Migration and Integration - Magazine - Integration Debate

The association “Typisch Deutsch” isn’t split along the lines of Germans and immigrants. Photo: © Typisch Deutsch e. V.

We are the new Germans

Their parents come from Turkey, Ghana or Korea and they are not fans of being labeled as people with “immigrant backgrounds”. The members of “Typisch Deutsch” (lit. typically German) prefer to be called “new Germans” and are out to redefine what it is to be German.More ...

The Circumcision of Jesus, detail; Guido Reni about 1635-1640, photo: public domain

Circumcision, Judges and the Law. An interview with Ilhan Ilkiliç

In June 2012 the Cologne District Court judged the circumcision of boys to be a form of bodily harm. Meanwhile the Bundestag has passed a law on circumcision.More ...

Dr. Holger Kolb (Photo: Dr. Holger Kolb)

“You can’t wall people in” – An interview with Dr. Holger Kolb

The trend to emigration from Germany of the past decade continues. About its motives we can only speculate.More ...

Mouhanad Khorchide; Photo: Peter Grewer, © Ernst-Klett-Verlag | Professor Manfred Brocker; Photo: private

Sharia in western democracies – two interviews

The political scientist Manfred Brocker and Mouhanad Khorchide, professor of Islamic religious education discuss Sharia and its interpretation in western democracies.More ...

Immigration Is Changing the Memory of the Holocaust – An Interview with Angela Kühner

Immigration has brought with it very different ways of viewing the crimes of the Nazis – a challenge for teachers and pupils.More ...

“Young Moslems wish to play their part in shaping Germany”. An Interview with Naika Foroutan

A new study is shedding light on the worlds in which young Moslems in Germany live. Goethe.de talked to Naika Foroutan.More ...

“My advice is to sober up ‘cultural conflicts’” – An Interview with Frank-Olaf Radtke

In his book Kulturen sprechen nicht (Cultures Don’t Speak), Frank-Olaf Radtke gives a critical look at cultural dialogue.More ...

Blogger Kübra Gümüsay: “I Would Like to Break Down Stereotypes”

The Internet can enable people who otherwise do not appear in the media to make themselves heard, says Kübra Gümüsay in an interview with Goethe.de.More ...

“Moslem Feminists Do Exist”. An Interview with Susanne Schröter

Is Islam capable of accepting Western human rights standards? And what can the German debate learn from developments in Moslem countries?More ...

Opponents to the building of a mosque; © fotolia

Capitulation or Scaremongering? German Intellectuals and Islam

When it comes to Islam, the German media appear to alternate between waves of criticism and waves of support. Society is deeply divided in its perception of this immigrant religion.More ...

Professor Hartmut Häussermann; Photo: Anita Back

“Berlin is a city with no tradition and that is to its advantage” – An Interview with Hartmut Häussermann

Berlin is an urban sociotope of a very special kind. Nobody knows it as well as the sociologist, Hartmut Häussermann.More ...

A lot of companies target customers who are not just German speaking. Photo: Jacob Wackerhausen © iStockphoto

Business Success Through Linguistic Diversity

In the “Charter for Diversity” initiative, companies undertake to appreciate the diverse potential of their staff and the needs of their customers. That includes cultural aspects, one of which is identification with a language.More ...

“Cultural diversity is always an enrichment” – An Interview with Armin Nassehi

With and/or parallel to each other? In the integration debate the value of cultural diversity often gets short-changed.More ...

German emigrants travel to America on board the Samuel Hop, drawing, ca. 1850; © Bundesarchiv, Bild 137-041316

Respect: the Lead Culture

The Germans have no collective memory of their experiences with integration. This is one reason why German integration and immigration policy is driven more by fear than by tolerance. By Heribert PrantlMore ...

“Integration Despite Segregation” – An Interview with Urban Researcher Walter Siebel

Integration instead of segregation – that is the usual recipe for how Germany should fulfil its responsibilities as a country of immigration. The urban researcher Walter Siebel calls for an alternative – integration despite segregation.More ...

A Contemporary Interpretation of Islam

For the first time, an imam has joined the debate on the future of Islam in Europe with his own publication. Grüß Gott, Herr Imam (Hello, Mr Imam) is a remarkable book.More ...

Cover of the book “Interkultur”; © Suhrkamp

Dominant Culture? Multi-Culturalism? Inter-Culture!

In his book Interkultur, Mark Tekessidis makes a plea for a future beyond “dominant culture” and “multi-culturalism”.More ...

Discussion on the subject of integration with the Bündnis 90/Die Grünen party, Foto: dustpuppy / Björn Láczay

What is Integration?

In the public debate on integration in Germany the impression is often created that certain immigrants are better integrated than others, depending on the country they come from. On analysis of the empirical data such value statements have to be promptly dismissed.More ...

Cover detail from Die Prediger des Islam; © Herder Verlag

The Preachers of Islam. Rauf Ceylan about Imams in Germany

Muslim prayer leaders shape Islam in Germany, but are often worse integrated than their parishioners. The sociologist of religion Rauf Ceylan has now devoted a book to them.More ...

Burka Debate in Germany and Europe – An Interview with Heiner Bielefeldt

Can the ban of the wearing the burka be reconciled with the right to religious freedom?More ...

Walid Siti: From the series Family Ties, 2004

Fresh Dispute over Islam
Why the German Media are Courting the Anti-Islam Movement

A well-organised anti-Islam movement has arisen in Germany and neighbouring countries in recent years. There may not as yet be any successful anti-Islamic political party in Germany, but this movement has been hugely successful in the media. What is the explanation for this, and how can these dangers be countered? By Stefan WeidnerMore ...

Integration in Germany - Better Than its Reputation

The current annual report compiled by the Committee of Experts on Integration and Immigration (Sachverständigenrat für Integration und Migration) takes a look at the everyday lives of immigrants.More ...

Gökay (l.) and Erdem (r.) performing a role play at the Swedish embassy;
© Strohalm e. v.

The “Heroes” Of Berlin-Neukölln

Muslim boys are strong and brave, girls are chaste and obedient. There is now a project that is to help the boys break with such traditional behaviour patterns and to stand up for an end to honour being used as a means of suppression.More ...

Concepts of Integration for Germany and Europe

The concept of integration has dominated the discussion of immigration in recent years. Immigration researchers now call for a change of perspective.More ...

“Promoting, Yet Requiring” – The Slogan Of The German Immigration Act Is Being Interpreted In Different Ways

When it comes to immigration policy confrontational trenches are to be found running through all the political parties.More ...

Political Participation of Immigrants: The Network of Elected Officials of Turkish Origin

People with a Turkish background constitute the highest proportion of immigrants in Germany. On the other hand, the number of political representatives produced by this population group has been more than modest. The non-partisan Network of Elected Officials of Turkish Origin wants to change that.More ...

Integration Debate