Modellprojekt Interkulturelle Stadtentwicklung—Handlungsempfehlungen für die Praxis

Die Frage nach der Gestaltung von Zuwanderung ist in der Debatte um das Zuwanderungsgesetz vor allem auf diejenigen fokussiert worden, die noch kommen werden. Zugewanderte gestalten unsere Städte und Gemeinden jedoch bereits seit mehr als 40 Jahren aktiv mit: zum einen als Bewohner und Arbeitnehmer, zunehmend aber auch als Investoren und Gewerbetreibende. Und der Blick auf die Prognosen zur Bevölkerungsentwicklung zeigt, daß ihr Anteil an der Gesamtbevölkerung und damit auch ihr Einfluß auf die Stadt- und Wirtschaftsentwicklung weiter zunehmen. Deutlich ist: Zur Gestaltung der Zuwanderung bedarf es mehr als eines neuen Zuwanderungsgesetzes. Zugewanderte müssen die Chancen haben, sich aktiv an der Gestaltung unserer Innenstädte zu beteiligen. Lebenswerte Städte brauchen das Engagement aller Bevölkerungsgruppen. Bisher ist aber die Beteiligung von Zuwanderern bei raumrelevanten Fragestellungen trotz vielfältiger Ansätze immer noch nicht selbstverständlich. Der Bedarf der stärkeren Beteiligung von Zugewanderten besteht daher sowohl von Seiten der Migrantenvertreter als auch von Seiten der Fachverwaltungen. Dabei setzt sich die Planungsphilosophie durch, daß nicht für, sondern gemeinsam mit Zugewanderten geplant werden muß. Vor diesem Hintergrund hat die Stadt- und Regionalplanung Dr. Paul G. Jansen GmbH von 2001 bis 2003 mit Unterstützung des Ministeriums für Städtebau und Wohnen, Kultur und Sport des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen das Modellprojekt Interkulturelle Stadtentwicklung in den drei Städten Bergkamen, Königswinter und Duisburg durchgeführt.     

Final Paleolithic and Mesolithic Research in Reunified Germany

During the past decade research into the German Final Paleolithic and Mesolithic has experienced an important revival. One clear sign of this renewed interest in the periods are the annual meetings of the Arbeitsgruppe Mesolithikum (Mesolithic Working Group) which have taken place every spring since 1992. At these meetings, which take place at changing venues, topical themes of Final Paleolithic and Mesolithic interest are presented by informal lectures and it is also possible to study regional collections (artifacts, raw materials) at first hand. Numerous contributions were subsequently published together in one volume (Conard and Kind (1998) Aktuelle Forschungen zum Mesolithikum/Current Mesolithic Research, Mo Vince, Tübingen). The present paper intends to complement that collection of papers with a synthesis of developments and perspectives and to present recent research highlights in the German Final Paleolithic and Mesolithic, together with a comprehensive bibliography, to a wider international audience.     

Heidegger and Cassirer on Science after the Cassirer and Heidegger of Davos

Summary

The paper exposes the views of Ernst Cassirer and Martin Heidegger on the dynamics of the sciences of their day, as both developed them in the two decades after the encounter of the two philosophers in Davos in 1928. It emphasizes points of common concern, and it compares their positions to those of contemporary philosophers of science Gaston Bachelard and Edgar Wind.     

‘Germanje’: Dutch empire-building in Nazi-occupied Europe

ABSTRACT

Recent historiography on Nazism has taken what has been coined ‘the imperial turn’. The key issue at stake is to what extent Germany’s expansionist policy between 1939 and 1945 could be considered a variant of the more general historical phenomenon of (modern) imperialism. Over the course of the last two decades, all sorts of continuities and parallels between traditional European colonialism and Nazi imperialism have been analysed. In these studies, a top-down approach is prevalent, concentrating on ‘Berlin’, Nazi politics and leaders. This article chooses a different perspective, bringing actors of a lower level to the fore. The focus is on the Dutch contribution to the Nazi policy of ‘Germanization’ of the occupied East. Between the summers of 1941 and 1944, over five thousand Dutch civilians voluntarily left their homeland to be employed in the so-called German occupied eastern territories. Although their contracts were often temporary, they were seen (and saw themselves) as the first group of ‘pioneers’ of a giant colonizing project. This article investigates the Dutch organizations coordinating their recruitment and employment, and zooms in on the expectations and experiences of individual recruits. With the Dutch case as an example, the article points at the broader historical context of the Dutch efforts. At the same time, it shows that this junior partner of the German had his own colonial agenda. The incompatibility of both agendas inevitably led to false expectations, caused a general sense of disillusionment on both sides and led to many frictions ‘on the spot’.     

The Precarity of Young People’s Housing Experiences in a Rural Context

Young people’s housing, economic and labour market circumstances have become increasingly insecure due to the combined effects of the 2007/2008 economic crisis, neoliberal welfare reforms, rising costs of higher education and the shortage of affordable housing. Discussions of young peoples’ experiences in these domains have largely neglected their spatial variability but evidence suggests that young people living in rural parts of the UK have distinctive experiences of housing, which are closely connected to labour markets and educational opportunities. By drawing on qualitative data from young people and housing professionals, this article explores some of these rural distinctions and frames them within theoretical debates about the ‘precariat’. It argues for a more theoretically informed and geographically nuanced understanding of contemporary housing issues as rural youth potentially face greater precarity than their urban peers.