Onward (Im)Mobilities and Integration Processes of Refugee Newcomers in Rural Bavaria, Germany
- Dr. Tobias Weidinger leader
- Deutschland
Short description
The aim of the dissertation was to better understand the onward migration, (im)mobilities and integration processes of 'refugee newcomers', i.e. asylum seekers and recognised and resettled refugees, in rural areas in Germany, focusing on rural specificities with regard to settlement and integration. Accordingly, the theoretical-conceptual goal was to contribute to the field of migration and (im)mobility research. Empirically, the work aimed firstly to analyse the discursive framing of settlement processes of refugees in rural areas, secondly to analyse the residential and everyday (im)mobilities of refugee newcomers in rural areas with recourse to the 'new mobilities paradigm', and thirdly to identify the characteristics of mechanisms of socio-spatial exclusion and inclusion of refugees in rural areas with regard to everyday mobility and access to housing. Methodologically and ethically, the aim was to develop new (or improve existing) robust research tools that give voice to refugee newcomers and better engage them in research processes. This should lead to a better understanding of their lifeworlds in general and their experienced socio-spatial exclusion and inclusion in particular. To achieve the outlined goals, the dissertation relied on an interdisciplinary multi-method approach with empirical research in rural Bavaria and presents the results in a series of five articles.
Publications
Weidinger, T. (2021): Onward (Im)Mobilities and Integration Processes of Refugee Newcomers in Rural Bavaria, Germany (= Erlanger Migrations- und Integrationsstudien 8). FAU University Press: Erlangen.
Weidinger, T. (2020): Policy narratives about the distribution of forced migrants to rural areas. Searching for traces in recent German history. In: Steinführer, A. et al. (Eds.): New rural geographies in Europe: actors, processes, policies (= Rural areas: Issues of local and regional development 6). LIT: Zürich, 269-290.
Weidinger, T., Kordel, S. & P. Pohle (2017): „Bleiben oder Gehen? Einflussfaktoren auf die Wohnstandortmobilität anerkannter Flüchtlinge in ländlichen Räumen am Beispiel des Bayerischen Waldes“. Europa Regional 24(3-4): 46-61. (Special Issue: Zuwanderung in ländliche Räume Europas).
Weidinger, T., Kordel, S. & J. Kieslinger (2019 (2021)): „Unravelling the meaning of place and spatial mobility: Analysing the everyday life worlds of refugees in host societies by means of mobility mapping“. Journal of Refugee Studies, 34(1), 374-396. DOI:10.1093/jrs/fez004
Kordel, S. & T. Weidinger (2019): „Onward (im)mobilities: conceptual reflections and empirical findings from lifestyle migration research and refugee studies“. Die Erde – Journal of the Geographical Society of Berlin 150(1), 1-16. DOI: 10.12854/erde-2019-408
Weidinger, T. & S. Kordel (2020): Access to and Exclusion from Housing over Time: Refugees‘ Experiences in Rural Areas. International Migration (Special Issue: Post-2015 refugees in Germany: ‚Culture of welcome‘, solidarity or exclusion?), DOI: 10.1111/imig.12807