Immigration and the Welfare State in Comparison: Differences in the Incorporation of Immigrant Minorities in Germany and the United States

Abstract

Immigration and the Welfare State in Comparison'1 was the topic of a German-American conference at the Freie Universitat Berlin (FUB), Germany, from December 12-14, 1996, sponsored by the German Marshall Fund of the U.S. and the German Institute of Economic Research (DIW). The organizers, Hermann Kurthen (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) in collaboration with Jiirgen Fijalkowski (FUB-Forschungsstelle Arbeitsmigration, Fliichtlingsbewegungen und Minderheitenpolitik), and Gert G. Wagner (DIW Berlin, Socio-Economic Panel) brought together eigh? teen German and American experts for a frank exchange of ideas that crossed the borders of disciplines, such as sociology, political science, demography, economics, and law. Such a broad approach seems timely considering the complexity of the issues at hand and the prominent response recent welfare reforms have evoked. Conference presentations and discussions centered on the question of how to reconcile immigration and the welfare state without questioning lib? eral citizenship regimes and securing continuing immigrant incorporation (meaning integration without assimilation). This leitmotiv implied a consen? sus among participants that in both countries controlled immigration, liber? al admission criteria, welfare coverage of immigrants, and support for immi? grant minority integration should continue because they are adequate, bene? ficial, and just. Assimilation, segregation and other forms of exclusion or the denial of migration are not feasible alternatives rather they are recipes to fos? ter political conflicts, social unrest, and cultural marginalization of immigrant minorities in the short and long run. For a number of reasons, most developed Western societies today witness a fierce debate about what and how many social services a state should pro-