Towards a differentiated notion of the mainstream: Superdiversity and residents’ conceptions of immigrant integration

Recent critiques of integration and superdiversity scholarship pointed out a need to pay more attention to the positioning of established residents, also referred to as 'the mainstream', and to develop novel understandings of urban residents’ reactions to and contestations of the presence of newcomers. Drawing on ethnographic insights from 2015 in a large German city, this article identifies a spectrum of reactions to the installation of a large reception centre for asylum seekers among residents involved in a neighbourhood renewal programme. It delineates how established residents themselves mobilize an integration discourse, associate newcomers with an economic burden and rely on the state for integrating them. Drawing on the notion of ‘Emplacement’, the article highlights how established residents’ occupation with newcomers' integration can be understood in relation to their activity of carving out their place in contemporary diverse and stratified urban environments.