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Abstract:

My research is devoted to the mobilities of Central Asian female migrants in Germany through public transport. Based on primary and secondary data, I tried to understand how women adapted and integrated into Germany. To what extent is public transit involved in the integration process, taking its material, physical, and socio-cultural role and position? According to data analysis, 99% of female migrants use public transport daily, having at least two stops during a journey.

In contrast to public transit in the home country, the gender-friendly designed public transport in Germany becomes an essential source in realizing the goals and plans of central Asian female migrants. Whether they work or study, live a year or twenty years, the efficiency of public transit makes them more mobile, well-experienced, and self-confident. Experiencing mobility with no or fewer constraints or discomforts is also about having the right to the city and space. They can easily navigate the city, traveling to work, shopping, or leisure activities. “The ability to move freely is an essential human right and an enabler of individuals’ participation in social and economic life, ” says recent research conducted in South American cities (Why does She Move, 2020). My informants were divided into three categories. The first group was young women who studied and worked in Germany. Another group is women who work as professional scholars, lawyers, musicians, businesswomen, and NGOs. The third category is women having children. Besides, I interviewed two non-central Asians who had come from the USA to Germany as educational and professional migrants. I also interviewed three experts on mobility and public transport, who significantly understood transport policy and its modernization since the 2000s. Besides, 31 participants filled out an online survey designed on Google Drive.

The theoretical part is based on “Motility” and “Mobility capital" by Vincent Kaufmann (2004). In Kaufman’s words, ‘motility’ is the potential to move people, goods, and information in the spatial-geographical and social contexts. Consequently, it is attached to the development of the mobility capital. Such patterns characterize motility as access, competence, and appropriation. In the case of female migrants in Germany, public transport is thus a sufficient opportunity to efficiently realize their social mobility toward integration into the host country.