Books by Annett Fleischer
This panel brings together a number of papers from different geographic and political contexts th... more This panel brings together a number of papers from different geographic and political contexts that critically challenge the way asylum seekers and refugees are accommodated, short-, mid-and long-term. By comparing aspects of location, design and service of various accommodation site both in transit or destination countries we hope to shed light on questions regarding the responsibilities of the respective hosting states and non-state service providers such as private facility operators, charity organisations, the International Organisation of Migration (IOM) or even the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Learning from and about diverse accommodation arrangements and their respective capacities for addressing asylum seekers' needs and aspirations is expected to provide insights relevant for Critical Migration Studies within Social Sciences. The panel is particularly concerned with a problematisation of temporality of asylum seeker and refugee accommodation. Further questions of interest include: 1) What conditions do state and non-state providers for asylum seeker and refugee accommodation consider adequate for housing for asylum seekers and how did their guidelines evolve? 2) What role does accommodation play in the process of applying for asylum? 3) What measures of integration are built into accommodating asylum seekers and refugees and in which way are they decisive for conditioning and channelling their trajectories? 4) How do asylum seekers and refugees view advantages and disadvantages of decentralized versus centralized forms of accommodation?
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By retracing the paths of Cameroonian women and men to Germany, this book offers fascinating insi... more By retracing the paths of Cameroonian women and men to Germany, this book offers fascinating insights into the interplay between migration processes, nuptial and reproductive behaviour, and legal framework.
Annett Fleischer’s study explores family-related migration strategies by taking the perceptions and viewpoints of the Cameroonian migrants meticulously under consideration. The book proposes that a large number of Cameroonian migrants rely on gender-specific ways to respond to immigration and integration restrictions. It offers an innovative and thoughtful contribution to the analysis of migration phenomena and the increasingly common formation of binational families in contemporary Germany.
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Papers by Annett Fleischer
Amsterdam University Press eBooks, Dec 31, 2013
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Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG eBooks, 2023
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By retracing the paths of Cameroonian women and men to Germany, this book offers fascinating insi... more By retracing the paths of Cameroonian women and men to Germany, this book offers fascinating insights into the interplay between migration processes, nuptial and reproductive behaviour, and legal framework. Annett Fleischer's study explores family-related migration strategies by taking the perceptions and viewpoints of the Cameroonian migrants meticulously under consideration. The book proposes that a large number of Cameroonian migrants rely on gender-specific ways to respond to immigration and integration restrictions. It offers an innovative and thoughtful contribution to the analysis of migration phenomena and the increasingly common formation of binational families in contemporary Germany
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Armenians in Post-Socialist Europe, 2016
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Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 2013
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Demographic Research, 2007
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needs have different meanings for each individual asylum-seeker. What “normality” or a normal lif... more needs have different meanings for each individual asylum-seeker. What “normality” or a normal life entails, for example, is different for different cultures, lifestyles, biographies and individuals. Through interviews and focus group discussions, asylum-seekers with a range of social traits spoke of their need for normality, which the team tried to break down with their help to concrete needs, such as financial security, conservation of values and family hierarchies, privacy, decision making, having respect and dignity and a stable legal status, etc. Certainty was a major topic in many conversations and interviews. The need for certainty refers to many different spheres of life crucial for stability and being able to focus on the present and future of individuals. Many asylum-seekers live in situations that produce and reproduce uncertainties in their lives keeping them paralyzed and unable to act. Without transparency in the asylum process and certainty about Addressing the diversi...
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Introduction Until the late 1980s, migration studies emphasized the push and pull factors in the ... more Introduction Until the late 1980s, migration studies emphasized the push and pull factors in the countries of origin and destination which trigger movements of people. This approach has been widely criticized for its focus on structural and economic circumstances and factors that provide individuals with incentives to leave their country of origin and move to another place. Karen Fog Olwig (2001, 17), for example, argues that this narrow perspective “...gives the impression that migrants are pushed out of their place of origin because of extraordinary conditions, or pulled away by attractive opportunities abroad”. In the last 30 years, migration scholars increasingly stressed the significance of social aspects of migration. Classical migration theories, like the new economics of labour migration (NELM) and the social network theory consider particular the impact and involvement of family and kin on international migration decisions. NELM views migration as a family or household stra...
