed, male labor intermediaries, after cutting their commission, give the total payment to the male head of the household, ensuring that women and children have no control over their earned wages. And women’s work does not end with their agricultural labor; work continues in tents where workers reside, as women cook, clean, care for children, and complete other domestic tasks.

Chapter 6 considers the recruitment, remuneration, and retention (3Rs) to bond labor to seasonal agricultural work. Here, the role of labor intermediaries is crucial. They initiate work relations by establishing contact with employers and workers, making them key players in recruitment. The labor intermediaries provide transportation to workers and assist them with accessing healthcare services and overcoming language barriers, as they can communicate with both employers and Syrian refugees (109). However, these roles render Syrian refugees dependent on labor intermediaries. Workers are isolated in tent camps and thereby restricted from accessing alternative job opportunities and city centers during the retention process. In the remuneration phase, labor intermediaries exert control over workers in return for salaries, whether in day wages or piece rates. Subsequently, labor intermediaries, after deducting their commission, deliver the money to the head of the household or issue wage cards as proof of their working days for the final payment. Instances of delayed payments, wage withholdings, and non-payment after work are frequently reported. In the context of Turkey’s seasonal agricultural work, Dedeoğlu argues that the 3Rs constitute a new labor regime that can be characterized by control over workers through recruitment, retention, and remuneration. This conceptualization of bonded labor provides a new perspective for understanding the liminality and overlaps between free and unfree labor. Moreover, this argument can be developed in further studies since Syrian refugees are not necessarily bonded with debt or other types of extra-economic coercion, such as prison or enslaved labor (as described in the literature).

Overall, this book contributes significantly to the literature on migration as well as female and child labor. Scholars from gender studies, agrarian studies, migration, and labor studies can benefit greatly from this extensive research.