Cosmopolitanism and the relevance of ‘zombie concepts’: the case of anomic suicide amongst Alevi Kurd youth

Cetin, U. 2017. Cosmopolitanism and the relevance of ‘zombie concepts’: the case of anomic suicide amongst Alevi Kurd youth. British Journal of Sociology. 68 (2), pp. 145-166. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.12234

TitleCosmopolitanism and the relevance of ‘zombie concepts’: the case of anomic suicide amongst Alevi Kurd youth
TypeJournal article
AuthorsCetin, U.
Abstract

Against Beck’s claims that conventional sociological concepts and categories are zombie categories, this paper argues that Durkheim’s theoretical framework in which suicide is a symptom of an anomic state of society can help us understand the diversity of trajectories that transnational migrants follow and that shape their suicide rates within a cosmopolitan society. Drawing on ethnographic data collected on eight suicides and three attempted suicide cases of second-generation male Alevi Kurdish migrants living in London, this article explains the impact of segmented assimilation/adaptation trajectories on the incidence of suicide and how their membership of a ‘new rainbow underclass’, as a manifestation of cosmopolitan society, is itself an anomic social position with a lack of integration and regulation.

Keywordscosmopolitanism, zombie concepts, anomic suicide, transnational migration, Alevi Kurds, rainbow underclass
JournalBritish Journal of Sociology
Journal citation68 (2), pp. 145-166
ISSN0007-1315
Year2017
PublisherWiley
Accepted author manuscript
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.12234
Publication dates
Published online25 Nov 2016
Published25 Nov 2016
Published in print2017

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