A Viscous Present

Waiting, and the ways in which time is expanded, dilated and thinned out by waiting, holds a prominent place in the literature on migration temporalities. However, in the less interventionist migration regimes of non-Western contexts, time takes on different qualities. This article examines the temporal experiences of Syrian refugees who lived in Turkey between 2011 and 2016 before arriving in Germany. In their narratives of life in Turkey, the present was not marked by emptiness or stasis but by familiarity and viscosity. The quality of familiarity arises from governmental policy choices as well as Turkey's cultural proximity to Syria. The quality of viscosity owes as much to the global organisation of capitalism as it does to Turkey's migration legislation.