Dr. Johannes Becker
Orhan Nassif

This comparative project investigates the development of we-images, mutual disregard or conflicts between migrants of a higher “social age” and newcomers of the same ethno-religious grouping. Taking the example of Assyrian/Aramean migrants it compares their histories of settling/settlement and their incorporation in local figurations with “old-established” and other migrant groupings. It also explores the consequences of renewed influx of members of the same grouping in the same local arrival contexts. The project puts a focus on the significance of differing collective histories, collective memories and nationalities of migrants already present and those moving in.

The analysis of two local arrival contexts of Assyrians/Arameans in Eastern Westphalia (Germany) and in Amman (Jordan) is representative of figurations of migrant groupings which are influenced to this day by processes of state-building and violent conflicts in the Middle East. In roughly the past two decades Assyrian/Aramean migrants from Iraq and Syria have moved to Eastern Westphalia and Amman. However, in both contexts there is a long-established community of migrants who have considered themselves as Assyrians/Arameans for decades – in Germany mainly Turkish-speaking, in Amman mainly Arabic-speaking.

The focus of the project is on the following questions:

• In the light of complex local figurations and options of belonging, to what extent do the members of the local grouping of Assyrians/Arameans develop we-images which are connected to the formation of a local “community”?
• To what extent does a renewed influx of migrants with differing collective histories lead to transformations of we-images and of everyday life, to internal differentiation and conflicts?

These two central aspects – complex local figurations and differing collective histories – are connected. They show which role similar and different historical perspectives play in processes of (not) getting together, and how this leads to changes in figurations with members of further migrant or old-established groupings. The methodological approach, a combination of sociological biographical research and figurational sociology, sharpens our view of the socio-historical dimensions of the topic and avoids an atomistic focus on one grouping. By examining the definition, size and composition of migrant groupings in their dynamics, the project makes an important conceptual contribution to processes of social boundary-making and to the analysis of internal differentiations in migrant groupings using a comparative approach.