Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Berliner Institut für empirische Integrations- und Migrationsforschung (BIM)

From „Wir Schaffen das“ to „Es geht nicht“ –
Conservative Power Shifting and its Consequences
on Local-Level Integration Practices

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Presentation by Dr. Sahar Sadeghi
Panel: Christoph Braun (AWO Berlin-Mitte), Dr. Olaf Kleist (DeZIM),
Prof. Dr. Pauline Endres de Oliveira (BIM), Dr. Sahar Sadeghi (BIM)
Moderatation: Prof. Dr. Naika Foroutan (BIM)
Followed by an open discussion.
 
Date: Wednesday, 27, May, 2026
Time: 5:00–7:00 p.m.
Place: Institut für europäische Ethnologie, Raum 408
Anton-Wilhelm-Amo-Str. 40/41, 10117 Berlin


Personal registration by 22, May to: bimevent@hu-berlin.de

  
About

Dr. Sahar Sadeghi is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Muhlenberg College. Her research is organized around several interrelated projects and themes – migration and geopolitics, and racialized and politicized belonging – which are examined through a cross-national, qualitative methods approach with a regional specialization in contemporary Europe and the United States. Currently, she is a guest scientist at the BIM.
>www.saharsadeghi.com


Research Abstract

The everyday experiences of actors and institutions, including the State Office for Refugee Affairs, civil society organizations, NGOs, social workers, mental health care professionals, facility managers at refugee housing accommodations, refugee and migrant advocacy groups, as well as volunteers and individual refugees can tell us a lot about the strides, efforts, and successes of refugee resettlement practices within the city of Berlin in the past ten years. While the national climate tells the story that “Germany is at max capacity” and that resettling and integrating refugees is “just not possible,” local-level actors say otherwise.
 
Through the use of qualitative inquiry, namely in-depth interviews with over 45 individuals and extensive fieldwork conducted over two years (2024-2026) in the city of Berlin, I center the voices of people and organizations who have been involved in local integration work in a number of districts throughout the city. One of the central goals of this research is to shed more light on what has really mattered on the ground, locally with regard to integration. Another is to underscore how the current political climate in Germany—including national discourse and policy aimed at cutting integration courses, cancelling plans for private and permanent housing, and eliminating funds for local organizations and programs—have significant consequences for local-level settlement and integration.
 
This research project’s title “From ‘Wir Schaffen Das’ to ‘Es Geht Nicht’ is meant to capture this shift over time; a time in which the German state declared “Wir Schaffen Das” (“we can manage this” and “we can get this done”) to the current moment of “Es Geht Nicht” (“it does not work/ it is not possible”). I aim to tell an important—and timely—story of what happens when political agendas shift, political will is eroded, and funds, programs, and initiatives are cut or delayed, and ultimately ask how these changes affect the overall wellbeing of refugees and their future settlement and lasting integration in Berlin.