Contemporary Germany Research Articles

Sharing Stories, Food and Passports: Forced Migration, Museum and Memory Activism in Contemporary Germany

ABSTRACT This article uses the online exhibition ‘Arriving: Life after Forced Migration’ by the Marienfelde Refugee Center Museum in Berlin as a case study to investigate how museum activism can contribute to creating and disseminating memories about contemporary forced migration. Employing a close visual and textual analysis of the online exhibition combined with insights from recent discourses on museum activism, migration and memory studies, the article explores which forms of memory the exhibition creates, how these memories emerge and to which end they are used. The analysis firstly illustrates how the exhibition creates a space for communicative memory to surface within the portrayed refugee families through the sharing of stories, objects and food from ‘home’. Secondly, it goes on to argue that the exhibition engages in memory activism by humanizing the portrayed individuals, exposing discriminatory state practices and challenging the audience through provocative questions. Thirdly, the article submits that this online exhibition contributes to a growing transnational archive of forced migration memories. Comprised of a multitude of online platforms dedicated to collecting, preserving and sharing forced migration stories, this archive stimulates multidirectional memory making and allows counter narratives to surface within an increasingly divided Europe.

Racism without ‘race’: colorblindness, blackness and everyday racism in contemporary Germany

ABSTRACT Germany does not officially use or recognize racial categories. Despite this absence, everyday racism is a common experience for Black Germans and others viewed as non-European. Drawing on interviews with Black Germans, this article reveals the multiple ways in which Black Germans are racialized in everyday life. The most common form is ‘foreignization’ or the presumption that Black Germans are immigrants. This particular form of racialization can be seen as a consequence of the refusal to acknowledge race as a concept, and substituting the language of citizenship and migration for it. Interviews also illustrate how Black Germans’ self-identifications are both shaped by and challenge this absence of race as a term. The absence of racial categories maintains the notion of Germanness as white, and Blackness as non-German. Examining race in the German context offers unique insights into the comparative study of race in the contemporary colorblind era.

Rites without Passage: The Civic Conversion of Young Refugees in Contemporary Germany

Rites without Passage: The Civic Conversion of Young Refugees in Contemporary Germany

Bringing “Religion as Such” to the City: Sacred History and Nation Branding in Contemporary Germany

Abstract This article focuses on a multireligious building project named House of One in contemporary Berlin. Initiated in 2012 by a Protestant community at the center of Berlin, House of One consists of a synagogue, a church, a mosque, and a communal room. My central suggestion is that House of One is invested in a pluralist re-branding of (liberal) Protestantism, a rebranding that underlies the post-unification emergence of a new national German imaginary: out of “soil” marked as historically Christian spreads an “Abrahamic” future that transcends its particularity via its assumed ability to incorporate Islam and Judaism. Liberal, Christian-secularized norms and affects are thus being rearticulated in a language of religious pluralism, so that a normative, Christian-secularized category of religion can be extended to Christianity’s “monotheistic brothers.” Elaborations of this building project’s intended purpose, I argue, are thus animated by a broader question about the appropriate relation between religion and the state, and conjointly, between the self and culture at a moment in time in which hitherto normative, Christian-secularized assumptions concerning this relation are challenged. As such, the discursive representation that sustains the yet-to-be-built House of One is conducive to the making of a new national imaginary: it is driven both by the desire to renounce past evil through a recognition and inclusion of alterity into the body politic, as much as by the simultaneous de-politization and scrutinization of such alterity.

Jews and Germans: an Outdated Binary? Jews, love, and relationships in contemporary Germany

ABSTRACT This paper analyzes the seemingly outdated binary Jews and Germans on the level of power relations and lived experiences. By analyzing an in-depth interview, it shows how the violent past of National Socialism and the Shoah reaches into the present and into love relationships. The case study illustrates that the categories ‘Jews’ and ‘German’ are needed as analytical tools to understand these aftermaths. In conclusion, the contribution argues that while the categories can be appropriated and lived in an agentic way, the binary is useful to capture and analyze positionalities and power relations.

