Boundaries of Belonging: the Spatial and Social Logic of Being Yilli People in Kayseri

Abstract

This study explores the spatial, social, and cultural dynamics of being yilli, a deeply rooted local identity in Kayseri, Turkey. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, oral histories, and spatial analysis, it examines how the yilli people negotiate urban transformation through selective adaptations to modernization while maintaining traditional social boundaries. The research shows that the yilli do not passively resist change but actively reinterpret modernization to reinforce status, kinship, and symbolic belonging. Spatial relocation and investment patterns reflect economic strategies and efforts to preserve cultural distinction amid urban expansion. The findings demonstrate that urban transformation in Kayseri is both a material and cultural process, shaped by layered histories of memory, hierarchy, and social imagination. Through the case of the yilli, the study contributes to broader debates in urban sociology and cultural geography, offering insights into how culture-centered societies adapt to and reshape modernization processes.