“We are here to stay” vs. “Europe’s best hotel”: Hamburg and Athens as Geographies of Solidarity

Abstract

Using a theoretical framework conceptualising mobility regimes, solidarity, as well as scales and "sanctuary/solidarity cities", this article examines notions of locally scaled solidarity by looking at Hamburg and Athens. We undertake comparisons on three dimensions. First, between the historical and institutional context of migration in Germany and Greece. Second, between urban movements in Hamburg and Athens. Finally, between the balance sheet of Seebr€ ucke Hamburg and the Solidarity Cities Initiative of Athens. We contend that different migrant mobilities, as well as the solidarity movements they bring forth, structure different geographies of solidarity. We argue that movements in Hamburg were relatively more successful in renegotiating restrictive migration regimes on the local scale than their counterparts in Athens. We view these differences as prefigured by different types of migrant mobility-arrival in Hamburg, transit in Athens-in the context of a European bordering geography characterised by asymmetrical power relations.

Borderzone Departure Cities: Jumping‐Off Urbanism of Irregular Migration on the Edges of Europe

“…Cities are not only geopolitical metaphors, but also concrete sites to investigate the complex spaces, structures and assemblages of citizenship struggles (Holston 1998; Yiftachel 2009), including those created by irregular migrants (Dadusc et al. 2019; Darling 2017; Fischer and Bak Jørgensen 2021; Papadopoulos and Tsianos 2013; Rygiel 2010). While I do not intend to reduce the variety of borderzone departure cities worldwide, this paper takes the approach of “comparative urbanism” which builds theory from different contexts and resonates with their diversity yet respects “the limits of always located insights” (Robinson 2016:187).…”

“…2017; Martin et al. 2020; Mould 2017), while being compared with migrant solidarity initiatives in other European cities (Fischer and Bak Jørgensen 2021). Differently, this paper analyses City Plaza and the Jungle as distinct yet comparable and relational urban environments of departure which increasingly appear as overlapping realities in borderzone cities across the globe, where “migration corridors” (Gonzales et al.…”

Transversal Solidarities and the City: An Introduction to the Special Issue

“…Featherstone, 2012). It is a relational practice; it is contentious; it emerges strongly in moments or conjunctures (such as the economic crisis, the refugee crisis, the climate crisis and currently the health/Covid-19 crisis; see Fischer and Jørgensen, (2020); it is generative of political subjectivities and collective identities; it entails alliance-building among diverse actors; it is inventive of new imaginaries; it is situated in space and time and organised in multi-scalar relations; and it is linked in different ways to institutions (Agustín and Jørgensen, 2019a). Solidarity practices can connect different places or geographies and enable relations that go beyond national borders.…”

“…Scale is not indicative of hierarchies (from local to transnational) but emphasises the connectivity of place-based politics within a scalar politics (Bauder, 2019;MacKinnon, 2011). These practices of solidarity illustrate how different spatialities (scale, place, networks, positionality and mobility) shape contentious politics (Fischer and Jørgensen, 2020;Leitner et al, 2008). Their dynamics channel the ways politics and power affect local places.…”

Multiple spatial practices and scales within and beyond City Plaza, Athens

“…Many researchers and academics visited City Plaza within the three and a half years it was operating: a fact that led in many cases to publications about the squat (Mitchell and Sparke 2018;Squire 2018;Tsavdaroglou 2018;Agustín and Jørgensen 2019;Raimondi 2019;Chiovenda 2020;Kiddey 2020;Fischer and Jørgensen 2021;Turam 2021). A common way of approaching City Plaza among these papers is a scheme that contrasts solidarity squats with the state-run spaces, like the camps.…”