Paper short abstract:

Following thousands of asylum seekers arriving at Munich's train station in 2015, the bavarian initiative "integration through vocational training and work" was launched. Which new visions of work evolve in the context of crisis and uncertainty?

Paper long abstract:

As a result of the critical number of 1 Mio. asylum seekers arriving in Germany in 2015, many economic programmes have been launched to facilitate labour integration. While before, the megatrend of deindustrialization was ostensible, the economy now has two megatrends: de-industrialization and labour integration of refugees. This presentation looks at constraints and opportunities of the political and economic initiative "integration through vocational training and work" which has been launched by the bavarian economy, the state government and the public job agency. As an anthropologist I look at the interplay of asylum seekers' expectations and visions in entering work and education in Germany, the employers' realities and the political as well as the public context. Addressing these tensions, I explore the different scales of value in economic life - from top-down to bottom-up - which are under constant negotiation in this situation of uncertainty and instability regarding social development, collective action and individual life planning.