The German Migration Integration Regime: Syrian Refugees, Bureaucracy, and Inclusion

Book Launch

4th December 2023, 3.30-5.00pm, online
Register here.

Speakers:

• Morgan Etzel (author), The Federal Agency for Civic Education (Germany)
• Prof. Dr. Nando Sigona, Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology, Chair of International Migration and Forced Displacement, Director of IRiS, University of Birmingham.
• Dr. Céline Barry Centre for Interdisciplinary Gender Studies, Technical University Berlin
• Dr. Molly Fee, Nuffield College, University of Oxford

Regimes of mobility around the globe have for decades be used to both theorize and describe the complex system of norms, laws and actors involved in perpetually evolving exclusionary migration pathways. The newly published book by Morgan Etzel in Bristol University Press’s series Global Migration and Social Change analysis these themes with particular focus on conditional inclusion. This panel of international experts on migration and social exclusion are brought together to discuss themes of migration regimes, bureaucracy and the racialization of refugees in the context of the newly published book.

About the book

Syrian refugees who gained asylum in Germany following the so-called refugee crisis in 2015 quickly entered into an ‘integration regime’ which produced a binary notion of ‘well integrated’ migrants versus refugees falling short of the narrow social and political definitions of a ‘good’ refugee.

Etzel’s rich ethnographic study shows how refugees navigated this conditional inclusion. While some asylum seekers gained international protection, others were left with limited agency to demand government accountability for the ever-moving target of integration. Putting a spotlight on the inconsistencies and failings of a universal approach to integration, this is an important contribution to the wider field of migration and anthropology of the state.

Format

Each panellist will give highlight a particularly challenging area of inquiry in their field in relation to migration, bureaucracy and racism, followed by a brief comment on the book. The author will present a brief overview of the book and respond to the comments in turn. The discussion will then take place, including questions from the audience.

Register here!