No integration?! Kulturwissenschaftliche Beiträge zur Integrationsdebatte in Europa
Integration wurde in den letzten Jahren auch in Deutschland zum zentralen Schlagwort in der Migrationsdebatte. Während das Konzept einerseits positiv »Teilhabe« verspricht, fungiert es in der deutschen Migrationspolitik potentiell als Exklusionsmechanismus. Dieses Buch nimmt aus Perspektiven der Politik, Wissenschaft, Kunst und des Aktivismus das Integrationsparadigma kritisch unter die Lupe. Entgegen der öffentlichen Integrationsforderung an hier […]
The Impact of Audre Lorde’s Politics and Poetics on Afro-German Women Writers
In her essay, Jennifer Michaels traces the influence of Audre Lorde’s poetic achievements in the work of several Afro-German poets, exploring the texts of May Ayim in particular. Lorde felt that since there was no self-defined Afro-German community (she herself coined the hyphenated term that so many came to embrace), many of these marginalized women […]
Multicultural misunderstandings: Impressions from a Canadian debate and a few lessons for Germany
In his article entitled “Multicultural Misunderstands: Impressions from a Canadian debate and a few lessons from Germany”, Lars von Törne addresses how much of the Western World has started to believe the misconception that multiculturalism is a failed concept and why such a view is incorrect. To start, Törne focuses on the extent of the […]
Documenting and Explaining the Persistence of Homeland Politics among Germany’s Turks
Since Turks are one of Europe’s largest predominantly Muslim immigrant communities, their political interests play an important role in the controversy confronting Western democratic societies. Western Europeans are concerned about whether and how immigrants introduce homeland conflicts into host societies. The text addresses this issue of politics among Turks in Germany. First, data is presented […]
Troublesome convergences: a short comment from a continental perspective
This article compares the UK’s and Germany’s post 9/11 developments. In the situation with the UK the author claims the authorities have reneged on their promises of a multicultural society made to immigrants in the 1980s and 1990s. They justified the invasion of Iraq and targeting Muslims as part of domestic security through the “War […]
Illegal Migration: What Can We Know and What Can We Explain?
This article analyzes types of illegal immigration, particularly smuggling networks. Though the article emphasizes German illegal immigration it remains highly methodological in its approach. Heckmann begins with two anecdotes of illegal migration into Germany. Their purpose is to distinguish immigrants who can enter legally without such documentation and then remain undetected and illegally and smuggling […]
Headscarves: A Comparison of Public Thought and Public Policy in Germany and the Netherlands.
This article takes a comparative approach to analyzing the structuring of the concept of citizen ship in two countries ( Germany and the Netherlands) and how this relates to their treatment of the Muslim hijab. The primary investigation deals with the hijab, or headscarf as less of an ideologically charged issue and more as an […]
Speak German or Sweep the Schoolyard: A Social View on the Integration of Children in Germany”
Although Lucinda Martin’s work article serves as a voice for many immigrants living in Germany, I have to side with the German government on many of the points addressed in this article, especially the notion that “language is the key to integration.” Martin’s article begins with the situation at The Hoover School in Berlin. This […]
Turks in the New Germany
This article presents a new viewpoint on the lasting identity problem faced by the Turkish population living in Germany. As a third generation of Turkish Germans comes of age, the problems of identity, integration and acceptance into German society is still a problem for many of the young, in a more precise way, “German Turks.” […]
At Home in the New Germany? Local Stories and Global Concerns in Yüksel Yavuz’s Aprilkinder and Kleine Freiheit
Kraenzle’s article begins with a discussion about the rise of Turkish-German cinema within the past decade and the common sentiment during the 1990s that it was the successor to the New German Cinema of the 1970s, due to the common social themes they address about marginalized individuals. Kraenzle, however, warns against drawing this direct link. […]