Non-green ecological conservation: right-wing ecology in contemporary Germany

ABSTRACT After the rise and mainstreaming of the modern ecological movement, the right-wing ecological ideology has not gradually died out, and right-wing ecologists are still very active today. They not only actively participate in ecological debates and activities, but also combine their ideological concepts with practice, and focus on right-wing land grabbing in rural areas. As ecological issues tend to blur the boundaries between political camps, right-wing ecological conservation in ‘green’ garb is extremely misleading and harmful, and therefore needs to be studied in depth. Firstly, this article analyses the ideological basis of right-wing ecology in contemporary Germany from three aspects: historical view, human view and worldview. Secondly, by analyzing the basic positions of right-wing ecologists in the three main fields of ecological conservation, namely species protection, animal protection, green genetic engineering and organic agriculture, and their specific modes of action, this article identifies the motives of the right-wing ecologists’ participation in ecological conservation in terms of historical reasons and practical needs, and analyses the characteristics of their argumentation. Finally, on the basis of the above research, this article specifies the essential differences between right-wing ecological conservation and modern, civilized and scientific ecological conservation and its harms.

The Problems of National Identity in Contemporary Germany in an International Context

The article analyzes the influence of the current international situation on the concept of German identity. The main elements that form the basis of contemporary German self-consciousness are identified. The author explores the relationship between the regional, national, and supranational components of German self-identification, examining the persistent mental “divide” between the new (former GDR) and the old lands (West Germany). Special attention is paid to the challenges posed for the Federal Republic of Germany in terms of historical discourse and memorial practices by the influx of migrants from the Middle East and North Africa. The role of the 2023 Palestine-Israel escalation in the transformation of the national narrative is separately examined. The article also evaluated the conflict around Ukraine as a factor in strengthening the European dimension of German identity.Among the key methods used by the author are content analysis of speeches by German officials, analysis of legislation and media. In addition, logical, chronological, and comparative-historical methods were applied. All this in aggregate led to the following conclusions. The Federal Republic of Germany is undergoing a systemic and multidimensional identity crisis. The main challenge is finding a balance between historical responsibility, transatlantic commitments, and national interests. The goal of the German establishment is to formulate a new national idea, which includes defining the role and place of Germany in the world, forming a value consensus regarding migrants, and overcoming the alienation between the east and west of the country. However, in the post-1990 world order, such a large-scale task remains rather impossible for the current elites.

German teachers' pilgrimage to an Israeli Holocaust Memorial: Emotions, encounters, and contested visions

AbstractDrawing on anthropological conceptions of pilgrimage, our ethnography of professional development at an Israeli Holocaust Memorial follows German teachers on journeys to Israel. Seeking transformative and transferable experiences to combat anti‐Semitism in schools, teachers experienced the voyage as a secular pilgrimage rooted in Christian traditions of guilt, confession, and absolution. As teachers' emotional encounters in Israel simultaneously forged communitas and challenged official historical–pedagogical visions, their practices abroad elucidate prevalent Holocaust education discourses in contemporary Germany.

Oppression of Catholics in Prussia does not explain spatial differences in support for the radical right in Germany. A critique of Haffert (2022)

A growing literature links contemporary far-right mobilization to the “legacies” of events in the distant past, but often, the effects are small, and their estimates appear to rely on problematic assumptions. We re-analyse Haffert's (2022) study, a key example of this strand of research. Haffert claims that historical political oppression of Catholics in Prussia moderates support for the radical right AfD party among Catholics in contemporary Germany. While the argument itself has intellectual merit, we identify some severe limitations in the empirical strategy. Retesting the study's cross-level interaction hypothesis using more suitable multi-level data and a more appropriate statistical model, we find a modest overall difference in AfD support between formerly Prussian and non-Prussian territories. However, this difference is unrelated to individual Catholic religion or to the contextual presence of Catholics. This contradicts the oppression hypothesis. Our study thus provides another counterpoint to the claim that historical events have strong and long-lasting effects on contemporary support for the radical right. We conclude that simpler explanations for variations in radical right support should be exhausted before resorting to history.

A Failed Canonization Process of Theological Knowledge in Contemporary Germany: An Analysis of the Practices of Ordinary Muslims

How do specific theological narratives and religious meanings prevail, fade, or become established? How do certain endeavors to canonize religious knowledge fail? How do the specific meanings individuals attribute to religious knowledge influence processes of negotiation and canonization? Drawing upon intensive ethnographic fieldwork, this article analyzes a particular negotiation of Islamic knowledge within a local jamaat of a German mosque association by taking seriously the practices of ordinary Muslims. It highlights the social dynamics of religious power and emphasizes the social embeddedness of theological meaning-making. In so doing, this article provides insights into the shaping of religious power and authority, and, in particular, into the complex process of successes and failures of attempts to canonize theological knowledge within the contemporary German-speaking Muslim landscape.

