Doctoral Dissertation Research: Immigrant Integration and Gender in the Everyday: Constructing Spaces of Citizenship in Berlin

近年来，移民融入社会已成为许多移民接收国公共政策的核心问题。 一些欧洲国家目前正在废除其现有的多元文化政策，并正在采取旨在更好地促进移民融入东道国社会的新政策。 研究人员分析了移民融合和公民政策在全国范围内的变化，但通过受影响社区的当地融合项目实施这些政策的工作一直缺失。 移民在执行当地融合项目方面的作用也被忽视。 这个博士论文研究项目将研究的目标，工作，和当地的融合项目的成果在马尔扎恩，在柏林附近，有一个高度集中的最近从前苏联的德国裔移民。 博士生将寻求以下问题的答案：（1）地方项目的融合目标和公民身份的基本概念与国家和省级融合政策有何不同？ (2)参与当地融合项目的移民在多大程度上以及如何改变项目的目标和成果？ (3)男女移民在参与融合项目方面有何不同，为什么？ 学生将使用多种方法来回答这些问题。 对国家和省级融合政策文件的分析以及与地方决策者和项目负责人的专家访谈将提供关于国家、省级和地方融合目标之间差异的数据。 参与者观察，焦点小组，深入访谈和移民日记将提供有关移民如何以及为什么参与融合项目以及他们如何理解自己的融合目标的数据。 学生假设，国家和省级融合的目标和他们的基本概念的公民身份往往是挑战，并积极修改的过程中实施的地方机构。 此外，她怀疑，由于女性移民比男性更积极地参与当地融合活动，她们根据自己的不同需要制定这些项目，这项研究的结果将填补有关当地融合项目的有效性以及当地融合机构和移民如何积极参与融合目标转变方面的知识空白。 对参与项目的性别差异进行分析，将有助于深入了解男女移民如何以不同方式适应新社区。 这种见解是重要的性别敏感的融合政策，在所有主要的移民目的地国家，包括美国的公共政策日益增长的领域的制定此外，这项研究将带来奖学金的移民融合到对话的政治就与公民身份的理论观点。 最后，通过关注最近来自前苏联的德裔移民，该项目将深入了解已成为公民但在文化和社会经济上仍处于边缘地位的移民的具体融合挑战。 直到最近，这些归化移民的融合需求在融合政策的制定中很少得到重视和考虑。 作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项将提供支持，使有前途的学生建立一个强大的独立的研究生涯。

In recent years, immigrant integration has become a central public policy concern in many immigrant-receiving countries. Some European states currently are dismantling their existing multicultural policies and are adopting new policies designed to better facilitate the integration of immigrants into the host society. Researchers have analyzed the changes in immigrant integration and citizenship policies at the national scale, but work on the implementation of these policies through local integration projects in impacted neighborhoods has been missing. Also neglected has been the role of immigrants in the implementation of local integration projects. This doctoral dissertation research project will examine the goals, work, and outcomes of local integration projects in Marzahn, a neighborhood in Berlin that has a high concentration of recent ethnic German migrants from the former Soviet Union. The doctoral candidate will seek answers to the following questions: (1) How do the integration goals and the underlying concepts of citizenship of local projects differ from national and provincial integration policies? (2) To what extent and how do immigrants participating in local integration projects modify project goals and outcomes? (3) How does the engagement in integration projects differ between immigrant men and women, and why? The student will use multiple methods to answer these questions. Analysis of national and provincial integration policy documents and expert interviews with local policy makers and project leaders will provide data regarding the differences between national, and provincial, and local integration objectives. Participant observation, focus groups, in-depth interviews, and immigrant diaries will provide data regarding how and why immigrants participate in integration projects and how they understand their own integration goals. The student hypothesizes that national and provincial integration objectives and their underlying conceptions of citizenship often are challenged and actively amended in the process of implementation by local institutions. In addition, she suspects that because women migrants participate in local integration activities more actively than men, they shape these projects to suit their distinct needs.The results of this research will fill gaps in knowledge regarding the efficacy of local integration projects as well as on how local integration institutions and immigrants are actively involved in the transformation of integration objectives. Analysis of gender differences in project participation will provide insights into how immigrant men and women adapt to their new communities in different ways. Such insights are important for the formulation of gender-sensitive integration policies, a growing field of public policy in all major immigrant-destination countries, including the U.S. Furthermore, this study will bring scholarship on the politics of immigration integration into conversations regarding with theoretical perspectives on citizenship. Finally, by focusing on recent ethnic German immigrants from the former Soviet Union, the project it will provide insights into the specific integration challenges of migrants who have become citizens but remain culturally and socio-economically marginal. Until recently the integration needs of such naturalized migrants have received little attention and consideration in integration policy making. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.