Social Spaces of Migration (GeRäuMig)

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), Dr. Katharina Leimbach (IKG), Dr. Laura Stielike (IMIS)  

Student project Staff: Zana Alma (InZentIM), Arne Bode (IMIS), Jamila Brüggemann (IMIS), Luisa Keuer (IKG), Mohamad Rajab (InZentIM), Ijeoma Wuttke (BIM)

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Addressing the aforementioned research questions, the project focuses on three thematic areas that provide the conceptual framework for its implementation:

1. Conflict and Space
2. Migration, Spatial Experience, and Conflict
3. Shaping the Future

The empirical research conducted within these fields, with a specific focus on concrete spaces, is expected to yield insights that are not only vital for the scholarly understanding of the project's subject matter but also hold significant practical relevance for civil society actors and stakeholders. A brief description of these three areas follows below:

Thematic Area: Conflict and Space
To investigate the relationship between social spaces and conflicts within a migration society, this area analyzes the venues in which conflicts and participation are negotiated. Public discourse and media representation are considered alongside interpersonal interactions and both civil-society-led and institutionalized conflict resolution processes.

Specific research questions pertaining to this area include: How do (urban) spaces become arenas for social conflict? Which strategies are employed to address these conflicts constructively? How can an approach to these conflicts be developed that strengthens social resilience and inclusion?

Thematic Area: Migration, Spatial Experience, and Conflict
The reciprocal relationship between migration, spatial experience, and conflict is a further essential component in understanding the social spaces of migration. In contemporary societies, conflicts are frequently framed in relation to migration; consequently, the spaces that a society produces (and reproduces) are characterized both by these conflicts and by the individuals who experience and negotiate them. Personal and familial migration experiences influence how individuals interact within and perceive these spaces, as does society as a whole.

The specific research questions here are: What migration-related meanings are attributed to spaces? What role do conflicts play in this process? In what ways do conflict-related spatial experiences and perceptions structure the lives of people both with and without a history of migration?

Thematic Area: Shaping the Future
The analysis of the spatial characteristics and contexts of life in a migration society naturally raises questions regarding the design of these spaces. Therefore, the project also explores the proposals of selected actor groups for a future coexistence that enables diversity, participation, and social cohesion. The research questions in this area are: How can urban spaces be designed to support the participation of people regardless of their migration history? How can spatial environments be created that promote social cohesion? Which actors must be involved in this process, and which innovative approaches and practices can contribute to this goal?

Participating partners: 

anuary 2025 until December 2027
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)

The project integrates the dimensions of space, migration, conflict, and society, thereby addressing existing conceptual gaps. Particularly in the context of migration, social negotiations are inherently spatialized; conflicts are negotiated within specific spaces and with direct reference to them. Prior research indicates that this nexus is critically important for the scholarly conceptualization of these themes. By exploring selected aspects of this intersection, the GeRäuMig project addresses and fills both conceptual and empirical lacunae.

The objective of the project is to elucidate how individuals and social groups in Germany perceive and navigate migration-related conflicts, and to determine the ways in which the spatial dimension of society becomes relevant to these processes.

The project employs a mixed-methods approach. The research utilizes quantitative text analysis of regional newspaper data, qualitative research in four selected study cities, and focus projects based on discourse analysis. The first two-thirds of the project period are dedicated to data collection and analysis. In the final third, the focus shifts toward the production and presentation of results. In addition to traditional scholarly publications in the form of peer-reviewed articles, the project team is developing further formats for science-to-public communication.

Preliminary results from both quantitative and qualitative research indicate the existence of spatial patterns in the localization of migration-related conflicts. Consequently, specific neighborhoods and public squares are stigmatized, and explanations for these conflicts frequently make explicit references to migration and exhibit signs of culturalization. In the study cities of Halle (Saale) and Hanau, the peripherization of migration spaces—located on the urban fringes and in precarious new-build estates—plays a decisive role in the daily experiences of migrantized individuals and the residents of these areas; it further influences the negotiation of urban planning and housing conditions.

Simultaneously, the two case cities differ significantly: while discourses and conflicts in Hanau remain heavily influenced by the racist attacks of February 19, 2020, the events of the October 9, 2019 attack in Halle have been inscribed more selectively into the collective memory of the city and its inhabitants. Local encounter spaces prove to be central sites for the social and neighborhood-level negotiation of coexistence. These spaces serve not only as social infrastructures for language acquisition, employment counseling, or the organization of intercultural exchange and leisure activities, but also as venues where diverse conflict situations are negotiated or where individuals find refuge from conflicts in the public sphere. Furthermore, many respondents perceive the media’s problematization of migration, as well as experienced everyday racism in public spaces, as a constant burden.

