Humanities and Social Sciences Colloquium - Harald Bauder

Sanctuary City, Solidarity City, City of Refuge? Urban Politics and Practice in Transnational Perspective

While many migrants are denied status and criminalized at national and supra-national scales, municipalities often seek to mitigate the precarious situation of these migrants at the urban scale. In this context, “sanctuary cites” are an innovative urban response to exclusionary national policies. While the term “sanctuary city” is prominent in Canada, the USA, and the UK, similar urban policies and practices exist in other national contexts using different labels, such as “city of refuge,” “commune of reception,” or “solidarity city”. I will report on a study of urban initiatives in Chile, Germany, and Spain that have permitted “illegalized” migrants to cope with their situations, and introduce my ongoing FRIAS project involving cities in Switzerland and Germany.