PhD project
The project examines anti-racist activism among individuals in the Federal Republic of Germany who organized as “MigrantInnen” (“immigrants”), tracing its emergence in the 1980s through the decline of such activities in the 2000s. Predominantly descendants of so-called “guest workers,” these actors formed anti-racist groups in West German cities shaped by migration in response to the so-called “conjuncture of racism”. The activists understood “racism” as a structural feature of society that could affect different social groups. They sought to combat racism across lines of origin while linking their activism to demands for political and social rights.
At that time, the efforts of people socialized in the Federal Republic and raised in immigrant families to establish an autonomous social movement remained largely overlooked in both public discourse and scholarship. This project therefore centers on these forms of migrant self-organization and their networks through a microhistorical study of three groups. The analysis focuses on activists’ narratives, their mobilization strategies, and their forms of protest.
Methodologically, the project adopts a multi-perspective approach and draws on a variety of sources. In particular, private collections of former activists are analyzed and read alongside press materials and records produced by state actors. This combination of sources makes it possible to reconstruct both internal group dynamics and the broader societal reception of this activism.
By bringing migration and protest into a shared analytical framework, the project addresses a gap in the historiography of protest while foregrounding migrants as historical actors in their own right. In doing so, it contributes to a reorientation of the historiography of the Federal Republic. Situated at the intersection of migration history, the history of racism, and protest history, the project also advances the analysis of power relations and social inequality.
