“Émeutes” in France in 2005, “riots” in Northern England in 2001 – violent disturbances by youth from ethnic backgrounds appear to be characteristic for multicultural societies. Those incidents evoke a „déjà-vu“ – France and Britain have experienced disturbances before. In the respective countries the riots often motivate re-evaluation of current interpretations of the concepts of „nation“, „community“ and „integration“: Sometimes the evolving discourses question „multiculturalism“ in general as well as the success of specific liberal politics of integration and/or diversity. On the other hand, those debates are also used to constructively analyse and re-adjust existing integration and diversity policies and to design new programmes.

Up to now, there have not been any such upheavals in Germany . This seems ironic because Germany considers itself a multicultural society to a much lesser extent than the other two countries In addition, it arguably has a shorter track record in the development and implementation of specific policies. Is it mere coincidence that the streets are not burning in Germany ?

The two-day conference intended to be a mutual learning process: Participants from all countries were invited to initiate an informal network on how to cope with „banlieues“ in the future. This event was particularly interesting for German participants since it provided insight and stimulation for Germany 's own spatial and integration policies.

This conference was jointly organised by the Georg-Simmel-Centre for Metropolitan Studies Berlin and the Heinrich Boell Foundation in co-operation with the British Council Germany.
Source: The organisers

Date: 26 - 27 January 2007

Venue: Humboldt Universität, Senatssaal, Unter den Linden 6,
10117 Berlin