Культура исторической памяти современного немецкого монархизма

The article examines monarchism as a form of memorial culture and historical policy in contemporary German society. The research aims to analyze monarchism as a form of historical memory. The author explores the role and significance of monarchist intellectuals in shaping historical policy and the memorial culture that evolves within the framework of monarchist historical imagination. The novelty of the study lies in examining the current stage of monarchist ideology in Germany, not as a form of political participation, but as a version of historical memory and memorial culture, grounded in the principles of both historical revisionism and German nationalism. The article demonstrates that (1) monarchism in contemporary Germany cultivates its own perceptions of the past and history; (2) the historical imagination of German monarchism is a form of historical revisionism, as the monarchist past and legacy are systematically mythologized and ideologized in the political imagination of monarchist supporters; (3) in its historical imagination, monarchism constructs alternative versions of historical memory and memorial culture, distinct from those proposed by civic identity. The article highlights that monarchist forms of historical memory contribute to ongoing transformations in memorial culture, promoting the parallel development of alternative counter-memories that operate within the political and ideological framework of monarchism. It is suggested that the visualization of collective historical memory regarding the unique historical experience of monarchy, including the narrative and discursive tactics and strategies of contemporary monarchists, enhances the heterogeneous nature of Germany’s memorial tradition, fostering the consolidation of unique perspectives on the past, which form the foundation of monarchist historical imagination and memorial culture as a form of alternative memory.

An Approach to the Reception of Crime Theme in Contemporary Germany

<p>犯罪題材的創作無論在西方或東方都有悠久的歷史，而不同的文化在交匯後又碰撞出了新的火花、促成了更多的內容與風格變化。如今，許多國家都有世界級的犯罪小說家，舉凡美國的丹．布朗、德國的瑟巴斯提昂．費策克、挪威的尤．奈斯博、日本的東野圭吾、中國的紫金陳……等。甚至隨著科技日新月異與媒體轉型，題材的呈現方式又被賦予了更多的可能性，從以往的書本到如今的多媒體影音。顯然，犯罪題材至今仍於許多國家受到歡迎，甚至成為了不同種族、年齡、性別、階級的共同愛好。在眾多國家中，由以德國民眾對於犯罪題材的喜愛特別鮮明，因此本論文將以犯罪題材之悠久歷史為基礎，釐清其於德國當代之接受與發展，並分析德國民眾對其情有獨鍾之現象。</p> <p> </p><p>The creation of crime-themed works has a long history in both western and eastern worlds. Different cultures have collided and sparked new ideas, leading to more content and stylistic changes. Nowadays, many countries have well-known crime writers, such as Dan Brown from the US, Sebastian Fitzek from Germany, Jo Nesbo from Norway, Higashino Keigo from Japan, and Zijin Chen from China. With the rapid development of technology and media transformation, there are even more possibilities for presenting crime themes, like from books to multimedia. There is no doubt that crime themes are still popular in many countries and have become a shared interest among different races, ages, genders, and classes. Among many countries, Germany people’s love for crime themes is especially noticeable. Therefore, based on the long history of crime themes, this article will clarify the reception and the development in contemporary Germany, and analyze the phenomenon of German people’s love for these themes.</p> <p> </p>

Why collective memory can never be pluriversal: A case for contradiction and abolitionist thinking in memory studies

Bringing together memory studies with the emerging field of contradiction studies, in this article, I suggest the need for an alternative way of thinking about collective memory by juxtaposing the ideal of wholeness that necessarily underlies any group’s identity with that of the inevitable contradiction of the plurivers. I discuss the power of the Western narrative order in regard to the Haitian Revolution and examples of mnemonic disharmony in contemporary Germany and seek to illuminate the epistemic violence constitutive of this narrative order. The article therefore interrogates memory study’s epistemological foundation and the practices in which these underpinnings result. The aim is to highlight the potential of contradiction in an attempt to pluriversify responses to the past as well as future visions for the worlds we live in. Special attention is paid to the question of what it is we hope for when attempting to (scholarly) contribute to making collective memory more inclusive, and where the limitations of this might lie. The purpose of my contribution, then, is to explore the tacit imperative of harmony that often remains unchallenged in memory studies, and to propose a shift in focus, from the ways in which memory might help us understand (e.g., current clashes of identities), toward a research agenda that is considerate of its own entanglements with power, yet, at the same time, lives up to its potential to contribute to transformation.

