Paper short abstract:

This study explores urban/social changes in a German city, caused by post-1990s migration from the former USSR. Focusing on a new neighbourhood dubbed “the East”, it reveals a dynamic process of “being with”, challenging East/West dichotomies and showcasing interdependencies and transformations.

Paper long abstract:

In this paper, I explore the process of urban and social reconfiguration in a southwestern German city, caused by migration of people from the former Soviet Union since the 1990s. Drawing on seven months of ethnographic research conducted in 2022, I trace the urban construction of a new neighbourhood, referred to by some local residents as “the East” in the Western context – a space perceived as “oriental” and problematised in a way that reinforces the opposition between the “self” and the “other”. However, contrary to simplistic East/West dichotomies or narratives of a segregated and abandoned space, in this paper I uncover a dynamic process of “being with” in a world of mutual urban interdependencies, ontological differences, and transformations caused by migration. By analysing how “being with” is enacted daily, I argue, it is possible to see “East” and “West” as adaptable categories, influenced by continuous boundary-making and remaking, by everyday interactions and the engagement of different actors. “Being with” thus marks a reality of ambiguity in the context of post-Cold War Europe rather than polarity, serving as a backdrop from which something new can emerge.