The governance of religious diversity inside urban integration agendas: Cases from the Ruhr Area in Germany

Abstract

In the last decade, integration has become a leading policy objective in Germany. The issue has also been lifted high on municipal and city agendas, albeit with changing emphasis. Recently, within what has been termed the inter-cultural paradigm, the governance of religious diversity has become a topic in many urban integration plans in the country. Based on the analysis of integration concepts of eleven metropolitan cities in the Ruhr Area this paper examines, how religious actors and inter-religious activities are included in urban integration plans, why urban stakeholders chose to integrate them in the agendas and, from a normative point of view, what relevance such activities possess for urban integration and cohesion. The paper suggests that while the inclusion of inter-religious activities and actors in integration measures aligns with recent principles of urban (diversity) management, the often political dimension of such encounters may reinforce rather than attenuate social and cultural borders and stereotypes.