Esma Gelis’ doctoral project examines the mobility practices and mobility cultures of people with migration-based biographies in Germany, with a particular focus on the historical mobilities of the Gastarbeiter generation and their descendants in the context of the automotive sector, as well as on refugees and internationally recruited workers in contemporary public transport. At the centre of the project lies the question of how mobility evolves in the context of migration and what role it plays for social participation and access to urban life.

A central analytical lens is the production and consumption of mobility among different migrant groups. For the Gastarbeiter generation, automobility played a key role: many worked in the industrial sector, and the car shaped both their daily work and ideas on social mobility. In the case of refugees and international recruits employed today as bus drivers in municipal transport companies, the project investigates how their mobility biographies, training pathways, and everyday mobility experiences intersect with the governance structures of public transport provision.

The project examines how these mobility practices influence not only access to employment but also processes of social integration and the formation of belonging in urban environments. It also takes a critical look at the structural inequalities that shape the mobility of migrants in German cities. With regard to public transport recruitment, the project explores how refugees and international workers navigate regulated mobility systems, the institutional frameworks that structure their opportunities, and the broader implications this has for mobility justice and labour conditions in essential urban infrastructures.

Ultimately, the project advances conceptual debates by showing how migrant labour and mobility biographies are integral to the formation, maintenance, and transformation of urban mobility systems.