Young People As Addressees of Vietnamese Migrant Organisations in Germany

Migrant self-organisations (MSOs) are highly relevant players in the education and training system and are increasingly recognized as such. While they were viewed rather critically in the past and their role in the social integration process was questioned (Hunger/Metzger 2011), they are now increasingly being supported, particularly regarding their activities offered to children and young people from migrant families, for example in the areas of cultural, linguistic or religious education (SVR 2020). The activities have a broad spectrum of local, national and transnational focuses. Nevertheless, there has been little research to date on how MSOs address young people, to what extent MSOs can also be understood as socialization spaces for children and youths, and how they differ from “classic” socialization instances (such as family, school and peer-groups). The presented study addresses this research gap and turns to the example of Vietnamese MSOs in Germany, as a community that is considered community-oriented (Nauck et al., 2017) and is characterized by a high degree of formalization (e.g. in the form of registered associations) (Schaland/Schmiz, 2016). On the basis of natural data (websites, brochures, flyers or event documentation published by associations), it is worked out how and with which offers Vietnamese MSOs address children and young people, and to what extent they present themselves as relevant spaces for the (trans-/national) socialization of young people.