Organizers: Grit Grigoleit-Richter (University of Passau, Germany) and Claudia Sadowski-Smith (Arizona State University, USA)

Keynotes: Miriam Finkelstein (Slavic Studies, University of Konstanz, Germany), Halyna Lemekh (Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, St. Francis College, USA), Jannis Panagiotidis (Research Center for the History of Transformations, University of Vienna, Austria)

Funded by the Stiftung Deutsch-Amerikanische Wissenschaftsbeziehungen (SDAW/Foundation on German-American Academic Relations), this interdisciplinary workshop explores Ukrainian migration and integration in Germany and the United States as case studies for examinations of global refugee policies. Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine has produced the historically largest numbers of refugees in recent times—more than 6.3 million refugees globally according to the UNHCR. Over 300,000 refugees were admitted to the United States and an estimated 1,118,205 are recorded in Germany. While the United States is viewed as a country of immigration whose social institutions and ethnic communities promote integration, US laws and policies have historically privileged certain groups of migrants and refugees based on a variety of factors, including economic status or national, ethnic, and religious background. Largely racialized as white, Ukrainian refugees were given temporary preferential admission at the US-Mexico border and provided access to a newly created refugee program Uniting for Ukraine. In Germany, which has long ignored its status as a country of immigration, Ukrainian refugees similarly encountered privileged admission under the aegis of a new legal (EU-wide) framework and generous integration policies.  

Presenters will address legal and social policies guiding Ukrainian refugee admission and (temporary or longer-term) integration into Germany and the United States as well as their representation and treatment in both countries.