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ABSTRACT So far, the academic literature about the role of the family for return migration, reint... more ABSTRACT So far, the academic literature about the role of the family for return migration, reintegration and re-emigration remains scarce. This paper aims to fill this gap by taking the example of Armenian return migrants and providing an analysis of the influence of family networks on the individual’s decision-making to return, on patterns of reintegration as well as on intentions to re-emigrate. This explorative study is based on 350 structured interviews with Armenian returnees. It takes the situation before departure, the experiences abroad and the return and post-return conditions into account. In doing so, this research acknowledges the dynamic nature of migration. Besides investigating the impact of the family on emigration decisions, return motivations and reintegration circumstances, this paper examines the significance of cross-border family networks for return migrants’ plans to re-emigrate.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEGMENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ACRONYMS I INTRODUCTION ... more TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEGMENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ACRONYMS I INTRODUCTION II RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 2.1 Multi-sited ethnography 2.2 Applied methods in research locations 2.3 Selection criteria for interview partners 2.3.1 Context of origin and return: Cameroon 2.3.2 Context of destination: Germany 2.4 Analysis 2.4.1 Challenges of my research 2.4.2 Ethical issues III CREATING A MIGRATION POPULATION: POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, AND CULTURAL ASPECTS OF MIGRATION 3.1 Cameroon – ‘Afrique en miniature’ 3.2 Political history of Cameroon 3.3 The value of formal education 3.4 Internal mobility 3.4.1 Urbanization 3.4.2 Urban-rural migration 3.5 ‘La crise’ – consequences of the economic decline 3.6 Human rights situation 3.7 Social and cultural aspects of the ‘migration-hype’ 3.8 Conclusion IV FAMILY, MARRIAGE, AND REPRODUCTION IN THE SENDING CONTEXT 4.1 Wealth in people 4.2 The role of family and kin in migration processes 4.2.1 Who is considered a family in the migration process? 4.2.2 Social networks and migration 4.2.3 Nyongo 4.2.4 Selecting migrants 4.2.5 Reciprocity 4.3 Marital constellations 4.3.1 Generating wealth through marriage 4.3.2 Marriage as a process 4.3.3 Multiple forms of marriage 4.3.4 Love and affection 4.3.5 Influence of employment, education, and urbanization on marital practices 4.3.6 Gender specific pre- migrational marital behavior 4.4 The importance of children 4.4.1 The idea of fosterage 4.4.2 Being a single mother 4.4.3 Childbearing and migration planning 4.5 Conclusion V THE STRUCTURAL FRAMEWORK OF TRANSNATIONAL MIGRATION 5.1 Transnational migration 5.1.1 Theories of migration 5.1.2 Being a transmigrant 5.2 The significance of nation-states for transnational migration 5.2.1 Germany – a country of immigration? 5.2.2 Germany’s immigration history 5.2.3 The Immigration Act (Zuwanderungsgesetz) 5.2.4 Processes of inclusion and exclusion in Germany 5.3 Choice of the country of destination 5.4 Paths of immigration 5.5 Cameroonian migrants in Germany 5.5.1 Cameroonian migrants in Berlin 5.5.2 Categories of Cameroonian migrants in Germany 5.6 Insecure status 5.7 Conclusion VI LEGALITY, MARRIAGE, AND PARENTHOOD 6.1 The legal framework of marriage and parenthood 6.2 Marriage in Germany 6.3 Binational marriages in Germany 6.4 Family reunification 6.5 Parenthood 6.6 The role of authorities 6.7 Cameroonian-German marriages 6.7.1 ‘Go and find yourself a German wife!’ 6.7.2 Getting to know each other 6.7.3 Incentives for German women to marry binationally 6.7.4 Perspectives of Cameroonian men 6.7.5 Challenges of binational marriages 6.7.6 Binational marriage in Cameroon and subsequent family reunification 6.7.7 Incentives for transnational polygyny 6.7.8 Binational marriages as indicator for integration 6.8 Parenthood and Legalization 6.8.1 Cameroonian parents in Germany 6.8.2 ‘False paternity’? 6.9 Conclusion VII CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY GLOSSARY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR SURVEY “INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION”
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This statistical review shows that there exist few available data and information on return migra... more This statistical review shows that there exist few available data and information on return migration to Armenia. They focus almost exclusively on the number of removed or readmitted Armenian nationals. Regretfully, statistical data on Armenian nationals who returned to their country of origin, without being expelled, are scanty, if not non-existent. Under such circumstances, it is not possible to provide a complete statistical picture of return migration to Armenia. Existing data do not allow the stocks of returnees to be assessed properly, whereas information about migrants’ patterns of reintegration and their capacity to contribute to the development back home is missing. In addition, governmental and intergovernmental programmes on return migration and reintegration also target almost exclusively migrants who were forced to return. This emphasis seems to be politically motivated and encouraged by destination countries who are mainly concerned with the readmission of illegal migr...
