Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity

Research project presents ways of overcoming future immigration challenges

Miriam Schader and Constantin Hruschka on the Science Initiative Migration

How local authorities organized the reception of asylum seekers in 2015/16

Conditions in Greek EU hotspots and German arrival centres violate fundamental rights and EU directives

An essay by Peter van der Veer on the different ways of dealing with face masks, toilet paper and the fear of death in Asia and the western world

The Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire are long gone - but in many European cities, they are still very much alive. In Vienna, for example, remembrance of the times when the city was besieged by the Turks is fostered, while the tens of thousands of Viennese citizens of Turkish origin are ignored. At the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity in Goettingen, a team led by Jeremy F. Walton is studying the way in which former empires are treated today.

The future of societies worldwide is currently being reshaped at a fundamental level by concurrent crises: the coronavirus pandemic, the resulting economic recession and climate change. Steven Vertovec considers how these three crises are seriously affecting global migration. He describes the complex factors that relate to global migration and outlines the challenges that loom ahead.

Five years ago, the arrival of thousands of refugees within a short period of time presented the administrative offices of the German municipal authorities with a huge challenge. Taking three towns in Lower Saxony as an example, Miriam Schader from the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity in Goettingen studied how the municipal authorities handled the situation.

Despite some gains in the past decade, democracy is in trouble in Africa. Only nine countries on the continent are currently classified as democratic according to the Economist, with more than half under authoritarian rule. Elections are habitually manipulated, the opposition is harassed, civil society is suppressed, and demonstrations are violently dispersed. Autocrats are also increasingly relying on modern technology and foreign “consultants” to maintain power – and are largely allowed to do so undisturbed. As our author critically notes, Europe and the U.S. far too often look away out of fear of instability. This allows incumbents to cling on to power and gradually erode the institutions and expectations sustaining democracy.

Since 2015, around 1.4 million refugees have applied for asylum in Germany. They would like to find sanctuary or a new home here. How firm a foothold they gain in their new life depends on a number of factors. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity in Göttingen are taking a closer look at what needs and goals the refugees have – and whether these can be fulfilled.

A modern metropolis in India: many different ethnic groups come together every day. A wide variety of languages can be heard, and very often, people who have no common language have to communicate with each other. People involuntarily resort to gesticulation, and their counterparts usually have no trouble understanding what is meant. But gestures can also be defined terms in a language of their own – the sign language of the deaf.

The political presence and representation of immigrants is a controversial topic in German society. Increasingly, marginalisation and discrimination are no longer being accepted as the norm. But to what extent are advocacy organisations, important actors in a democracy, willing and able to represent the interests of the migrant population, to open up to them, and to ensure their participation on an equal footing? These are the questions we explored in our research project.

The connections of religion, morality and economy featured prominently among the classical works in the sociology of religion, but new economic forms, their global entanglements and their effects on religious actors demand new research approaches. In Buddhism one finds ritual technologies of self-cultivation, which are used for enhancement of productivity. There are also ritual economies, which re-distribute wealth according to moral criteria. The economy is therefore not to be understood as a solely rational and secular matter, but is embedded in religious practices and moral values.

The world’s population is ageing. Yet, not all of these people will be growing older in the places they might have imagined. As individuals, families and communities become increasingly embedded in transnational networks that span multiple locales, it is timely to examine the cultural, political and ethical implications of growing older in an interconnected but unequal world.

The empires that once defined Europe no longer exist. However, Europe’s former empires have not simply become relics of history. Imperial pasts continue to inspire nostalgia, identification, pride, anxiety, skepticism, and disdain today. Especially the Habsburg and Ottoman Empires are enjoying a renaissance and even are thought to offer solutions to today’s conflicts based on ethnic, religious and national diversity. Following the legacies and memories of empires in eight southeast and central European cities sheds light on forms of “restorative” and “reflective” nostalgia for both empires.

For more than six centuries, a Southeast Chinese trading empire spread around the coastal ports of Southeast Asia. This trading network was built up through common language, social and cultural-religious institutions. Over the past 30 years, this large network has turned back to China, with more than a million temples being rebuilt, especially in the south-east. The restoration of these local and transnational networks is an extremely important phenomenon. Chinaʼs interaction with Southeast Asia is far more complex than simplifying models about the spread of Chinese “soft power” suggest.