A foreigner in a foreign country: examining biography and memoirs of Georg Mayer through reflexive agency

Purpose This paper is concerned with the concept of reflexive agency through the biography and memoirs of Georg Mayer, a Jewish businessman who immigrated to Turkey before 1945 and lived there for almost 40 years. This paper aims to explore reflexive agency using the concepts of structural conditions (socioeconomic background), contextual stimuli (activation of reflexivity) and individual perspectives at different points in life (main concerns, reflection on the past, projects and decision-making). Design/methodology/approach This paper is developed using qualitative research methods, analyzing a variety of sources including books, papers, biographical materials and personal memoirs. Primary sources are three books written about him and Mayer Stores using the method of oral history. Moreover, Mayer’s memoirs, which provided rich information about his observations of people, acts and culture, were analyzed. Findings Several conclusions can be drawn. While there are typologies for reflexive agency, it is found that a person can fit into several modes at different times and/or at the same time. Another finding is that an individual’s social network is an important factor for his/her reflexive agency. When immigrating to another country with a contextual discontinuity and structural change, an established community and economic opportunities are important factors. A strong stimulus such as a life threat can be a force majeure and trigger for individuals to take risks, affecting their abilities of reflexivity. Originality/value This paper presents a unique case study that examines immigration from Western countries before 1945. This paper tries to provide detailed information about social context, including critical milestones, bring the concepts of culture, identity, migration and reflexivity together by analyzing an atypical business figure through his biography and personal memoirs, and use narrative analysis to explain how a reflexive person can act in contextual discontinuity, hence showing how structural, cultural and personal emergent properties can be understood together.