Turkish Guest Workers In Germany

Turkish Guest Workers in Germany tells the post-war story of Turkish "guest workers," whom West German employers recruited to fill their depleted ranks. Jennifer A. Miller's unique approach starts in the country of departure rather than the country of arrival and is heavily informed by Turkish-language sources and perspectives. Miller argues that the guest worker program, far from creating a parallel society, involved constant interaction between foreign nationals and Germans. These categories were as fluid as the Cold War borders they crossed. Miller's extensive use of archival research in Germany, Turkey and the Netherlands examines the recruitment?of workers, their travel, initial housing and work engagements, social lives, and involvement in labour and religious movements. She reveals how contrary to popular misconceptions, the West German government attempted to maintain a humane, foreign labour system and the workers themselves made crucial, often defiant, decisions. Turkish Guest Workers in Germany identifies the Turkish guest worker program as a postwar phenomenon that has much to tell us about the development of Muslim minorities in Europe and Turkey's ever-evolving relationship with the European Union.

Provides a rich examination of how Turkish immigrants and their children created spaces of belonging in West German society.

The political representation of immigrant association is central for immigrants to become political actors in Germany. This book offers a comparative analysis of five Turkish immigrant associations to point out to the diverse approaches in terms of immigrant integration and citizenship rights. By exploring these associations’ views on integration/ assimilation, nationalism/ethnicity, secularism/Islam and their relations with the mainstream German political parties, this book attempts to show that immigrants are not victims of the political decisions of the German state. On the contrary, Turkish immigrant elites become important actors to negotiate rights and memberships in the name of this ethno-national group. This book suggests an approach that recognizes the agency of immigrants in the socio-political discourse and also in the governing process.

Monograph examining the living conditions and related sociological aspects of migrant workers residing in Germany, Federal Republic - reviews the evolution of migration in Western Europe since 1945, focuses on housing, social stratification and social integration of guestworkers in West germany, considers their civil rights and political participation, and investigates social policies and educational policies concerning migrant education programmes for immigrant children. Bibliography pp. 247 to 258, references and statistical tables.

This book provides the first English-language history of the postwar labor migration to West Germany. Drawing on government bulletins, statements by political leaders, parliamentary arguments, industry newsletters, social welfare studies, press coverage, and the cultural production of immigrant artists and intellectuals, Rita Chin offers an account of West German public debate about guest workers. She traces the historical and ideological shifts around the meanings of the labor migration, moving from the concept of guest workers as a "temporary labor supplement" in the 1950s and 1960s to early ideas about "multiculturalism" by the end of the 1980s. She argues that the efforts to come to terms with the permanent residence of guest workers, especially Muslim Turks, forced a major rethinking of German identity, culture, and nation. What began as a policy initiative to fuel the economic miracle ultimately became a much broader discussion about the parameters of a specifically German brand of multiculturalism.

One of the foremost scholars on Turkish migration, the author offers in this work the summary of her experiences and research on Turkish migration since 1963. During these forty years her aim has been threefold: to explain the journeys made by thousands of Turkish men and women to foreign lands out of choice, necessity, or invitation; to shed light on the difficulties they faced; and to elaborate on how their lives were affected by the legal, political, social, and economic measures in the countries where they settled. The extensive research done both in Turkey and in Europe into the lives of individuals directly and indirectly affected by the migration phenomenon and the examination of these research results further enhances the value of this wide-ranging study as a definitive reference work.

Essay from the year 2006 in the subject History Europe - Other Countries - Newer History, European Unification, grade: 2.1, University of Manchester (School for Languages, Linguistics and Cultures), language: English, abstract: Nuri Sahin loves playing Football, and the 17 years old young man is fortunate, for he can actually make a living from this love. He is Germany's youngest professional player. Pundits regard the Borussia Dortmund forward as one of the greatest German footballing talents ever. However, if Turkey had qualified for the final round, Nuri Sahin would have been playing for them in the World Cup 2006 tournament in Germany. Although he was born in Germany and grew up in the small German town of Lüdenscheid, he still has decided to remain a Turkish citizen and play for Turkey rather than for Germany. “I am one hundred percent Turkish”, said Nuhin in a newspaper interview1, “although there is undeniably a part of me that is German.” He is by no means the only one. Other members of Turkey's national team who were born and who are still living in Germany have also decided against playing for the country of their birth. Born in Germany, raised in Germany, educated in Germany and growing old in Germany, but still feeling Turkish rather than German – that sums up not only what Nuri Sahin sees as his identity, but also the way a significant proportion of the 1.76 Million2 Turks currently living in Germany feel about themselves. Turks constitute by far the largest group of immigrants in Germany. In the following text I will take a closer look into the situation of the Turkish Community in Germany, the way it has established itself and the problems and conflicts it experiences within German society.

Publisher description