Send message to Author

Paper short abstract

This comparative research discusses the cultural, political, and social activities of highly qualified, politically engaged refugees and immigrants from Syria, Ukraine, and Turkey living in Germany. It addresses 'how prior activism translates into new political, social, and artistic forms of life.'

Paper long abstract

Political activism and participation are central to migration research. However, migrants and refugees often face barriers that restrict their political, economic, and cultural participation. Since the wars in Syria (2011) and Ukraine (2022), Germany has welcomed many highly qualified professionals, including academics, political activists, and journalists. Despite the introduction of language and orientation courses, as well as improved citizenship policies since 2024, deeper structural barriers to ‘labor market integration’ and societal-political participation persist for many.

Conversely, politically active and critical migrants and refugees from the Global South continue to engage in activism, finding alternative ways to participate in politics in the Global North. They achieve this by reorganizing and re-establishing themselves through critical networks, which comprise critical locals and transnational actors. These networks enable solidarity to be developed, collective organization to be established, and socio-political environments to be shaped. They also sustain forms of resistance and political participation, enabling these political activists to renegotiate their sense of belonging in the Global North, particularly in Germany.

This comparative research examines the cultural, political, and social activities of highly qualified refugees and immigrants from Syria, Ukraine, and Turkey who are continuing their political activism in Germany. The research aims to address the question of how prior activism translates into new political, social, and artistic forms of life in Germany, shaping the future of these political activists and positively affecting other forced migrants and refugees.

Keywords: Political activism; highly qualified activists; immigrants and refugees from Ukraine, Syria, and Turkey; the Global North; Germany.