New Challenges and Changing Opportunities: The Differing Responses of Transnational Solidarity Organisations in Germany

Ulrike Zschache

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-49659-3_4

Abstract

AbstractIn her study of the German case, Zschache shows that the activism and discourse of local transnational solidarity organisations (TSOs) in Germany display a considerable amount of similarities. In particular, the author argues that solidarity work has become more political, insisting more strongly on an advocatory, rights-based approach. She also draws attention to the importance of collaboration as a means to enhance the effectivity of solidarity work and to promote mutual empowerment as a crucial principle of solidarity. Moreover, the author offers new insights into how TSOs react to changing circumstances, engage in joint learning and promote innovations. In this context, the discourse of solidarity that seeks to transcend specific target groups and commits to a more integrated, cross-sectoral approach is particularly salient.

Highlights

Transnational Solidarity in Challenging TimesThe late summer of 2015 was the momentum for a new wave of transnational solidarity in German civil society
Since August 2015, the German government had temporarily suspended the Dublin Regulations. It opened the borders for people arriving along the Balkan route via Greece and Hungary and abstained from sending asylum seekers back to the countries of their first entry to the European Union (EU)
Before the backdrop of the difficulties of the German authorities to cope with the situation, a new civic engagement emerged in the name of the so-called new German “welcome culture”

Summary

Introduction

Transnational Solidarity in Challenging TimesThe late summer of 2015 was the momentum for a new wave of transnational solidarity in German civil society. Since August 2015, the German government had temporarily suspended the Dublin Regulations It opened the borders for people arriving along the Balkan route via Greece and Hungary and abstained from sending asylum seekers back to the countries of their first entry to the European Union (EU). Transnational solidarity was practised in manifold forms, with refugees and asylum seekers in Germany and with refugees in the European border regions most visibly affected by the new migrant and refugee movements (for instance, in Greece and Italy), along the travel routes (such as the Mediterranean Sea) or in transition countries outside Europe

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