TRANSIT BLOG
TRANSIT Blog was formerly part of the Multicultural Germany Project (MGP), which we are now merging with Transit Journal. Founded in 2001 by the German Department at UC Berkeley, MGP served as a research collaborative and continuously updated archive of migration, supported by the tireless energy and willpower of our very own Deniz Göktürk and UC Berkeley’s graduate students. Our blog includes reactions to current events and news, research materials, and teaching resources. Maintained mainly by students at Berkeley, the blog provides a window into our activities and campus discussions. We hope that TRANSIT Blog continues to serve as a resource and forum for both aspiring and continuing professionals in German Studies and its adjacent fields; we welcome contributions of short thought-pieces of ca. 1000-1500 words year-round. If you would like to contribute your own blog post or other materials (in English or German), please contact us at transitjournal@berkeley.edu.
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“Fremd im eigenen Land” by Advanced Chemistry
The song “Fremd im eigenen Land” (translated as “Foreign in my own Country”) by the German rap group Advanced Chemistry tackles the issue of racism faced by non-white Germans. Through “Fremd im eigenen Land” the band members, who are all German citizens with ethnic backgrounds, attempted to bring to light the problems facing modern German…
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Traurige Lieder – Söhne Mannheims
This song characterizes exactly how dramatic the racial tensions are within Germany. Söhne Mannheims is a multiethnic band from Germany, made up of fourteen friends who have all been involved in the music scene and are actively involved in political and race debates within the country, personally but also through their music. Xavier Naidoo is…
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Banning the ‘Burqa’: France’s Quest to maintain its Secular Identity
The article “Banning the ‘Burqa’: France’s Quest to maintain its Secular Identity” deals with the ban of the full veil. According to the article, a parliamentary committee has recommended full veils in France. This happened a few months after President Sarkozy declared the burqa and niqab unwelcome in France. However, the article also states that…
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German Home-Schoolers Granted Political Asylum in US
This article examines a fundamental difference between the educational culture of the United States and Germany. The Romeike family of Germany, who are Evangelical Christians, took their children out of mainstream school and attempted to homeschool their children. After hefty fines and harassment from German authorities, the Romeike family fled to the United States where…
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Extremist Swede gives anti-Islam party millions
In an attempt to prevent the nation of Germany from becoming “too foreign” Swedish businessman Patrik Brinkmann has announced that he will be investing five million Euro into an anti-Islam populist party based in Cologne called Pro NRW. Brinkmann feels assured in the right-wing party’s success and hopes that its relative unnoticed stature will allow…
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Berlin’s Museum of Islamic art reaches out to new audiences
Berlin’s Museum of Islamic art is vastly expanding. The museum plans to reach out to non-Islamic people by “making sense of the present through the past”. In this article, Stefan Weber, in charge of the expansion, seems to genuinely want to reach out to the German people and teach them about Muslim culture. His ideas…
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“Nur nicht auffallen” von Claudia Keller, Der Tagesspiegel, 1.2.2010
The article describes the life of the Martinez family, a family that lives illegally in Berlin and the challenges they face to keep their status from the authorities. They live a relatively normal middle class life but beneath the surface constantly struggle. Their predicament is just one example of many facing illegal residents. Approximately 50,000…
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Music Video “(Ich bin ein) Ausländer” by Alpa Gun
This music video “(Ich bin ein) Auslaender” by Alpa Gun, a German rapper with Turkish origin (www.wikipedia.org), depicts the integrations problem of immigrants, particularly the children and grandchildren of the Post-World War II generation. These people were often born in Germany and/or have a German passport.
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‘We Are Not Really Germans’ New Study Looks at Challenges Faced by Germany’s Muslims
This article speaks to the many difficulties Muslim immigrants living in Germany face with regard to finding work and participating in the public sphere. These issues not only effect new immigrants but also second and third generation children of foreign parents who were themselves born in Germany and consider Germany their homeland.
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Deutsche Unis sollen Imame ausbilden
This article is about recent university developments in Germany. It states that universities are making moves to broaden their theology programs to include further study of Islam. The response has been fairly positive and the Muslim, particularly the Turkish, communities see the development as an effort towards their integration into German society. Read more here…