The (Re)Construction of Migration Biographies through Citizenship. Ambivalences of Integrationism in Germany

Integration, a concept that has long been the subject of controversy in academia and civil society, appears to have undergone a remarkable revival in public debates and the political management of migration in Germany since 2015, particularly in light of the so-called 'refugee crisis.' In many other 'arrival contexts,' integrationist (or assimilationist) thinking also plays a crucial role in negotiating relationships between migrants and non-migrants and, more broadly, within the structure of migration and citizenship regimes. Integrationism can be understood as a social order of access and belonging, produced and reproduced through a complex bundle of legal and administrative procedures, everyday practices of 'doing differences,' and moral claims regarding the legitimacy of positionalities and inequality.

In this presentation, I will share empirical findings on the biographies and experiences of people who fled the civil war in Syria for Germany, examining integrationism as a component of 'doing migration,' 'doing citizenship,' and 'doing difference.' How do integrationist practices and discourses in the 'arrival context' relate to the (re)construction of biography, particularly when life histories are shaped by the experience of fleeing collective violence? What diverging consequences does integrationism have for the (re)construction of the temporal order of one’s life, specifically regarding the relationships between past, present, and future? How do experiences of state-subject relations change in the context of varying family and life histories? I will argue that 'individual' responses to and consequences of integrationism are intricately intertwined with overall biographical processes, particularly regarding how positions within various figurations, such as transnational networks, shift throughout the course of flight. Furthermore, integrationism not only relies on the construction of differences between migrants and non-migrants but also involves morally charged practices of 'doing difference' within migrant groupings.