ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the life histories of Afghans currently living in Turkey. In a longitudinal perspective, it focuses on the contexts before leaving their home, during their journey, and after having arrived in Turkey. The chapter offers an understanding and explanation of the subjective reconstruction of what forced migrants experienced before, during, and after their flight. It concentrates on the role of organized violence during these different stages. In this chapter, first, the concept of life course, especially of biographical narrations, and methods of data collection and analysis are explained (section “The approach and methods of life-course and biographical narrations” ). Then, a review of the current state of research on the topic (section “State of the art of research on Afghan refugees”), as well as short resumes of the narrated life histories of two Afghan forced migrants who lived in Turkey in 2020 (section “Short summaries of narrated life histories”), is presented. In a more analytical perspective, central aspects of organized violence that the interviewees narrated either in an open and extensive or in a more implicit way (section “Organized violence in life course narrations”) are addressed. Subsequently, section “The impact of organized violence on life courses” sheds light on the impact of these experiences on refugees’ trajectories and biographical perspectives. Finally, some conclusions for further research and policy implications are drawn.
