Institutionalizing Solidarity: Local Policies for Inclusive Refugee Integration in Hamburg and Izmir

Attempting to overcome the dichotomy between social and institutional realms, this paper adopts a perspective of ‘institutionalized solidarity’ to explore the relationship between local integration policies and solidarity practices with refugees. The research question investigates how novel institutionalized solidarity practices can facilitate effective integration without creating further between-group inequalities. The study contributes to inter-regional comparisons of local refugee politics by adopting a 'city-scaling' approach within two main host countries for Syrian refugees in their respective regions, and employing a comparative case study design focused on Hamburg (Germany) and Izmir (Turkey). Empirical investigation centers on integration projects and programs implemented in these cities, with a particular focus on two key institutions: the Directorate of Justice and Equality in Izmir and the Hamburg Welcome Center. Both of these institutions were founded in 2020 as local government branches, and are rooted in previous projects and current cooperation involving civil society organizations (CSOs). Policy documents, reports, official data, and semi-structured interviews with refugees, municipal officials, CSOs and private sector representatives form the basis of the analysis. The findings illustrate that institutionalized solidarity practices in Hamburg and Izmir allowed for prioritizing refugees’ access to existing mainstream programs, while also implementing new programs with shared admission criteria for refugee populations as well as host communities. Overall, the paper positions solidarity as an inventive process that could potentially create institutions which, in turn, contribute to more inclusive refugee integration in urban contexts.