Accessing Citizenship and Belonging - Networking for a Collaborative Funding Proposal

Short-Term Scientific Mission Blog: Field Notes

Grantee name: Dr. Susan Beth Rottmann

Details of the STSM:

Title: Accessing Citizenship and Belonging – Networking for a Collaborative Funding Proposal

Start and end date: 12/05/2024 to 18/05/2024

Home Country: Turkey

Host Country: Austria

This STSM in May 2024 brought together researchers in two COST actions (CA21120 and CA22135) via a week-long stay at the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OEAW) for Asst. Prof. Dr. Susan Beth Rottmann, an anthropologist at Ozyegin University-Turkey. Rottmann’s stay was hosted by a senior scholar at the OEAW and deputy director of the Institute for Urban and Regional Research (ISR), Ursula Reeger, a geographer with expertise in urban diversity and societal transformation processes. During the week, Rottmann and Reeger were joined by Ivan Jospipovic, a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science, University of Vienna. Josipovic is a member of CA22135 DATA-MIG, “Data Matters: Sociotechnical Challenges of European Migration and Border Control”. Both the DATA-MIG project and Josipovic’s work relate closely to the topics of HIDDEN and in particular to the WG3 interest in researching citizenship regimes, which made presentations and discussions of both projects highly valuable. Josipovic and Rottmann discussed the possibility of incorporating “data activism” (documentation of human rights violations), which is an interest of Josipovic, into future research on ID and border governance. The two also discussed the possibility of joint activities among the two COST actions in the coming years.

The STSM was the start of collaborative work on a joint funding proposal preliminarily titled, “Accessing Citizenship and Belonging.” Throughout the week, the three engaged in extensive brainstorming as well as sharing information about each person’s research and the context of ID and migration in Austria and Turkey. In line with HIDDEN WG3’s aims, we discussed studying how “states hinder or help citizens accessing ID” and more specifically how uncertain legal status or changing ID requirements affect feelings of belonging. The funding proposal that Rottmann, Reeger, and Josipovic plan centres on the scholars’ existing research in Turkey and Austria and the relationship between ID documents and belonging. Most of the scholarly research on ID documents focuses on state practices, but a key research question is how documents – the ones we possess and the ones we do not – affect belonging. The planned proposal focuses on continuing and deepening the study of ID and belonging and building a comparative framework for studying Turkey, Austria and New York as well as 2-3 other countries.

Working Group 3 ‘Accessing citizenship’ focuses on the historical and present ways in which citizenship regimes have provided or prevented, people from accessing their ID as well as challenges within and beyond the EU stemming from changing citizenship laws. The STSM was closely related to this topic, focusing on the “role of IDs in everyday life,” and the link between migrant integration, citizenship, belonging and gender. This STSM also addressed a specific goal of WG3, which is to prepare a funding bid.

The STSM allowed Rottmann to interact with researchers in Austria from diverse disciplinary backgrounds (Geography, Political Science, Economic and Social History) and to explore new research methodologies, approaches, and perspectives. It provided an excellent opportunity to strengthen ties with scholars who study ID, citizenship and migration in Europe. In addition to her hosts, Rottmann met with Sigrid Wadauer, a historian at the University of Vienna and an MC member of CA21120 and the two discussed future collaborations surrounding narrative research on migrants’ stories. By presenting her own research findings, in a talk titled, European Migration Aspirations and Public Space Belonging of Syrian and Afghan Migrants in Istanbul, Rottmann increased recognition of her work among her peers and helped to build her university’s international profile.

A highlight of the visit that really clarified the planned research proposal’s aims was a field visit to Reumannplatz, which is known as an area with high immigration. Prof. Dr. Reeger led Rottmann through Reumannplatz, and explained how it is publicly reported to be “dangerous.” Austrian politicians often claim that they are going to “fix the problems” in the area. It has been the site of several large pro-immigration rallies (and counter-rallies). (For more background information on the space of Reumannplatz, see this blog post co-authored by Reeger.) In contrast to the city centre, one sees more diverse restaurants (e.g. kebap shops, Arabic writing) and styles of dress, most notably, head scarves. The sense of a need for security on the part of state actors is clear. For example, I include a photograph I took of a sign proclaiming that video surveillance is taking place. We also noticed a police car prominently parked in the area.

Yet, our visit could not have been more peaceful, indicating a stark gap between how immigrant spaces are often reported on in the mass media and by politicians and the reality – a phenomenon that is also common in Turkey. There were several small groups of people eating and chatting and even a group of women taking a dance class, but there was no sense of actual threat from any individuals there. We did not observe any homelessness, substance abuse or aggressive and disturbing behaviours. That said, we did discuss the fact that feelings about spaces can change due to varying socio-political developments and even according to the time of day. ID matters here: Reeger explained that there are large numbers of male asylum seekers (many from Afghanistan) in Vienna who are not allowed to work while their claim is being evaluated, which can be a lengthy process. Thus, groups of men may be seen spending time in Reumannplatz with little to occupy them. There is thus a gendered aspect to locals’ concerns about migration in this case. Importantly, although commentators say that they should be at work and “contributing to society,” their inability to do so is not their fault, but directly the result of not having the “right ID.”

Overall, it seems like the sense of fear of migrants in Vienna is greater than any physical threat they might actually pose to individuals. The question remains: how can we address the symbolic threat that immigrants sometimes pose to locals’ belonging? How can we normalize migration and diversity and combat anti-immigrant extremism? These are topics that Rottmann and Reeger would like to explore further in the future as such issues are also quite prominent in Istanbul. Importantly, residents of Reumannplatz are not silently enduring their treatment – we noticed a grafitti on the square saying “Out with FPO,” which refers to the anti-immigrant far-right, Freedom Party of Austria. Even such small political messages can be a way of reclaiming public space. The insights from this visit will be highly useful for drawing comparisons between Istanbul and Vienna in a proposal for research funding in the coming months.