Arenas of fragile alliance making. Space and interaction in precarious migrant protest in Berlin and Vienna

ABSTRACT

Comparing migrant protests in Berlin and Vienna, this article analyses dynamics of alliance making in precarious mobilizations. It suggests that a ‘players and arenas’ perspective allows shedding light on the contentious and fragile interactions among a heterogeneous set of players typical for protests in contexts of marginalization. These interactive dynamics involve migrants with various legal status and social backgrounds as well as supporting grassroots activists and NGOs. The article furthermore illustrates how the specific characteristics and locations of protest arenas, as camps or as occupied buildings influence alliance (un)making and hence, contribute to protest incubation and fragmentation.

KEYWORDS:

• Asylum
• migrant protest
• arenas
• space
• alliances
• interactions

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Interviews

Interview V1, Migrant, male, 3 January 2014

Interview V2, Migrant, male, 4 January 2014

Interview V3, Migrant, male, January 2014

Interview V4, Supporter, female, January 2014

Interview V5, Supporter, male, 19 December 2013

Interview B1, Migrant, female, 31 May 2016

Interview B2, Supporter, female, 19 June 2016

Interview B3, Migrant, male, 4 July 2016

Interview B4, Migrant, male, 1 July 2016

Interview B5, NGO, female, 24 August 2016

Interview B6, Migrant, female, 1 September 2016

Interview B7, Supporter, male, 5 September 2016

Interview B8, Supporter, male, 26 March 2017

Source B9, Migrant, female, Transcript of Third-Party Video-Interview (Source masked)

Notes

1. Both authors have contributed equally to this article.

2. Called ‘Duldung’ in Germany and Austria.

3. Nicholls and Uitermark’s (2016) work is also inspired by an interactionist perspective, yet, they have applied the notion of ‘players’ and ‘arenas’ more metaphorically and opted for a (compelling) historical and spatial perspective, instead. For a more extensive elaboration on interactive dynamics in precarious mobilizations see Steinhilper (forthcoming).

4. See also Chimienti (2011).

5. A small group of activists remained in the building until January 2018, yet, due to strict access policies etc. the occupation lost its autonomous character after an eviction attempt in summer 2014, after which many inhabitants accepted incentives and left the premise. See also analysis below.

6. For similar developments in Vienna see Ataç (2016).

7. See also Banerjee (2020) as well as Zajak et al. (2020).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ilker Ataç

Ilker Ataç is a professor at the Department of Social Welfare in the University of Applied Sciences Fulda. Previously, he was a post-doctoral research fellow at the Department of Political Science at the University of Vienna. His research interests are in the area of citizenship studies, irregular migration, social movements, civil society and social policies. He is editor of the journal Movements. His work has appeared in several book chapters and in international academic journals including in Citizenship Studies, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies among others.

Elias Steinhilper

Elias Steinhilper is a postdoctoral researcher at the German Centre for Integration and Migration Research (DeZIM) in Berlin and Member of the Centre on Social Movement Studies (COSMOS) in Florence. Trained as political sociologist inBerlin, Freiburg and Florence, he has a particular interest in migration, political conflict, protest and human rights. His research has been published in various peer-reviewed journals including Sociology, Social Movement Studies, International  Migration and Critical Sociology.