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.