Neighbourhood relations differ from other kinds of relations in that they are primarily defined by space. Closeness rather than distance define neighbours and neighbourhoods. What is more, the spatial relation is more or less an enforced one – in most cases neighbours are not chosen but already there when people move and newly arrive.
The spatial character and the enforced closeness of shared space make the neighbourhood boundaries special. Conflicts in neighbourhoods are often dramatic; the solidarity of neighbours has been and still is a bare necessity. This gives the notion of neighbourliness its normative touch. We almost instinctively think of the proverbial “good neighbourly relations”, to be unneighbourly means to be unfriendly. Changing Neighbourhoods will deal with both mobility and transformation. How have neighbourhoods developed and changed over time, in particular in cities that have experienced or are experiencing conflicts? How have central institutions of a city like museums shaped the fabric of the neighbourhoods around them? Have they contributed to a spirit of neighbourliness? What do migrants bring to their new neighbourhoods? Do they reproduce neighbourhoods abroad? How are neighbourhoods organised, and what actually makes a neighbourhood a neighbourhood? These are some of the questions our next WeberWorldCafé will try to answer.
The event “Changing Neighbourhoods” will take place on January 29, 2019 from 2:30 to 6:00pm in the Werkstatt der Kulturen, Berlin. The event is a cooperation between the Max Weber Stiftung – Deutsche Geisteswissenschaftliche Institute im Ausland, the Forum Transregionale Studien,the Orient Institut Beirut and the Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient. It is curated by Hilal Alkan (Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient), Nazan Maksudyan (Einstein Gastprofessorin, Freie Universität Berlin), Nadia von Maltzahn and Birgit Schäbler (both Orient-Institut Beirut).To participate, please register your name via wwc@maxweberstiftung.de.
You can find all tables and their topics here.