Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Department of Social Sciences

Migration and the urban world

The first pillar of this area focuses on migration and citizenship. Migration as a socio-political field is an excellent example of the processes of globalisation and transnationalisation. Migrants epitomise the powers of globalisation, which challenge and confirm national sovereignty and control. Migration processes enable an investigation of the social, economic, political and cultural dynamics and conflicts  which arise when people from very different backgrounds come into contact with each other. We focus in particular on social divisions at the intersections between ethno-nationality, gender, race, religion and sexual orientation.

Closely linked with the topic of migration is life in (globalised) cities, a situation which presents new challenges to people in terms of access to rights and resources; in addition, globalisation creates locally specific configurations of citizenship. Whilst certain cities and neighbourhoods demonstrate socio-spatial benefits, others reproduce unequal access to resources or even contribute to the emergence of urban inequality. The question of inclusion and exclusion mechanisms is tackled from both a theoretical and an empirical perspective, for example in terms of processes of gentrification, urban decay, changes to social infrastructure (networks and sociality) and the role of specific locations for the city (such as shopping streets, churches, schools and other local institutions).

Here you can find current research projects on migration and the urban world.