Diversity and the negotiation of urban life: the interactions of local state actors and residents in shaping responses to immigrant-based diversity 

Maria Schiller

- completed -

The core interest of this post-doctoral research project is to investigate the interaction and co-operation of local state actors and residents in the development of local responses to immigrant-based diversity in Germany. Based on a comparative ethnographic study of immigrant councils and processes of citizen involvement in Mannheim and Frankfurt, together with some complementary research in Stuttgart and Munich, it addresses the following question: in governance fora, where state actors and residents interact and co-operate to formulate policy decisions, what explains different representations of diversity, in a context where urban diversity has become a core field of action for local governments?