{"product_id":"white-collar-blues","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\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eWhite-Collar Blues\u003c\/em\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.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\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, \u003cem\u003eWhite-Collar Blues\u003c\/em\u003e reveals the hidden costs of conflating the quest for socioeconomic status with the pursuit of happiness.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n","brand":"None","offers":[{"title":"Kobo eBook","offer_id":46338314993874,"sku":"909d168e-7b2d-3c3d-9524-276ba4b03e54","price":37.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0655\/8980\/5233\/files\/image_6bf73875-0ad9-4ee6-8c4f-5b41440b7744.jpg?v=1762443745","url":"https:\/\/www.indigo.ca\/products\/white-collar-blues","provider":"Indigo","version":"1.0","type":"link"}