International Migration

International migration is one of the world´s central characteristics at the beginning of the 21st century. Its causes, both in the country of origin and the country of arrival, as well as its consequences at cultural, social, economic and political levels are an integral part of the social and political order to be established. An international comparative analysis of these patterns from an interdisciplinary point of view is an important research focus of the Main Research Area Transformation of Contemporary Societies. Who migrates and why? What kinds of aspect on the meso and macro level determine individual acting and thinking? What consequences do migration flows have for companies, for the economy or for policy? Are there any “optimal” migration flows? Is international migration the standard and not the exception in a historical perspective? Are any there any kinds of cultural changes that can be observed through emigration and immigration?

Ethics of Immigration

The MERCUR Research Project on the ethics of immigration aims at a more precise and adequate understanding of the (universal) right to freedom of movement. Who may, and under what conditions, be allowed in or turned away? This question is not only philosophically important, it is also at the center of current political and social controversies. To answer this question, it is necessary to find out, for example, whether the strength and the limits of the right to freedom of movement depend on the reasons for migration or on the conditions for its realization in particular societies. The purpose of the project is, thus, to analyze political, social, and economic contexts of migration and their normative meaning. Our assumption is that the right to freedom of movement can be appropriately understood only if we take into account different reasons for migration and a range of empirical constraints.

Responsible Scientists
Prof. Dr. Andreas Niederberger (Department of Philosophy, UDE) >mehr
Prof. Dr. Volker Michael Heins (Department of Cultural Studies, UDE) >mehr
Prof. Dr. Corinna Mieth (Department of Philosophiy, RUB)
Jun.-Prof. Dr. Christian Neuhäuser (Department of Philosophy and Political Science, TU Dortmund)

Migration in Metropolises: Language use and language attitudes in the Ruhr Area

The aim of this interdisciplinary research proposal is to analyze the linguistic means and communicative strategies as well as the language attitudes of speakers living in the metropolitan Ruhr area. Three sociological and linguistic perspectives will be combined: First, Interactional Linguistics and Conversation Analysis (W. Imo), second, sociolinguistics and research in language attitudes (E. Ziegler) and, third, migration and integration research (H. Uslucan). The project intends to investigate current linguistic and attitudinal tendencies in everyday, informal spoken interactions of different speaker communities within the Ruhr area as well as phenomena regarding language contact between regional, colloquial and ethnic varieties...

Responsible Scientists
Prof. Dr. Evelyn Ziegler (Department of German Studies, UDE) > mehr
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Imo (Department of German Studies, UDE) > mehr
Prof. Dr. Haci-Halil Uslucan (Department of Turkish Studies, UDE) > mehr