Paper Short Abstract:

On the eve of a green energy transition in Central Germany, the ethnographer asked a range of participants who experienced life under socialism—former chemical factory workers of a former East German city, Halle-Neustadt, as well as postmigrant actors from former Socialist Republics now living in what is now a suburb of Halle—about how they wish to be represented. The resulting "ethnographic portraits" painted by the researcher, which include both realistic and fantastical elements, demonstrate an innovative, participatory method of engaging with ethnographic participants using multimodal, art-based research.

Paper Abstract:

This art-based, participatory research project investigates social perceptions of former East German urban environments undergoing structural change. As part of ethnographic fieldwork in Halle-Neustadt, a centrally-planned large housing estate developed in the socialist GDR in the 1960s as Chemiearbeiterstadt, “a city of chemical workers,” the ethnographer invited residents to share how they view the long transition from socialism to a polity marked by a discourse of sustainability and climate neutrality. The process of structural change echoes the transition towards German re-unification, which repudiated socialist ideology and devalued East German lifestyles. However, as former East German cities experienced population loss due to internal migration, migrants from the former Socialist Bloc found accessible housing in the vacating concrete panel-block housing estates. Owing to a lack of cross-cultural dialogue, these neighbourhoods came to be nicknamed "mentality ghettos," effectively equating where people lived, with who they were. Acknowledging the historical impact of socialism in Central Germany, how do former residents whose working-class position was elevated under socialism regard their present-day role in society? Similarly, how do actors of postmigration imagine, and creatively shape their neighbourhoods? To gauge how residents see themselves as participants in the energy transition and in wider society, and as part of art-based research, the ethnographer recorded a series of interviews asking research participants how they wish to be represented in the urban environment. Taking inspiration from these interviews, the ethnographer then painted a series of "ethnographic portraits," engaging participants in a cross-cultural dialogue on their role in Germany's green transition.