Lieux de mémoire of migration in urban spaces

The project Lieux de mémoire of migration in urban spaces aims to explore, empirically grasp, illustrate and portray sites of remembrance of migration in Vienna and Austria and to analyse their histories of origin, their (change of) meaning for different groups, struggles and conflicts concerning meaning(s) and interpretation(s) and the roles of the involved actors. The study makes use of the concept of lieux de mémoire as it has been introduced by Pierre Nora and adopts it in a way that fills the "remembrance gap" regarding the Vienna/Austrian migration history that is pertinent to both the national and the urban context. The basic idea of the project is to elaborate a "remembrance topography" of (im)migration (Erinnerungstopographie der Migration) for Vienna, complemented with lieux de mémoire that are not situated in Vienna itself but are nevertheless relevant and meaningful for Austrian migration history in general. The project is a contribution to newly emerging research activities which can best be summarised under the heading "Migration and Memory" and is situated at the intersection of various disciplines and their sub-disciplines: history, geography and migration and memory studies. Central to my endeavours in this project, as in my previous work in this field, is to analyse the interrelation between migration issues and questions of memory and remembrance. Bringing the two topics together in one research approach is a rather new and innovative undertaking. Central questions like "Is migration history part of the post World War II narratives in Europe?" or "How do immigration societies narrate their (im)migration history and how do they (re)construct and negotiate their (im)migration past?" are rarely raised by the scientific community and do not play any role in public and political debates on migration and integration issues. The project is anchored in two basic assumptions. Firstly, it is argued that migration issues in general and the very rich Austrian migration history in particular are neglected and marginalised topics when it comes to Austrian remembrance policy and activities and the historical consciousness of the population. Secondly, my work is based on the assumption that the questions of whether and how immigrants and their histories are represented and publicly recognised are closely linked to questions of integration and equality. The project reflects pioneering work and will add to the advancement of social and cultural geography, migration and integration research, contemporary history and memory studies. The added value of the project also goes beyond the realms of science, however. The knowledge that is generated is expected to contribute to the (further) social recognition of immigrants and their histories as integral parts of the Austrian society and history and benefit the societal processes of integration and participation.

The great diversity of Austrias migration history has largely remained invisible in Austrian memory culture. While leading institutions like museums and archives have begun to represent the histories of migrants as inherent parts of Austrian national and transnational history, a diverse and inclusive memory culture is still absent in many areas, especially with regard to the acknowledgement of memorial sites in public space. Memory culture and the politics of remembrance come alive in the form of monuments, commemorative plaques, street names and artistic interventions in the public sphere. These markers help negotiate the contemporary perception of the historicity of place and make discernible the status and value a nation places on manifesting its migration history. Results from the project Lieux de mémoire of migration in urban spaces (Erinnerungsorte der Migration in der Stadt) show that the public display of post-war migration history is frequently lacking and selective. This suggests that specific migration events have been chosen over others to be integrated in the hegemonic narrative of who contributed to the formation of the Austrian nation. For instance, refugees from Hungary, who fled over the course of the Hungarian Revolution in 1956, are typically made visible in the memory scape of Austria whereas the large numbers of migrant workers recruited in the 1960s are not. Memory sites that relate to migration rarely bring into prominence positive aspects of migration and the hopes and fears of the people involved. They rather name and shame instances of hate crime, murder and racist abuse. In Vienna, this is exemplified by the Marcus Omofuma Stone, which was erected to bring into collective consciousness the brutal killing of Nigerian asylum seeker Marcus Omofuma by police in the course of his deportation in 1999. The memorial, which is located in the centre of Vienna, has initiated fierce public and political debate. This illustrates how strongly memorial sites signify social conflict, effectively providing both an impetus and a forum for socio-political debate. For migrants themselves, several places in the city scape matter. Great emotional and practical importance is assigned to places of arrival and departure (railway stations, the big transport hubs leading into and out of cities) but also working places, places of residence, and more generally, places that tolerate diversity and cultural inclusion. An example is the Brunnenmarkt in Vienna. For some migrants, it invokes feelings of belonging and emotional embeddedness.