Abstract
Abstract The role of municipalities in migrant integration in post-war European history has largely slipped below the radar in previous migration research. Our special issue presents case studies on how Bristol, Dortmund, Malmö, Mannheim, Stuttgart and Utrecht managed migrant influxes from the mid-1940s to 1960s. Following interdisciplinary advances in local migration studies, our urban histories take a diversity of approaches, present diverse temporalities, and uncover municipal responses that range from generosity to indifference and to outright hostility. In all six cities, despite such diversity in local attitudes and municipal policies, municipal authorities had significant impacts on migrants’ lives. The introductory article explores how our urban perspectives contribute to scholarship on reconstruction and the post-war boom; welfare; democracy and citizenship; and European integration. Using local migration as a lens into postwar European history, we argue, provides important new insights for the historiography of postwar Europe.
Highlights
Following interdisciplinary advances in local migration studies, our urban histories take a diversity of approaches, present diverse temporalities, and uncover municipal responses that range from generosity to indifference and to outright hostility
The introductory article explores how our urban perspectives contribute to scholarship on reconstruction and the post-war boom; welfare; democracy and citizenship; and European integration
Using local migration as a lens into postwar European history, we argue, provides important new insights for the historiography of postwar Europe
Summary
Migration history of post-war Europe has focused on the processes and aftermaths of forced migrant labour, the redrawing of borders in the 1940s (by governments and through bottom-up social violence) and mass population displacements, the harrowing histories of which serve as a tragic bridge between the Second World War and the creation of a new normal by the 1950s. For this reason the commonalities but more so the contrasts the articles bring out between the three German cities with one another, in addition to with their British, Dutch, and Swedish counterparts, serve to remind us that though national frameworks matter in how migrants are received in localities, they are less determinative than is generally realised and often leave considerable room for autonomy for local actors and officials to shape the culture and policies of migrant reception This approach builds on existing historiography that emphases the impact of regional differences on how migrants have been treated, especially in the Federal Republic of Germany.[22] Further, by focusing exclusively on mid-size European cities that received significant numbers of migrants in the post-war period, the special issue avoids a bias in migration studies to privilege only the largest cities, referred to as ‘global cities’ in social-science research, which are more likely to become ‘superdiverse’ cities.[23] Mid-size cities offer a broader and more representative sample of how migration has affected urban societies and vice versa than a focus solely on metropolises like Amsterdam, London, and Paris.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
