Birgit GLORIUS, TU Chemnitz, Germany
Hanne SCHNEIDER, TU Chemnitz, Germany
Research on migrant integration has until recently remained on geographical levels of observation which are not apt to reveal and explain the variety of local integration trajectories, notably in small towns and rural regions. Furthermore, most research has focused on the role of migrants within these processes, while the attitudes and behaviors of the receiving society have been rarely addressed (Adam et al. 2019; De Lima et al. 2012; Phillimore 2020). Based on the guiding question of what conditions are needed for newcomers to successfully integrate into a rural locality, this conference paper reacts to those shortcomings and introduces the approach of local receptivity for the analysis of local reception situations. Our argumentation for the relevance of this approach is threefold: First, we concede that conceptual models on integration, albeit regarding integration as a two-sided process (Ager and Strang 2008), are mostly reduced to their explanatory value regarding the immigrants’ behavior, thus leaving an important research gap regarding the role of receiving societies for integration processes. Second, and as a direct consequence, empirical research on integration processes neglects receiving societies’ characteristics as explanatory factors for integration outcomes. Third, empirical research, albeit partly implementing local research perspectives, often fails to integrate local specifics into a coherent research design.
We will demonstrate the use of the receptivity approach with empirical data from a comparative research project on refugee integration in rural regions in Germany, with 32 case study sites. Focusing on selected case study sites, we will show how specific integration trajectories are conditioned by local structures, actor relations, collective attitudes, and the historical embedding of migration into the meta-narration of a locality. By this, we would like to contribute to the debate on the production of space through (im)mobility processes.
Mots clés : reception|refugees|rural regions|local turn
A103804BG