Abstract

Migration has far-reaching effects on the construction of national identity. It can lead to established concepts of national identity and societal affiliation being questioned. In this working paper, it will be demonstrated on the basis of the contemporary German situation that the recognition of Germany as an immigration society does not come along with an overall recognition of migrants as equal members of society. Indeed it is still not sufficient to possess German citizenship to be accepted as a full member of society. It can be proven, that the distinction between "ordinary Germans" and "Germans with migration background" plays an important role in designating allegedly different elements of society. The paper discusses how the social sciences are involved in the process, which makes this differentiation appear plausible and acceptable. Keywords: Germany, immigration, construction of a national identity, societal affiliation discrimination, social and scientific categories

Highlights

  • Manuel Castells points out, that “it is easy to agree with the fact, that, from a sociological perspective, all identities are construed” (1997: 7)

  • On the basis of this recommendation I will describe in this working paper aspects of social change that affect the construction of national identity in Germany and the related societal positioning of immigrants

  • One can generally state that the question of what determines national identity continues to be debated in Germany

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Summary

Introduction

Manuel Castells points out, that “it is easy to agree with the fact, that, from a sociological perspective, all identities are construed” (1997: 7). On the basis of this recommendation I will describe in this working paper aspects of social change that affect the construction of national identity in Germany and the related societal positioning of immigrants. When discussing this matter, one can generally state that the question of what determines national identity continues to be debated in Germany. It is my assumption that social scientific theories, concepts, and research are not neutral descriptions of reality without any consequences Instead, they must be considered as involved in the process of constructing national identity. A foundational requirement for critical social science research is not to work within the differences and categories that are common in society, but instead to think critically about these differences and categories and to

Scherr take into consideration their possible premises and ramifications
Findings
Background

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