Witnessing the Transition. Moments in the Long Summer of Migration
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Regina Römhild, Anja Schwanhäußer Birgit zur Nieden & Gökce Yurdakul (Eds.) Witnessing the Transition: Moments in the Long Summer of Migration Editor in Chief Prof. Dr. Gökçe Yurdakul Prof. Dr. Regina Römhild Dr. Anja Schwanhäußer Dr. Birgit zur Nieden Assisting editors Folashade M. Ajayi Charlotte Kneffel Aleksandra Lakić Marnie Litfin Hieu Hanh Hoang Tran Webpage Damian Ghamlouche Blog Anja Schwanhäußer http://witnessingthetransition.blogspot.de Visual Identity, design Harry Adler Publisher Berlin Institute for empirical Integration and Migration Research (BIM) Contact Unter den Linden 6 10099 Berlin DOI: 10.18452/18704 E-Book Project of Humboldt University Students Witnessing the Transition: Moments in the Long Summer of Migration Edited by: Gökçe Yurdakul, Regina Römhild, Anja Schwanhäußer, Birgit zur Nieden, Folashade M. Ajayi, Charlotte Kneffel, Marnie Litfin, Hieu Hanh Hoang Tran & Aleksandra Lakić Table of Contents 7 | Introduction: Witnessing the transition: refugees and migrants in transnational perspective Gökçe Yurdakul & Birgit zur Nieden, Institute of Social Sciences & Berlin Institute for Integration and Migration Research I EUROPE, MIGRATION AND RACIALIZATION 15 | Looking for Neverland. The experience of the group »Lampedusa in Berlin« and the refugee protest of Oranienplatz Elena Fontanari, European Ethnology 35 | »Kris, nous voilà à Eisen’« – Migrantische Bewegungen, Solidaritäten und soziale Imagination im kosmopolisierten EU-Europa Kristine Wolf, European Ethnology 61 | ›Der orientalische Mann‹ vor|nach Köln. Zur sexuell-kulturellen Dynamik des antimuslimischen Rassismus in der Fluchtdebatte Ozan Keskinkılıç, International Relations II TRANSNATIONAL MIGRATION, BORDERS AND BOUNDARieS 77 | »It’s a war against our own body«: Long-term refugee women react to the withdrawal of relief organisations in Dakar, Senegal Agathe Ménétrier, Social Anthropology 95 | Schleppen – Schleusen – Fluchthilfe. Aushandlungen der Grenzen von Legalität und Illegalität am Beispiel einer transnationalen migrationspolitischen NGO Tiziana Calendrino, European Ethnology 113 | »Beihilfe zur unerlaubten Einreise«. Reflexionen zu einer Prozessbeobachtung Sara Bellezza, European Ethnology III ARRIVALS 131 | Herzlich Unwillkommen? Eine Kritik am Berliner Konzept zur schulischen Integration geflüchteter Kinder Hannah Göppert, Social Sciences 153 | »Mia san ned nur mia.« Das ländliche Niederbayern nach dem langen Sommer der Migration Michael Westrich, European Ethnology 165 | Hand in Hand in die postmigrantische Arbeitsgesellschaft? Aushandlungen um Arbeit für Geflüchtete im Spiegel handwerklicher Kleinbetriebe zwischen Leistung und Inklusion Jan Lange & Manuel Liebig, European Ethnology 185 | Violence and the Neoliberal Governing of the ›Unwanted‹: The Case of Serbian Asylum Seekers in Germany Jelena Jovičić, Sociology IV LIVING, RESEARCHING AND WORKING wiTH REFUGeeS 201 | Sensing Tempelhofer Freiheit Flavia Alice Mameli, Urban Planning & Landscape Architecture Josefine Løndorf Sarkez & Anne van Wetteren, European Ethnology 215 | ›Einfach mal gucken‹ – darf man das? Fabian Bovens & Lou Klappenbach, European Ethnology 229 | Mehr Wertschätzung, bitte! Über gegenseitige Anerkennung von kulturellem Kapital bei Integrationsprozessen Sarah Suter & Elena Lindner, European Ethnology 241 | Smartphones und Sonnenblumenkerne. Die Rolle der digitalen Medien in der Freiwilligenarbeit vor dem LaGeSo in Berlin Elisa Hänel, Stefanie Kofnyt & Charlotte Seiler, European Ethnology 259 | »Refugees Welcome« in Berliner Wohngemeinschaften. Konvivialität und Ungleichheit Leoni Johanne Meyer, European Ethnology 277 | Auf den Spuren räumlicher Wahrnehmungen. Eine ethnografische Leseart eines vergangenen umkämpften Raums von und für Geflüchtete Dženeta Hodžić, European Ethnology 295 | The Fame of Syrians: (Facebook) Archives As Traps Persefoni Myrtsou, European Ethnology 311 | A research about an odd place Alejandra Parra, European Ethnology 325 | Die Notunterkunft Karlshorst: Ethnografische Erkundungen in die urbane Peripherie Meret Eikenroth, European Ethnology 345 | The City as Laboratory – An Epilogue Regina Römhild, Institute of European Ethnology & Berlin Institute for Integration and Migration Research Anja Schwanhäußer, Institute of European Ethnology 353 | Authors Introduction Witnessing the transition: refugees and migrants in transnational perspective Gökçe Yurdakul & Birgit zur Nieden Starting with 2015, we experienced a refugee movement between Syria through Turkey and the Balkans and to European countries. This increased movement of refugees has been labeled as the »refugee crisis« in European and American media. Although there has been a constant refugee movement between European countries and the Middle East and