Intercultural Gardens: The Use of Space by Migrants and the Practice of Respect

ABSTRACT:

The experience of intercultural gardens entails questions of respect and of use of space. By definition, being a migrant means being in search of a new space of life. Migrants often lack spaces of interaction outside the limits of their home and work environments, spaces that would allow them to construct social capital. This place of interaction can be considered a human fundamental need that is essential for integration into a society. Intercultural gardens respond to a specific need of migrants, implying the active respect and collaboration of other societal actors and offering a space for practicing self- and mutual respect. Examination of the experience of intercultural gardens will help us understand how the use of space by migrants can be constitutive of respect and important for the realization of self-respect.

Notes

This article is based on the results of a workshop organized at the Technische Universität Darmstadt in October 2010 with founders and members of intercultural gardens.

In French, they were renamed jardins familiaux to emphasize their recreational dimension.

In the 1990s, by the time the experience of intercultural gardens started in Germany, there were many refugees of the Balkan region involved.

An approach which has caused concerns on the part of the municipality because of the absence of an identifiable legal partner.

The evangelical and Catholic churches in Germany enjoy the status of “corporations of public law” (Ferretti & Moulin-Doos, ) and are among the largest landowners in the country.

Scholars have tried to come up with more precise subcategories (see Chiodelli & Moroni, ).

“The association aims to promote international attitude, tolerance in all areas of culture and international understanding” [Der Verein dient der Förderung internationaler Gesinnung, der Toleranz auf allen Gebieten der Kultur und des Völkerverständigungsgedankens]. Stiftung Interkultur, Modelstatute §2. Retrieved June 30, 2011, from http://www.stiftung-interkultur.de/dmdocuments/Mustersatzung%20Interkulturelle%20G%C3%A4rten.pdf

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Notes on contributors

Claire Moulin-Doos

Claire Moulin-Doos completed her thesis in Political Theory at the University of Bremen, Germany. She was a Research Assistant at the Technische Universität Darmstadt by the time she wrote the present article. She now teaches at the University of Bremen both in legal and political departments. Her research focuses on political and legal theory, theory of democracy and political disobedience.