Initial quantitative analyses suggest that the correlation between (negative) attitudes toward migration on one hand, and socio-spatial realities on the other—such as the proportion of people with a migration background or the regional economic situation—is considerably more complex than often assumed. Consequently, attitudes toward (im)migrants can only be partially explained by models such as the contact hypothesis.

The findings to date underscore the importance of long-term funding for local spaces of encounter—particularly bottom-up initiatives that emerge organically from within the neighborhood. Qualitative research demonstrates that such spaces can strengthen social participation, facilitate the negotiation of conflicts, and exert an empowering effect by promoting agency and self-efficacy through local civic engagement. Simultaneously, both qualitative and quantitative results indicate that stigmatizing media and political narratives regarding specific neighborhoods should not be perpetuated; instead, a nuanced perspective on social and local processes and conflicts must be adopted. Stigmatizing narratives and discriminatory discourses exacerbate the socio-spatial exclusion of local residents and adversely affect their well-being and sense of belonging.

Finally, the qualitative case studies reveal that while traumatic events, such as the racist and antisemitic attacks in Halle and Hanau, can trigger investments in local (infra-)structures, such measures are unsustainable if they remain purely punctual and reactive. Consequently, it is recommended that potential spaces of encounter be identified early and supported through proactive, permanent structural funding. Using the example of the wars and human rights violations in the Middle East—and the contentious negotiations surrounding them in the study cities—it becomes evident that (migrantized) institutions, which have spent years establishing long-term internal communication structures and prevention strategies, are best equipped to handle these conflict situations. The knowledge and competencies of these institutional actors should be integrated into future political and administrative action.

Gencal, Kübra; Brahm, Emma Luna; Kubiak, Daniel (2025). Beyond Remembrance: Spatial Dynamics in Commemorating Racist Violence in Solingen and Rostock. In: Knoblauch, Hubert; Sommer, Vivien; Pfetsch, Barbara (Hrsg.): Spatial Conflicts and Conflictual Spaces The Dynamics of Refiguration. New York: Routledge, S. 286-305.

Kubiak, Daniel (2022). Rechts sind die anderen - Diskursives Verdrängen von rechtsextremer Vergangenheit und Gegenwart in einer ostdeutschen Großstadt. BGL Berichte Geographie und Landeskunde. Band 96, Mai 2023, Heft 2, 112-131. https://biblioscout.net/article/99.140005/bgl202302011201

Kubiak, Daniel & Pekşen, Mert (2024). Defending Democracy is an Ongoing Task (26/2; Germany Brief). Istanbul Bilgi University - European Institute. https://eu.bilgi.edu.tr/media/files/GB_26_TR.pdf

Brahm, Emma; Ferstl, Johanna, & Pekşen, Mert (2023). Rassistische Gewalt in Deutschland: Warum sich die Angaben zum Ausmaß stark unterscheiden. DeZIMinutes #14

Müller, Anna-Lisa (2022a). Nutzungsvielfalt von öffentlichen Räumen in Migrationsgesellschaften. Eine Annäherung an geeignete Methoden ihrer empirischen Untersuchung. in: Kulturelle Vielfalt in Freiraum und Landschaft: Wahrnehmung, Partizipation, Aneignung und Gestaltung. Hrsg.: Susanne Kost & Constanze A. Petrow. Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien, 139–61. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-37518-8_7

Müller, Anna-Lisa (2022b). Place Attachment Through Negotiation. How Citizens and Materiality Co-Create Urban Spaces in Darmstadt, Germany. in: Preserving and Constructing Place Attachment in Europe. Hrsg: Oana-Ramona Ilovan & Iwona Markuszewska. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 123–36. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-09775-1_7

Müller, Anna-Lisa (2022c). Räume, Zeiten, Orte: Migrationsbiographien und Raumkonstitutionen. in: Biographie und Raum. Hrsg.: Johannes Becker, Gunter Weidenhaus & Nicole Witte. Göttingen: Universitätsverlag Göttingen, 175-194.  https://doi.org/10.17875/gup2022-1874

Müller, Anna-Lisa; Pekşen, Mert; Kubiak, Daniel; Brahm, Emma; Gencal, Kübra & Pabst, Rani (2023). Rassistisch motivierte Anschläge und ihre sozialräumliche Wirkmächtigkeit: Zur Konstitution von Räumen der Migrationsgesellschaft. Polarisierte Welten. Verhandlungen des 41. Kongresses der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Soziologie in Bielefeld 2022. Band 41, September. https://publikationen.soziologie.de/index.php/kongressband_2022/article/view/1658

Müller, Anna-Lisa & Tuitjer; Leonie (2023). Editorial: Infrastructures and Migration. Geographica Helvetica 78 (4), 559–65. https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-78-559-2023