Programme Erasmus + Europe on the move : Migration Biographies
Theses
uphold “ continuous transactions across state borders ” 33 . Even though Gabrijela is now legally German , she places value on preserving tradition and culture in her family , in the hope of passing it on to future generations . By going to church on a regular basis , celebrating Croatian-Catholic holidays and through food culture and a strong family structure , that is very common among south-east Europeans , Croatian heritage is expressed in the family . 34 Her children speak the mother tongue fluently , because they were raised bilingually to be able to communicate with Gabrijela ’ s parents , who do not speak German . During her studies she often left her two daughters with her parents in Split , while she was preparing for tests or writing her thesis . The family still spends at least a week in Croatia every year during the summer holidays . 35
4 . Yugoslav Migrant Networks and Organizations in Germany
Yugoslavians are family people . The “ zadruga ” 36 , the most common form of social organization in the Balkans , is a place for economic and emotional exchange as well as for religion . 37 But since this family system , and therefore the associated support , is lost through migration the emigrants tend to become lonely as they are socially isolated in the new society . Hence the Yugoslavian migrant culture is characterized by network building in the form of religious communities , clubs to satisfy sportive and cultural desires and restaurants as a place to meet and socialize with other people . The founding of migrant associations has greatly increased since the wars in the Balkan region . 38 The idea is that “ migration , once started , becomes self-sustaining due to well established migrants ’ networks ” and eases immigration by reducing cost and risks . 39
4.1 . Migrant Sport-Clubs
“ With several hundred migrant sports clubs throughout Germany sport is one of the most important sectors of society for the self-organization of immigrants ” 40 and is therefore a topic to be explained when talking about migrant networks . Teams consisting of mostly homogenous groups of immigrants often operate under the roof of German clubs whilst in fact being mostly autonomous . This is done to avoid the unnecessary expense and effort of founding an own club if it does not pay off . These constellations may work out but in other cases they are “ just an intermediate step to founding a club ” 41 in the first place . Actual migrant clubs , where at least 75 % of the executive board consists of people who migrated or whose parents migrated to Germany , are therefore the most common form . They are , mostly divided into homo-ethnical clubs with a few multi-ethnical exceptions . 42 Self-organization also takes place on association level . Tournaments and celebrations are held , often supported by the respective embassies . In Germany , the Croatian clubs are the best networked . The “ Croatian footballassociation ” ( HNS ) is a union of 20 football clubs and 20 cultural associations with football sections that , for example , organize a yearly German championship for their teams and clubs . Nevertheless most of them still participate in the German league-system and thus play in a “ parallel structure ” 43 . 44 Due to a lack of understanding , many people are biased when it comes to migrant clubs in associations and accuse them of closing themselves off , politicizing and obstructing the integration progress . But it has to be considered that every club is specialized on satisfying its members ’ mutual needs and interests . So there should be no demanding of adaption from foreigners that do not feel comfortable in an unknown environment and retire to
33 ( Faist , Fauser , & Reisenauer , 2014 )
34 ( Schneider , Biographie 2 , 2019 , S . 26-29 ) ( Schneider , Biographie 4 , 2019 , S . 10 )
35 ( Schneider , Biographie 2 , 2019 , S . 29-32 )
36 One household consisting of at least two families
37 ( Brunnbauer , 2009 , S . 289-292 )
38 ( Schmalz-Jacobsen & Hansen , 1997 , S . 86-88 )
39 ( Brunnbauer , 2009 , S . 252 )
40 ( Stahl , 2011 , S . 11 )
41 ( Stahl , 2011 , S . 43 )
42 ( Stahl , 2011 , S . 42-46 )
43 ( not to be confused with above mentioned parallel-societies )
44 ( Stahl , 2011 , S . 69 ) ( Stahl , 2011 , S . 68 f .)
[ 45 ]