Book Review: Contemporary Germany and the Fourth Wave of Far-Right Politics

Book Review: Contemporary Germany and the Fourth Wave of Far-Right Politics

Decolonizing Reading Publics, Decompartmentalizing German Studies

This essay focuses on the contemporary German literary public spheres, zooming in on the relation between a republic and its reading public. In the fraught political topography of contemporary Germany, marked by the arrival and eventual acceptance of over one million Syrian refugees since 2015, the rise of the extreme right-wing party Alternatives for Germany, resurgence of discussion on German colonialism in Africa, and extended public debate around the controversial Humboldt Forum in Berlin, the essay centralizes questions of race, colonialism, and migration. Connecting these key terms with current debates on decolonizing and diversifying the literary canon, the essay argues that decolonization is a direction, not a destination; it is a method, not a product, and attempts to decolonize a national literary canon must be conducted in connection with the larger public spheres, indeed by decompartmentalizing the classroom and the society.

Berlin i Niemcy w dwóch adaptacjach filmowych powieści Alfreda Döblina Berlin Alexanderplatz

The subject of this paper is the image of Berlin and Germany that emerges from two film adaptations of the novel Berlin Alexanderplatz. The first one, a 1980 TV series by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, closely follows the letter and spirit of the original 1929 novel; we see a faithful recreation of the material world and the mindset of German society in the final years of the Weimar Republic. In the second one, a 2021 cinema production by Burhan Qurbani, the plot is modernised. The main context of the film is the plight of refugees and economic migrants in contemporary Germany and the problems portrayed are linked to issues of race and post-colonialism.

Confronting Anti-Muslim Racism and Islamism: An Intersectional Perspective on Muslim Women’s Activism in Germany

ABSTRACT This article explores how Muslim women’s activism unfolds in the context of anti-Muslim racism and Islamism in contemporary Germany. In particular, it identifies both gendered forms of anti-Muslim racism and Islamism encountered by Muslim women’s organizations and ways they respond to it. Drawing on theories of intersectionality and boundary making, this study identifies the most common strategies used to confront anti-Muslim racism and Islamism and their implications for intersectional boundary making. For this purpose, six expert interviews with representatives of major Muslim women’s organizations were conducted and supplemented by data from internet research and participatory observation. Based on a Grounded Theory-inspired approach, the findings show that the responses of Muslim women’s organizations to anti-Muslim racism and Islamism reconfigure group boundaries. They create more inclusive spaces in which boundary formations by religion, race, and ethnicity and gender are transcended.

Civic Education and Democratic Identity in Contemporary Germany: Pedagogical Principles and Didactic Challenges in Times of Right-Wing Populism

ABSTRACT The article assesses the role of civic education in contexts of heightened political polarisation, especially with a focus on right-wing populism. By drawing on the rise of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Germany, we argue that civic education is an indispensible building block in redeeming the famous Böckenförde dictum in modern pluralist democracies. We outline several key principles and challenges civic education has to address in order to foster a ‘thin’ notion of democratic identity – or ‘constitutional patriotism’ as outlined by Dolf Sternberger and Jürgen Habermas. Against this background, we discuss how neutral civic education can, may and should be. Finally, we conclude by formulating an appeal towards more attitude instead of restraint vis-à-vis right-wing populist positions.

Deeper than Belief: Intuitive Judgment as a Context-Driven Process

Abstract Based on “laws” of contagion and similarity, it is understood that people tend to believe that meanings associated with one object may be transferred onto another, and the meanings of the first may “contaminate” the second. The perceived contamination may influence the individual’s way of interacting with the object. We aimed to produce a rich description of individual differences that predict intuitive judgments in response to scenarios involving activation of contagion heuristics. Adolescents and adults in Germany completed a survey and provided rated responses to hypothetical scenarios. They also gave open-ended remarks on one scenario: whether they would wear a sweater that had belonged to Adolf Hitler if they were cold. Content analysis produced a composite description of reflections with insights into historical consciousness in contemporary Germany. Also examined was the extent to which quantitative responses were related to demographics, personality characteristics, supernatural beliefs, and responses to other scenarios.

Holocaust Memory and Postcolonialism: Transatlantic Perspectives on the Debate

German commemorative culture is clearly in flux. Over the last year or so, a series of seemingly never-ending controversies have made it abundantly clear that, more than seventy-five years after the end of the Second World War, the memory of National Socialism and the Holocaust is not only very much present in contemporary Germany but also remains deeply contested. The list of controversies is familiar to everybody who has followed German public debates over the last three years: first the debate over the planned appearance of the Cameroonian philosopher Achille Mbembe at the 2020 Ruhr-Trienale in the spring of 2020; then the publication of the German translation of Michael Rothberg's book Multidirectional Memory in March 2021 and the heated controversy around A. Dirk Moses's “catechism” blog article a few months later; and finally, the recent debate about antisemitism at the documenta art exhibition curated by an Indonesian artist collective.