Ethnic and Social Composition Assignment

Mini Task- May 18, 2015

Berlin shows a surprising amount of ethnic diversity, specifically in the Moabit district. The Moabit district is centrally located in Berlin. The word “Moabit” itself gives a clue as to the ethnicity of the area since it is not a German word. There are multiple stores, shops and signs in Berlin Moabit that indicate the ethnicity of the population. There are various restaurants that offer different types of foods from asia and the middle east. A prominent symbol is the Halal. There are also Doner stands and various text in languages other than German. Berlin Moabit has a significant foreign or non-German population. Due to the people dressed in headscarves and the stores, shops and signs, it is obvious that there is a strong Turkish and middle-eastern presence in the area. The photos below are examples of the ethnic diversity in the Moabit district of Berlin. 

Ethnic Diversity

          Ethnic Diversity in Berlin

        When we first arrived in Moabit looking for clues of ethnic diversity our instant reaction was to look to the types of ethnic foods available. Although this can be a good indication of population, it can easily be misconstrued as we soon learned. It seems there has been an increase in Indian restaurants all across the city and as such likely has little to do with the diversity in the area.

        According to a report published by berlin.de in 2010, Turkish nationals account for 22.66% of the Moabit population, with a significant percentage of Arab and former Yugoslavia nationals as well. However, even if a person did not know the ethnic statistics of the area, a general sense of it could be felt by just looking around.

          Some of the things that I noticed that alluded to the ethnic diversity in the area were the dual language signs (including both German and Arabic script), the frequent mention of halal offerings and also the general population in the area. There were also many Turkish restaurants and doner kebab booths, however these are all over Berlin so they are not a great indication of neighbourhood diversity.

http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/wohnen/quartiersmanagement/download/qm_broschuere_en.pdf

Field Question: Berlin Conference 1884-85

In 1884-85, the Berlin Conference took place and its results will affect the entire continent of Africa, having repercussions that still continue. The Berlin Conference, held in the old Chancellery, decided how the continent would be shared amongst the European powers. With little knowledge of the geography of the place and without input by African or African opposition came to an agreement on the borders of their countries.

The borders of Africa is widely believed to be the primary cause, not the colonization itself, which imbued the continent with systemic economic and political issues. The design of the borders in 1884-85 by the colonial powers, “led to ethnic struggles, patronage politics, and spurred civil conflict, leading to poverty and under development”, says Michalopoulos and Papaioannou in “The Long-Run Effects of the Scramble for Africa.”

                Due to the arbitrary and artificial nature of the borders, African ethnic groups or tribes would be partitioned. A relationship has been found where partitioned ethnicities experience longer and more intense periods of civil war compared to those that are not. 

An indicator of a society’s development is its proliferation of electricity, of which a byproduct is light pollution. By measuring the light intensity from remote sensing data of partitioned and non-partitioned ethnic groups a relationship is found. Partitioned ethnic groups have a negative relationship with light intensity, implying lower development levels to groups that are not partitioned.

To contrast, prior to colonization and the declaration of independence both non-partitioned and partitioned African groups were similar economically.  

Works Cited

Michalopoulos, Stelios, and Elias Papaioannou. The Long-run Effects of the Scramble for Africa. Cambridge, Mass.: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2011.