Belonging in Transition. A European History of the "Ruhr Poles", 1860–1950

This project considers the Polish-German workers, mainly from the eastern parts of Prussia, Austria-Hungary, and the Russian Empire, who moved to the Ruhr Valley in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Extrapolating from this case study, it elaborates on a history of European societies through the lens of mobility and conflicts over multiple belonging. The history of mobile people is so closely linked to that of society in the Ruhr and the transformation of European empires that they can only be understood in their multifaceted relationships and interactions. From a methodological point of view, the project aims to contribute to the reconceptualisation of societies, starting from mobility and difference.