Christine Barwick
Academic Experience
03/2011 –
PhD Candidate in Sociology, Institute for Social Science, Humboldt University Berlin
07/2012 – present
Research assistant (freelance basis) at the Research Institute for Regional and Urban Development, Project ‘Permeability of neighborhoods’
04/2011 –12/2011
Research Assistant at the Social Science Research Center Berlin, Department of Migration, Integration, Transnationalization (MIT)
10/2007 – 12/2010
Master in Social Science, Institute for Social Sciences, Humboldt University Berlin
06/2009-04/2011
Student Assistant at the Social Science Research Center Berlin, Department of Migration, Integration, Transnationalization (MIT)
10/2004-10/2007
Bachelor in Social Science, Institute for Social Sciences, Humboldt University Berlin
Publications
Hanhörster, Heike und Christine Barwick (2013): Soziale Brücken und Grenzziehungen in der Stadt: Türkeistämmige Mittelschicht in Migrantenvierteln. Raumforschung und Raumordnung. Doi: 10.1007/s13147-013-0225-z.
Barwick, Christine (2011): Draussen vor der Tuer. Exklusion auf dem Berliner Wohnungsmarkt. WZB Mitteilungen, Ausgabe 134, 13-15.
Barwick, Christine (2010): Patterns of discrimination against Blacks and Hispanics in the US mortgage market. Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 25(1): 117-124.
Scholarships
04/2011 – present
Dissertation scholarship from the ILS – Research Institute for Urban and Regional Development
08/2008-06/2009
Scholarship of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD); two semester research stay at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York; Urban Studies program
09/2007-07/2007
Scholarship of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD); two semester research stay at the New School for Social Research/Milano School for Management and Urban Policy in New York City
Research Interests
- Migration/Integration
- Urban Theory
- Discrimination
- Socio-spatial inequalities
- Qualitative methods
About the Dissertation
„Moving out or staying put: residential mobility, neighborhood choice and resource access of capital-rich Turkish-German migrants“
Several empirical studies in Germany have examined the geographical distribution and neighborhood conditions of people with migration backgrounds, some of which touch on the issue of geographical mobility. Most of them, however, do not examine the exact mechanisms causing some people to move and others to stay put. There is, hence, a lack of data on how people with migration backgrounds select housing and neighborhoods beyond simple counts of where they live.
As a result, there is a great need for research that goes beyond description and truly explains how people with migration backgrounds decide where to live. My dissertation will contribute to filling this gap. More specifically, it will address the research question of why some people with Turkish backgrounds move and others stay put and what consequences moving has for the resources they can access to get by and get ahead.
Usually, mobility is explained in terms of the interaction between individual preferences and market constraints, such as the kinds of housing available and their price. Whereas the first domain reflects networks and identity, the latter is influenced by such factors as disposable income (class position), discrimination in the housing market, and housing prices, among others. My research will go beyond the obvious impact of structural factors by looking only at people with Turkish migration backgrounds who belong to the middle-class and have sufficient means to make real choices. My research will seek to distinguish between movers and non-movers in terms of the following explanatory variables and their interplay: (1) spatial factors (geographical spread of amenities, access to schools and work, transportation, quality of housing), (2) social ties and social capital (family, friends, peer groups and their localness), (3) identities (feeling more or less ‘Turkish’, or ‘German’, local identifications, identification with class/milieu).
Questions I ask are, for example, what are the determining factors for people to leave a ‘bad’, stigmatized neighborhood, if they have the means to do so? It is possible that some residents prefer to stay put, due to ties with fellow ethnics and existing networks that benefit them. Besides this, they might expect to be stigmatized in a neighborhood with only native Germans, which leads them to remain in the area, even though it is not corresponding to their ideal neighborhood (e.g. in terms of available amenities and access to resources). To assess the relevance of local social capital, we need to ask how people perceive the neighborhood, how active and involved they are, and what perspectives they see for improvement (if they see need for improvement at all). On the other hand, we want to know the main factors that drive people out of a neighborhood. Does the neighborhood as a place (and its community, if there is such) matter at all? Although people live in the same neighborhood, they may still live in different social worlds. For people who have moved, the question arises whether they also find new ‘neighbors’ (in the social sense) or whether they keep up ties with people from their former neighborhood.
The Urban and Regional Sociology Association which is part of the German Sociological Association has awarded Christine Barwick their prize for the best dissertation (http://www.sektion-stadtsoziologie.de/sektionspreis/). The prize is awarded bi-annually for empirically, methodologically and theoretically outstanding dissertations that address topics relevant for urban and regional sociology. Christine's dissertation deals with social mobility and neighbourhood choice of Turkish-Germans in Berlin. The jury emphasized Christine's excellent handling and presentation of the qualitative interview material as well as the embeddedness of her findings in the relevant international literature.
Contact
cbarwick4 (at) googlemail.com
Photo: David Ausserhofer/WZB