Mohammad Kohistani: Refugee Agency in Context: Afghan Refugees in Poland and Germany
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Lecture Series FORCED MIGRATION
6. Januar 2027, 16:15-17:45 Uhr
online
Mohammad Kohistani (University of Opole)
Refugee Agency in Context: Afghan Refugees in Poland and Germany [EN]
This lecture examines the main challenges Afghan refugees face in Poland and Germany, including economic, legal, psychological, and social challenges. It also compares the two countries, highlighting their similarities and differences in refugees' everyday lives.
This lecture explores the everyday strategies, practices, and forms of agency developed by refugees within different asylum and reception systems. With a particular focus on Afghan refugees in Poland and Germany, it examines how refugees navigate legal uncertainty, institutional constraints, changing reception conditions, and opportunities for social participation.
Rather than treating agency as an individual capacity independent of context, the lecture considers how possibilities for action are shaped by legal status, welfare institutions, social relations, and national and local reception structures.
Mohammad Kohistani is a 3-year PhD researcher in Political Science and Administration at the University of Opole, Poland. His doctoral research focuses on EU policies toward immigrants and refugees, with a comparative study of Germany and Poland. He has also taught international students at the University of Opole, teaching courses on Polish and Intercultural Studies and Social Inequalities, with a focus on cultural awareness, equality, and intercultural understanding.
Moderation: Carolin Leutloff-Grandits (Viadrina Center B/ORDERS IN MOTION)
Bitte melden Sie sich hier einmalig für alle Online-Veranstaltungen der Ringvorlesung „Forced Migration“ an:
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FORCED MIGRATION – Lecture Series, Winter Semester 2026/2027
The lecture series is organised by the Viadrina Center B/ORDERS IN MOTION and brings together interdisciplinary perspectives on forced migration, borders, asylum, and refugee reception. It examines how experiences of displacement are shaped by immigration and asylum regimes, legal insecurity, racialisation, gendered and intersectional inequalities, and changing infrastructures of border control and reception.
Combining theoretical debate with empirical research and perspectives from policy, activism, and practice, the series addresses border externalisation and violence, differentiated forms of vulnerability and protection, refugee agency and collective action, and the everyday negotiation of institutional constraints. It also considers questions of local reception, participation, and support, connecting wider debates on European migration governance with experiences and practices in specific national and local contexts.