{"product_id":"white-collar-blues-the-making-of-the-transnational-turkish-middle-class-9780231213615","title":"White-Collar Blues: The Making of the Transnational Turkish Middle Class","description":"\u003cp\u003eConsider the lucky few. They studied hard and aced high-stakes tests, survived demanding schooling and extracurriculars, graduated from top colleges and immediately landed high-pay, high-status corporate positions in tall buildings. What happens after this middle-class dream of fast-track careers comes true? \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eWhite-Collar Blues\u003c\/i\u003e follows the Turkish members of the global elite workforce as they are selected into, survive within, and opt out of coveted employment at transnational corporations. State-employed doctors, lawyers, and engineers were long seen as role models until Turkey followed the global tide of neoliberalism and began to embrace freer circulation of capital. As world-renowned corporations transformed Istanbul into a global city, Turkey's best and brightest have increasingly sought employment at brand-name firms. Despite achieving upward mobility within and beyond Turkey, however, many Turkish professionals end up feeling disappointed, burned out, and trapped in their corporate careers. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDrawing from more than one hundred interviews in Istanbul and New York City, Mustafa Yavaş develops a theory of middle-class alienation, explaining how so-called \"good jobs\" fail elite workers. Yavaş shows how educational investments in an increasingly competitive landscape lead to high hopes, which then clash with poor work-life balance, low intrinsic satisfaction, and a felt lack of meaning from labor in corporate workplaces. Highlighting the trade-off between freedom and financial security, \u003ci\u003eWhite-Collar Blues\u003c\/i\u003e reveals the hidden costs of conflating the quest for socioeconomic status with the pursuit of happiness.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMustafa Yavaş is a postdoctoral fellow in the Center for Economy and Society at SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Columbia University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51415161569554,"sku":"9780231213615","price":38.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_571b5072-6533-4714-9208-c1e123fce4dc.jpg?v=1751129605","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/white-collar-blues-the-making-of-the-transnational-turkish-middle-class-9780231213615","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}