“It is a Power-Political Struggle between the Levels” - An Explorative Case Study of Local-Level Refugee Support Practices in Berlin and Brandenburg
(2025) SIMZ11 20251Graduate School
- Abstract
- This master’s thesis explores municipal and civil society refugee support practices in Berlin and Brandenburg, Germany during the current crisis of insecurity. Centering the question of how local-level support can oppose an excluding global precarization of refugees, the thesis works with an experiential puzzle to explore the subjective views of civil society and municipal actors in the realm of migration.
Theoretically, a unique framework for social justice for the vulnerable group of refugees in societies of arrival has been developed. Using a qualitative deductive approach, eight guided interviews with civil society actors and public municipal employees from Berlin and different municipalities in Brandenburg have been conducted and... (More) - This master’s thesis explores municipal and civil society refugee support practices in Berlin and Brandenburg, Germany during the current crisis of insecurity. Centering the question of how local-level support can oppose an excluding global precarization of refugees, the thesis works with an experiential puzzle to explore the subjective views of civil society and municipal actors in the realm of migration.
Theoretically, a unique framework for social justice for the vulnerable group of refugees in societies of arrival has been developed. Using a qualitative deductive approach, eight guided interviews with civil society actors and public municipal employees from Berlin and different municipalities in Brandenburg have been conducted and analyzed using thematic qualitative text analysis. The analysis found that refugee support practices in Berlin and Brandenburg are mainly of a local and of a national scope, especially in rural spaces. The increasingly restrictive migration policies at the national level lead to an erosion of long-established relationships between some public entities and civil society actors and between different public entities. The absence of the state as a caregiver has caused struggles over competences with local actors. To generate more social justice, the findings suggest a redistribution of administrative power by strengthening municipal and civil society competences in migration policy making to even out the human rights endangering power hegemony of the nation state. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9192926
- author
- Schmidt, Annemarie LU
- supervisor
-
- Max Koch LU
- organization
- course
- SIMZ11 20251
- year
- 2025
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- crisis of insecurity, refugee, local, solidarity
- language
- English
- id
- 9192926
- date added to LUP
- 2025-06-27 12:47:29
- date last changed
- 2025-06-27 12:47:29
@misc{9192926,
abstract = {{This master’s thesis explores municipal and civil society refugee support practices in Berlin and Brandenburg, Germany during the current crisis of insecurity. Centering the question of how local-level support can oppose an excluding global precarization of refugees, the thesis works with an experiential puzzle to explore the subjective views of civil society and municipal actors in the realm of migration.
Theoretically, a unique framework for social justice for the vulnerable group of refugees in societies of arrival has been developed. Using a qualitative deductive approach, eight guided interviews with civil society actors and public municipal employees from Berlin and different municipalities in Brandenburg have been conducted and analyzed using thematic qualitative text analysis. The analysis found that refugee support practices in Berlin and Brandenburg are mainly of a local and of a national scope, especially in rural spaces. The increasingly restrictive migration policies at the national level lead to an erosion of long-established relationships between some public entities and civil society actors and between different public entities. The absence of the state as a caregiver has caused struggles over competences with local actors. To generate more social justice, the findings suggest a redistribution of administrative power by strengthening municipal and civil society competences in migration policy making to even out the human rights endangering power hegemony of the nation state.}},
author = {{Schmidt, Annemarie}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{“It is a Power-Political Struggle between the Levels” - An Explorative Case Study of Local-Level Refugee Support Practices in Berlin and Brandenburg}},
year = {{2025}},
}