Visit to the Neighborhood and Community Migration Center Kotti e.V.

Foto: Kamila Schöll-Mazurek, eigenes Archiv

On 16 June 2022, students from the master's seminar "Onboarding in Europe? Social cohesion in a diverse Europe. Strategies, Controversies, Future." at the European University Viadrina met with the coordinator of the Kotti e.V. neighbourhood centre and a representative of KOTTImobil in the family garden in the city centre to discuss the community work of Kotti e.V.

Community work

‘Community work focuses holistically on the interrelationships between people's lives. The aim is to improve material (e.g. housing, livelihoods), infrastructural (e.g. transport links, shopping facilities, green spaces) and immaterial (e.g. quality of social relationships, participation, culture) conditions with the significant involvement of those affected.’ (cf. Stövesand/Stoik).

The participation of the target group, support in communication, self-organisation and assistance in developing the ability to act are therefore all central aspects of community work. This also includes the promotion of mutual relationships and cooperation structures. The transformative aim of community work is always considered in the context of larger social and societal contexts and concrete problem situations (cf. Stövesand/ Stoik 2013).

Social problems are therefore always considered in the context of space, time, society and historical dimensions, and the work is tailored to this frame of reference (cf. Oelschläger 2001).

Laura Jane Addams is considered a pioneer of community work. She was born in Cedarville, Illinois, in 1860 and studied philosophy, mathematics, history and languages (Engelke et al. 2018: 176). She is one of the most prominent social democrats and pragmatic ethicists in the United States (Engelke et al. 2018: 180). On 18 November 1889, she founded Hull House in Chicago together with Ellen Starr and formulated three motivations for action (Eberhart 1995: 26). Firstly, she wanted to guarantee open access to political and social life for all people through active educational work. Secondly, Addams wanted to offer residents low-threshold access to achievements (Eberhart 1995: 26). Her final motive was initially religious, as she saw her work at Hull House as charity, which she in turn understood as an expression of the spirit of Christ (Eberhart 1995: 26). Over time, the latter two motivations receded into the background and, in retrospect, the activities of Hull House can be attributed primarily to socio-political motivations.

Within 20 years, Hull House became a complex organisation with a total of 13 buildings (Eberhart 1995: 34). The number of employees and volunteers also grew rapidly, and after only four years, the workforce already consisted of over a hundred volunteers (Schüler 2004: 84). The work focused primarily on scientific research, publishing, educational and cultural activities, political activities and fundraising (Schüler 2004: 98).

Overall, Hull House can definitely be understood as a cultural, social and educational institution. In addition to a wide range of open courses and further education programmes, another interest was always the scientific exploration of its own neighbourhood. Furthermore, a central focus was always on bringing about political change. By integrating individual neighbourhood assistance with political engagement at all social levels, Addams set an example for community work (Engelke et al. 2018: 180).