North Africa after 2015, the number of people, specifically from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, who were arriving to Europe and claiming refugee status, increased and became more frequent (Eurostat 2015). Picking up the notion of »crisis«, these increased movements highlighted the deep humanitarian problem of the European mi- gration regime, which does not permit legal routes for people fleeing from war, political and religious persecution. Instead, their routes are marked by great dangers of losing their lives, belongings or beloved ones and harsh treat- ment of state and border authorities. We could see for example in September 2015 Hungary and other countries on the »Balkan route«, which closed the borders to the people who are marching towards Europe, created a »crisis« or humanity and European sovereignty. Reclaiming sovereignty through closing the borders »means the capacity to define who matters and who does not, who is disposable and who is not« (2003: 27). The crossing and arriving of masses of migrating people has marked an important period in our lives, as people residing in European countries, but also as members of the academia, as university professors, and university stu- dents. In the summer of 2015, as it is publicly called (paradoxical to the clos- ing of the European border in the Balkan route) »summer of welcoming«, many of us witnessed, volunteered with, read about, conducted research with/ on and wrote about refugees. Studying refugees or refugee movements was not necessarily in the center of our area of specialization. But as migration scholars, we are expected to talk and write about this theme: who are refugees, 8 | Gökçe Yurdakul & Birgit zur Nieden why are they coming to European countries, what do they expect to find here, what are their routes, who help them arrive, what do they face once they ar- rive, what kind of administrative difficulties do they encounter once they ar- rive, how do they adjust to their new societies and whether they want to stay or leave. Policy-makers, politicians and newsmakers repeatedly asked us these questions. We tried to answer by comparing the current migration to earlier migration movements from the 90s and provide policy suggestions, which could be useful to solve the so-called »refugee crisis«. The media, parliamen- tary debates and our scholarships were deeply influenced by this important refugee movement arriving to European countries. As scholars, we thus start- ed to do research on new issues, which in many ways were not so new, when viewed from a »perspective of migration«: With our focus on a newly coined term »postmigrant society« we analyze dynamics of diverse societies and movements. Postmigrant societies are marked by different layers of migration histories, transnational realities, inclusions and exclusions along ethnic dif- ferentiations, racisms and struggles of antiracism and migrants’ agency. With this lens, our questions are: what are the challenges for the educational sys- tem, the housing market or public administrative institutions? Finding them- selves in the struggle for more »intercultural opening«, and partly in total ig- norance of their own exclusionary routines and effects, the current situation could act as a catalyst for change when German institutions seek for ways to open up for refugees. What is the welcoming moment? What are structures and motives of voluntary initiatives, who support refugees and what role do they play when they take over tasks, what are the failures of state institutions? How does the current moment relate to previous ongoing refugee and migrant struggles, and self-organization? How can we react to the strong waves of rac- ist attacks and right wing formations that reject diversity? The European public was divided in terms of whether refugees should be accepted, which confronts us with an important humanitarian question. Many Germans, including the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel had a pro-refugee attitude. There were people who volunteered as counsellors, language teach- ers, clothing-sorters or food-distributers in front of the administrative regis- tration offices. It was significant that many Germans showed up at the train stations to welcome refugees, to give them welcome gifts. But there was the opposite side: several counter-movements emerged or strengthened during this period. There are rallies, organized by PEGIDA: Patriotische Europäer Gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes, or »Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West«. PEGIDA could mobilize masses of people, and formed an important support for the Alternative für Deutschland, a right- Introduction: Witnessing the transition | 9 wing party in Germany, who gained support of around 15% of voters in the latest local elections. As a result of this period