MenBelong Project

MenBelong Project: A New Perspective in Migration Studies Focusing on Single Men

Associate Professor Dr. Susan Beth Rottmann, faculty member in the Department of Anthropology at Özyeğin University, and postdoctoral researcher Dr. Dilek Üstünalan are leading the Turkey component of the international MenBelong project, which examines the belonging processes of single migrant men, one of the largest yet least studied groups in global migration movements.

Supported by the European Research Council (ERC) under an Advanced Grant and launched on February 1, 2026, the project, “MENBELONG -- Belonging for Single Migrant Men: A Cross-Country Comparative Perspective,” is being carried out in partnership with Özyeğin University and under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Gökçe Yurdakul from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. The project is being conducted simultaneously in five countries and aims to offer a new perspective in migration studies.

The research goes beyond classic integration approaches centered on legal status or employment and examines the distinctive forms of belonging developed by single migrant men despite challenges such as social stigma, hypersexualization, and criminalization.

The project will comparatively analyze focus groups in five countries: Syrians in Turkey, Mexicans in Canada, Turks in Germany, Burmese in Thailand, and Venezuelans in Chile.

This interdisciplinary study will combine archival research, experimental surveys, in-depth interviews, and photovoice methods, and is expected to make important theoretical contributions to anthropology, sociology, and gender studies.

The MenBelong ERC Advanced Grant kick-off meeting, attended by the full research team, was held at Humboldt University in Berlin from March 16–18, 2026.

For more information about the project, visit menbelong.net.