Rottmann, Susan Beth2021-02-122021-02-1220221070-289Xhttp://hdl.handle.net/10679/7305https://doi.org/10.1080/1070289X.2020.1851004Addressing research on migration governance, this article examines German pre-integration courses offered to Turkish marriage migrants in Istanbul. The courses were implemented in response to growing concern about the perceived poor integration of Muslim migrants and a high number of forced marriages. I argue that these courses are a micro form of biopolitical governance. Specifically, they are an attempt to generate internalized ways of being and knowing that are desired by the state, which I call 'membership cultivation.' As such, the courses are not precisely aimed at restricting migration as in other pre-integration measures, nor are they mainly reinforcing symbolic boundaries and teaching liberalism as in post-migration German civic integration courses. Rather, the courses attempt to re-make migrants with regards to morality, culture and gender. Using participant observation and in-depth interviews, this research examines the disciplinary mechanisms targeting migrants' transformation to enhance our understanding of the biopolitics of pre-integration governance.enginfo:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccessArticle29565267000059629890000110.1080/1070289X.2020.1851004Marriage migrationRightsGenderIntegrationGovernanceBiopolitics2-s2.0-85097145103