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Population Dynamics in Bangladesh A case study on the causes and effects of demographic change in Bangladesh, 2010
Th e topic of “Demography and development” is becoming increasingly important in our partner coun... more Th e topic of “Demography and development” is becoming increasingly important in our partner countries and, as a result, in international cooperation as well. While it is primarily a question of three central demographic processes – high population growth, ageing and migration – the issue of security also plays a major role. A glance at current scenarios and forecasts shows that the world population will grow by 2.5 billion in the next 40 years to a total of 9.2 billion, with most of this growth taking place in developing and emerging countries. At the same time, however, there will be an increasing number of old people. Demographic changes pose a new challenge for ministries, public institutions, the private sector and civil society in our partner countries. As a result, GTZ faces the need to respond to these challenges in its current and future advisory and project work in the fi eld, especially with regard to the question of sustainability and medium- and long-term policy making ...
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Since the Autumn of 2015, Germany has received over one million asylum-seekers from a wide variet... more Since the Autumn of 2015, Germany has received over one million asylum-seekers from a wide variety of origins. In response to this massive influx of people, the Federal Republic has exceptionally engaged in the task of accommodation (providing housing and sustenance, financial support, healthcare, legal services, and language training). It is widely recognized that the next task – and one of perhaps greatest public and policy concern – is that of facilitating asylum-seekers’ “integration” (albeit a contested term referring to a broad set of social processes). Yet integration – however defined – already begins during the stage of accommodation. It is the nature of specific institutional arrangements – created during the process of accommodation – that is decisive for conditioning and channeling subsequent processes of integration. Further, integration can only proceed successfully if asylum-seekers’ own diverse needs and aspirations are addressed. Accommodation through the creation of institutional arrangements for large numbers of asylum-seekers have necessarily entailed complex organizational measures, requiring a range of actors, perspectives, strategies, and resources at various levels and scales. These intricate measures are further complicated when necessarily considering another complex set of factors: those posed by the sheer socio-cultural diversity of asylum-seekers themselves. Their extensive human diversity presents a manifold range of needs and aspirations beyond the immediate necessities of food and shelter. Recognizing the required interplay of both sets of complexities (institutional arrangements together with diverse needs and aspirations), in February 2016 a one-year pilot project was launched at the Max-Planck-Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity (MPI-MMG) (see http://www.mmg.mpg.de/project/asylum-seekers-needs/about/). The project “Addressing the diversity of needs & aspirations of asylum-seekers” has been undertaken through the auspices of a grant from the Volkswagen-Foundation. Within the project, three post-doctoral researchers – a sociologist, an anthropologist and an urban planner – supervised by the Institute’s Director and supported by research and student assistants – have employed a range of social scientific methods. The project was prepared and initiated expediently because of the urgency of the situation and the need to gather quickly and tactically a range of information in order to assess and understand best the significant processes currently unfolding across Germany. The research location, the city of Göttingen (population 116,891), was chosen not only for expediency but because – as a mid-sized German city that has received a substantial number of asylum-seekers since Autumn 2015, and which accordingly set up a wide variety of institutional responses – it represents a highly appropriate context within which to examine the issues at hand. Our approach has been premised on the observation that contemporary asylumseeker diversity – from which individuals’ distinct needs arise – is comprised of variable combinations of categories. These include: nationality, ethnicity, language(s), religion/sub-tradition, age, gender, health condition or disability, education/training, parental status, pre-migration social position (embracing class, political activity, experience of persecution), and migration history (including mode of travel, channel, duration, and institutional handling prior to arriving in a Flüchtlingsunterkunft or refugee accommodation center in Germany). It follows that, what each asylum-seeker immediately requires or requests from local institutions (concerning, for instance, family care, language acquisition, education, job placement, legal processes, health, information, communications and mobility) will vary according to the combination of these categories. The project accordingly examined: (a) how highly dissimilar, local institutional arrangements for accommodating asylum-seekers condition the nature of services and information available to them; and (b) how the variety of needs and aspirations among asylum-seekers (reflecting a range of social traits and cultural/religious backgrounds) are differentially addressed, met or unmet through the variety of institutional arrangements in the city.
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Books by Annett Fleischer
Annett Fleischer’s study explores family-related migration strategies by taking the perceptions and viewpoints of the Cameroonian migrants meticulously under consideration. The book proposes that a large number of Cameroonian migrants rely on gender-specific ways to respond to immigration and integration restrictions. It offers an innovative and thoughtful contribution to the analysis of migration phenomena and the increasingly common formation of binational families in contemporary Germany.
Papers by Annett Fleischer
Annett Fleischer’s study explores family-related migration strategies by taking the perceptions and viewpoints of the Cameroonian migrants meticulously under consideration. The book proposes that a large number of Cameroonian migrants rely on gender-specific ways to respond to immigration and integration restrictions. It offers an innovative and thoughtful contribution to the analysis of migration phenomena and the increasingly common formation of binational families in contemporary Germany.