Social Spaces of Migration (GeRäuMig)

DeZIM Research Community

Project team:

Principal investigators: PD Dr. Anna-Lisa Müller (IKG), Dr. Mert Pekşen (IMIS)

Prof. Dr. Andreas Blätte (InZentIM), Prof. Dr. Andreas Pott (IMIS), Prof. Dr. Gökçe Yurdakul (BIM), Prof. Dr. Andreas Zick (IKG)

Project staff: Emma Luna Brahm (IMIS), Kübra Gencal (IKG), Dr. Daniel Kubiak (BIM), Christoph Leonhardt (InZentIM), Dennis Schüle (InZentIM), Seçkin Söylemez (InZentIM), Dr. Katharina Leimbach (IKG)

Student project Staff: Zana Alma (InZentIM), Arne Bode (IMIS), Jamila Brüggemann (IMIS), Ijeoma Wuttke (BIM), Annika Walter (IKG)  

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Project description:

Conflicts are a central element of democratic societies, as they are founded on the fundamental idea of the constructive negotiation of conflicting interests. The question of how social groups and their members negotiate coexistence is therefore of particular importance. The negotiation of conflicts is particularly relevant in the context of migration, as immigrants encounter a society whose expectations and interests towards 'migrants' do not necessarily align with their own. Immigration is marked by conflict.

The GeRäuMig project examines how migration-related conflicts manifest spatially and how local people deal with them. It explores how the perception, experience and thematization of migration creates and changes social spaces and influences processes of inclusion and exclusion. Additionally, a participatory approach involving local urban actors will explore how social spaces can be designed to foster a constructive approach to conflict resolution. Therefore, the aim of the project is to explore how individuals and social groups in Germany perceive and manage these conflicts. By focusing on conflicts that are - directly or indirectly - related to migration, the project raises specific research questions:

1. How do people navigate locally articulated conflicts and polarization when these conflicts are specifically related to migration or publicly framed as migration-related in media?

2. What role do spaces play in negotiating conflicts and fostering participation in the migration society?

3. How should spaces in the migration society be designed to foster inclusion and a constructive approach to conflicts?

Participating partners: 

Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence (IKG), Institute for Migration Research and Intercultural Studies (IMIS),  Berlin Institute for Empirical Integration and Migration Research (BIM), Interdisciplinary Center for Integration and Migration Research (InZentIM)

Funding: Federal Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (Third-party funding)