PI: Claudia Ba, TU Darmstadt
This research project examines the orientation practices of ethnic minorities, referred to as New Arrivals, in secondary cities in Germany and Senegal. The research participants are Senegalese arriving in Freiburg and Germans arriving in Saint-Louis. Whilst the social orientation of long-term migrants is considered a well-researched topic, little is known about the initial socio-spatial orientation upon arrival and the multifaceted meanings that New Arrivals ascribe to socially constructed space. Furthermore, this comparative approach opens new perspectives on global inequalities in South-North/North-South migration. The aim of the project is to address several research gaps: 1) to investigate orientation practices in situ upon arrival; 2) to capture the diversity of current constructions of otherness and coping strategies among New Arrivals; and 3) to develop an expanded concept of orientation that incorporates New Arrivals’ self-positioning and modes of subjectification. This exploratory qualitative study combines ethnographic and visual methods from sociology, and anthropology. With the new arrivals, the research focuses on conducting in-depth qualitative interviews and video-recorded city walks (Go-Alongs) in their respective cities. Selected sequences from the video-recorded Go-Alongs are then used for the auto-confrontation method, in which the New Arrivals can discuss the interpreted videos with the researcher. This allows for not only a participatory examination of the data but also the recording of the New Arrivals’ changing perceptions. In close collaboration with Senegalese scholars in the humanities and history, language barriers are overcome and the interpretations and potential biases are critically examined. The collaboration takes place alternately at Darmstadt Technical University and at Senegalese universities to ensure a continuous bilateral and transdisciplinary exchange. The central empirical question is how New Arrivals orient themselves in relation to gender, age, socialisation and resources, how they experience or explain disorientation, and how they cope with its consequences. In addition, the project pursues two secondary objectives: firstly, it aims to contribute to urban and spatial sociology by employing an expanded concept of orientation; secondly, it seeks to initiate a Senegalese-German academic dialogue on orientation and concepts of social spaces.