Cologne Summer Research Academy 2025
Abstract
DiaMiGo II builds upon the foundations of DiaMiGo I, an exchange project that examined contemporary transformations and debates surrounding migration between Europe and the North African Mediterranean region. This follow-up project adopts a decolonial perspective to critically explore and compare divergent understandings of “integration”, inclusion, and exclusion. At the heart of our Summer Research Academy is a critical reading of the concept of “integration” as well as a focus on (forced) migrants’ agency and resistance.
Our analysis focuses on Germany and Egypt—two countries with markedly different migration histories, discourses, and policies. In the Global North, particularly in Germany, the “integration” of migrants and refugees remains a central and contested issue in both academic and policy debates. By contrast, in the Global South, including Egypt, policy discussions on migration take different forms, as most governments have not traditionally considered their countries as destinations for long-term settlement.
Despite the lack of formal “integration” policies in many Global South countries, migrants and refugees frequently develop their own strategies to navigate processes of de facto self-integration. These informal models, often grounded in “community social capital”, remain largely unrecognized in national and international policy discussions. In Egypt, for instance, migrant and refugee communities have established Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) and community schools that serve as both social hubs and service providers—though they often face significant governmental restrictions.
The DiaMiGo Research Academy is a collaboration between the University of Cologne and the American University of Cairo. It consists of two parts: the upcoming Summer Research Academy in Cologne (31 May - 04 June 2025) and a Spring Research Academy to be held in Cairo in early 2026.
