Integration of Muslim Migrants and the Politics of Dialogue: The Case of Modern Germany

Abstract

The debate about integration of Muslim migrants and their children in Germany has attained quite some political significance, triggered by notorious publications reflecting the current political culture, and the resilient reluctance of many Muslims to integrate into the host society. Both positions can be traced back to a historically developed epistemic asymmetry that goes a long way towards developing orientalist imaginations and informs visions of Muslim elites. Interreligious dialogue is intended to solve this dilemma. Declared an essential agent of integration efforts, the dialogue still focuses on cultural and religious essentialism, although the majority of Muslims professes a modern, individualised performance ethos, beyond strict religious affinities. The latest endeavour to establish centres of Islamic theology, as suggested by the German Council of Science and Humanities, seems to display a structural entanglement between theology and the policy of securitisation. This essay examines these and related issues with particular focus on dialogue and integration of Muslims in the host community, Germany.