Duration: 01/2023 - 12/2026

Project members: Elisabeth Lang, Dr. Floris Biskamp, Prof. Karin Scherschel

Network partners: Prof. Dr. Sabine Achour (Freie Universität Berlin)

Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research

Summary:
The joint project pursues the goal to research the meaning of civil society initiatives for the public culture of remembrance. It empirically analyses the local civil society remembrance work devided in three fields of activity: national socialism, colonialism and post-national socialist violence. Civil society initiatives do not merely apply national discourses and policies locally, but pursue an independent agency that raises neglected issues and perspectives and helps shape the discourse bottom-up. Their work is analysed using qualitative social research methods. Based on the research results, an online platform is being developed in a bottom-up theory-empirical-practice transfer to provide materials for educational work.

You can finde more information about the project here.

Duration: 07/2021 - 04/2024

Project members: Marina Mayer, Prof. Karin Scherschel

Network partners: Prof. Susanne Spindler, Sara Madjlessi-Roudi (beide HS Düsseldorf), Prof. Ilker Ataç, Felix Busch-Geertsema (beide HS Fulda)

Funding: Mercator Stiftung

Summary:

The joint project analyses empirically and qualitatively the participation of young tolerated persons in training and the labour market as well as the framework conditions for the consolidation of their stay in six municipalities. Both the municipal cooperation relationships between relevant training and labour market actors, support systems (civil society, social work) and the subjective perspective and experiences of the tolerated persons are examined. Based on possibilities of good practice, recommendations are developed that are promising for participation processes of tolerated people.

You can finde more information about the project here.

Duration: 02/2018 - 01/2021

Project members: Benedikt Bazyar-Gudrich

Tutor: Ingo Bartsch

Connected partners: Prof. Andreas Bock (Akkon Hochschule), Prof. Iman Attia (ASH)

Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research; funding measure "Humanities and Social Sciences" in the funding area "Strengthening cohesion in times of crises and upheaval"

Summary:

Subproject B at the RhineMain University of Applied Sciences empirically analyses the perspective of politicians and journalists. It is of interest how media representations of Islam are taken up and thematised in the communication of these persons and how they (from the perspective of the interviewees) lead into political decision-making processes.

The sub-projects of the research network pursue the question of a) how the topic of the 'Islamist threat' is conveyed in media representations with recourse to anti-Muslim topoi and how critical discourses are articulated, b) how media representations are taken up and thematised in the communication of politicians and journalists and how they lead (from the perspective of the interviewees) into political decision-making processes and c) how those (marked as) Muslim and Muslim communities (re)gain power of interpretation and action in the face of the security discourse, how they balance the relationship between approval and criticism, and what freedom they create for themselves in order not to leave the discursivation of the 'Muslim subject' (entirely) to others.

Network partners

• Rat muslimischer Studierender und Akademiker (RAMSA)
• Zentralrat der Muslime in Deutschland (ZMD)
• RAHMA - Muslim centre for girls, women and familie
• Türkische Gemeinde in Deutschland (TGD)
• Regional Office for Education, Integration and Democracy (RAA Berlin)
• Bildungsstätte Anne Frank
• Verband binationaler Familien und Partnerschaften

Duration: 2018 - 2021

Project members: Melanie Schmitt, Prof. Karin Scherschel, Prof. Schahrzad Farrokzhad (TH Köln)

Summary:

The book brings together (1) current research findings on the life situation of refugee women in various areas of life (e.g. education, labour market, health), (2) the positioning of refugee women and (3) an inventory of support and counselling structures. Significant for our discussion of flight and gender is the realisation that not only theoretically and empirically sound knowledge about the living conditions of refugee women is important, but also their own social positioning and self-assessments. We therefore choose an innovative format. In interviews, we want to offer refugee women a forum to articulate their everyday experiences. In addition, selected service structures for counselling, accompaniment and support of refugee women will be included.

You can find the anthology, which published in the meantime, here.

Duration: 10/2016 - 07/2018

Project member: Anna Krämer

Tutor: Zübeyda Elbey

Funding: Hessian Ministry of Science and the Arts, research focus women's and gender studies

Summary:

The research project examines the labour market access of highly qualified refugee women. It is a pilot study in Hessen. The explorative study is guided by the following research questions: What are the labour market opportunities of the target group? To what extent are they perceived as labour market policy addressees? How do labour market policy actors view this group? Which strategies do migrant women in the asylum context develop in light of their labour market situation? Which experiences do highly qualified migrant women gain in the labour market? How do highly qualified women manage to integrate their skills and qualifications? Subjective interpretations of the refugee women and the perspectives of various labour market actors are collected through qualitative interviews. The study is situated at the intersection of sociological labour market, gender, migration and asylum research.