Negotiating Solidarity

Content

The research project ‘Negotiating Solidarity’ investigates how Belgian/Flemish civil society has dealt with, and was affected by, the North African and Turkish Muslim migrants who have settled in Flanders and Brussels since the 1960s. The project attempts to connect the history of migration with that of civil society and also explicitly includes the factor of religion. Its focus on civil society organisations, including trade unions and women’s organisations, also provides a useful framework for examining how migrant women’s experiences and participation in Belgian society can be situated within broader histories of migration, labour, and solidarity.

Methodology

The project Negotiating Solidarity applies a reciprocal, interdisciplinary methodology combining historical and anthropological perspectives with participatory public history practices. Crucially, it operates by analyzing spaces of encounter, conflict, and cooperation at both national and local levels within a shared analytical framework. Rather than relying solely on traditional archives, the project team actively generates new oral sources by launching participatory heritage initiatives alongside local Moroccan and Turkish communities, experts, and civil society partners. Through collaborative methods such as tracker methodology, memory screenings, and community roadmaps, the methodology fosters shared ownership and builds sustainable connections between ethnic-cultural groups and established heritage institutions.

This methodological approach is also relevant for public history projects in female labour migration history because it directly counters the double marginalization women face in traditional records. Migrant women’s contributions, particularly in informal labour, community work, and local solidarity networks, are often less visible in archival collections and institutional records. By utilizing participatory oral history and reminiscence techniques, the project creates a safe space to recover these lost narratives directly from the women themselves.

Website – Negotiating Solidarity

ESTRANCA

Content

The ESTRANCA (Emergence and Sig nificance of Transnational Care Arrangements) project examined the role of live-in migrant care workers in elderly care in Germany and the Netherlands. While this form of migration was already well established in Germany, it was relatively new but growing in the Netherlands. The project focused on care arrangements involving mainly women from Central and Eastern Europe and explored their significance in the context of reforms in long-term care.

Methodology

ESTRANCA was a research project that examined various aspects of live-in migrant care in the Netherlands and Germany. The researchers mainly used qualitative methods. In the Dutch part of the ESTRANCA project, they conducted 32 interviews with care providers, government agencies, healthcare organizations, and other relevant stakeholders. In addition, 14 case studies were carried out, involving family caregivers, live-in migrant care workers and, where possible, care recipients. The researchers also analyzed care providers’ websites, Chamber of Commerce data, and discussions on social media and the internet. Finally, focus groups were organized with family caregivers who did not use live-in care.

ESTRANCA was a collaboration between researchers from Radboud University Nijmegen and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, funded by the Dutch and German research organizations NWO and DFG.

Website – ESTRANCA

Video Interviews: “Voices on 60 German-Turkish years” as part of the exhibition “We are from here: Turkish-German life in 1990. Photographs by Ergun Çağatay”

Content

In 2021, documentary video interviews were created especially for this project, in which personalities of different generations living in Germany who have shaped the public discourse on the topic of Turkish migration in a special way have their say.

The collection also includes four female perspectives. We spoke with journalist Aslı Sevindim, sociologist Necla Kelek, former professional footballer Tuğba Tekkal, and musician Derya Yıldırım.

Methodology

Ergun Çağatay’s photographs do not stand alone. They build a bridge between the past and the present, serving as a starting point for a contemporary dialogue on belonging, identity, and notions of home. More than three decades after they were taken, the photographs reveal that questions of visibility, representation, and social participation among people of Turkish descent in Germany remain highly relevant today.

Created especially for the exhibition, eight documentary video portraits extend this dialogue into the present. They feature eight people living in Germany from different generations and professional backgrounds who have each shaped the public discourse on German-Turkish migration in significant ways.

The semi-structured video interviews explore topics such as the recognition and acceptance of migrant experiences and ways of life, as well as the complexity and multidimensional nature of migration, belonging, and identity. By connecting historical perspectives with personal narratives, they illustrate how individual life stories are intertwined with broader social developments. In doing so, they make both history and personal experiences tangible and give voice to diverse perspectives.

Website – Video Interviews

Sensitive Stories: Archive or Publish? – Ethical Framework for Handling Privacy‑Sensitive Oral Histories at the Red Star Line Museum

Content

This tool is an ethical, GDPR‑aligned framework for handling privacy‑sensitive oral histories at the Red Star Line Museum. The goal is the safeguarding of the rights and safety of interviewees and third parties while preserving and sharing migration stories responsibly through clear decision rules, documentation, and review cycles.

This framework enables the safe collection and ethical disclosure of women’s labour migration narratives where privacy risks, stigma, employer retaliation, or family repercussions may be acute. It ensures these gendered experiences become visible and researchable without exposing individuals to harm..

Methodology

This tool combines contextual screening of interviews, a structured risk assessment (likelihood × impact), and tiered disclosure options (fully public, partial/fragmented, on‑request/back office, or closed). It operationalises a four‑step, GDPR‑compliant method tailored to privacy‑sensitive oral histories. This tool makes it able to address heightened privacy risks common in women’s labour migration (e.g., live‑in domestic work, informal or precarious jobs, employer dependency, immigration status) so participants can share without undue exposure. Makes under‑documented, gendered experiences visible while managing third‑party and family risks (e.g., naming employers, agencies, or abusive networks).

PDF-File – Sensitive Stories