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Photo: courtesy of Kelley Graves. The Demographic Divide in Germany Background to Immigration in Germany Immigration Transition German Identity post-Reunification Essential Questions. Multiculturalism, Reunification and Identity in 21 st Century Germany. Presented by Benjamin Peterson - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
The Demographic Divide in GermanyBackground to Immigration in Germany
Immigration TransitionGerman Identity post-Reunification
Essential Questions
Multiculturalism, Reunification and Identity in 21st Century Germany
Presented by Benjamin Peterson
Basha High School
Chandler, AZ
Applications to AP Human Geography
Age-sex pyramid CBRCDR Fertility RateDemography Distance DecayMigration Pull FactorAcculturation Contagious DiffusionCultural landscape Cultural environmentsCultural perception BoundariesCentrifugal forces Centripetal forcesDevolution NationalismEnclave FederalismDeveloped country Economic sectorGlobalization InfrastructurePostindustrial Primary industrial regionSite SituationSocial stratification Urban function
German Demographics• Population: roughly 82 million
• By comparison: • UK: 61 million• France: 65 million • Italy: 51.9 million
• CBR (2011 est.): 8.3• CDR (2011 est.): 10.92• NIR (roughly): -2• TFR (2011 est.): 1.41• 20.6% of population over 65• Age Dependency Ratio:
34/100• Age Dependency Ratio in
2050: 53/100• Aging population• Shrinking work force• Shrinking natural increase
rate Source: http://www.berlin-institut.org/online-handbookdemography/population-ageing.html
CBR continues to shrink
Source: Federal Statistical Offi ce of Germany, Press Release #183, May 4, 2007.
Turkey
14.6%
Russia 9.4%
Poland
6.9%
Italy
4.2%
Serbia
3.0%
Croatia
2.6%
Bosnia
2.3%
Greece
2.2%
Romania
3.0%
Migration to Germany
“…Turkish immigrants living in Germany who, according to studies by the Berlin Institute for Population and Development, are less effectively
integrated on average than other immigrant groups. They are more likely than others to be poorly educated, underpaid and unemployed.
Anyone seeking to fathom the reasons for these discrepancies will uncover a decades-long history of failures, misunderstandings and missed
opportunities, shortsighted political strategies and a recurring and stubborn tendency to ignore reality.”
- excerpt taken from Der Spiegel article, “A Sorry History of Self-Deception and Wasted Opportunities”,
2010
Immigration Issues in Germany
• 1 in 5 Germans is a first or second generation immigrant
• Germany has become a nation of immigrants the past 30 years
• Just who is German?• What is a German?• How should immigrants
immerse themselves into Germany culture?
• How can immigrants be better integrated into German society?
• Is it immigrants’ job to better assimilate into German society?
11 of the 23 members of the 2010 World Cup
German National Soccer team came from
immigrant families.
Immigration Background• Germany is not a ‘melting pot’ or a historically immigrant nation.• Many of the immigrants came during the 1950s to find work
• Germany had labor shortages after WWII; needed able-bodied men to fill in• Between 1945-1961: 3.8 Germans moved from East to West• FRD increased recruitment of foreign workers after 1961• October 31, 1961: labor recruitment agreement with Turkey; prospective Turks
boarded trains from Ankara and Istanbul headed for Munich• Migrants were then distributed among country’s industrial zones
• “Rotation Clause” was removed in 1964 because of pressure from businesses• The jobs, labor and new industry all combined to create the “Economic Miracle”
in Germany• Majority of immigrants came from Turkey; by 1973 23% of foreigners in Germany
were Turks• These workers were known as gastarbeiter (Guest Workers)• The term, itself, denotes a sense of unwelcome- “you are a guest, not a
member of society”• Shortly after the 1970s, the gov’t was not willing to deport mass amounts of
immigrants who were establishing roots throughout Germany• Many immigrants planned to go back to Turkey, but standard of living was too
good in Germany• They brought families, tied down roots and became less connected to their
home country
Political Realizations
• The Green Party sought to introduce immigrant protection laws in the German system by the late 1990s
• German politicians became more comfortable dealing with issues of immigration by the mid-2000s
• Germany recognizes it needs immigration; it needs highly educated, bright individuals in special economic sectors; its needed to compensate for the aging, shrinking natural increase rate
• Germany recognizes asylum seekers (sees it as its historical responsibility)
• Germany believes it’s the responsibility of immigrants to become culturally and linguistically integrated into Germany society (learn about history, learn about music, learn about writers or thinkers, but don’t lose sight of ones self in the process)
Immigration Transition• 10 years ago: Immigration Act
• If parents are in Germany legally for 8 years, their kids born after 2000 have dual citizenship (if parents have a stable job)
• Parents can become citizens if:• No criminal records• Successful at a German language course• Stable job, stable income• No suspended license• Display proper German behavior/ethics
• Foreigners who graduate from German university are given a year to find work (German gov’t believes that university grads offer great promise and can assist in growing Germany’s economy)
• No naturalization laws in Germany- kids whose parents are in the country legally must illustrate success in school, and pass the Abitur in order to be offered the chance of citizenship
• Students/young adults must then choose either citizenship of Germany or their country of birth (no dual citizenship in Germany)
• The German gov’t has budgeted 1 billion dollars for state sponsored language programs
Identity Crisis in Germany• Deutsche Welle: Integration Success and Failure• PBS: (issues in education) Muslims in Germany• PBS World Focus: Immigration in Europe • Men are leaving for Turkey to find more traditional wives
• Those wives are brought back to Germany• Many families are having children in Germany, but providing them with no
German instruction• Kids are going to the 1st grade, but w/out any German language
• Success becomes difficult and too many young Turks are dropping out• Many Turks don’t feel as though they belong in Germany, or are accepted in
Germany• Disproportionate number of undereducated, unemployed come from
immigrants from Turkey• 40% of Turks in Berlin are unemployed• Immigrants typically live in communities populated by the same
ethnicity; don’t learn the languages or customs of host country• No anti-discrimination laws in Germany to promote the minorities from unfair
labor or social actions
Identity & the Wall• Nov. 9, 1989 capsulated DDR citizens’
main role in death of East Germany• Citizens left DDR through Eastern
Bloc embassies• Citizens protested for reforms in
streets of Leipzig, Dresden, Berlin• The reforms demanded would have
contradictory effect on the reasons for a socialist state
• History happened at break-neck pace, post-1989• DDR dissolved, USSR crumbled,
free elections in Poland and Hungary
• Debate in Germany: • How quickly to bring the two
Germanys together? • How intense should the reforms
take shape?• What, who will guide the re-
unification?
“Aufbau Ost”: Revitalize the East
• Solidarity Pact (1993): goal was to create equal living conditions in West and East German cities• Renovate inner-city residential
districts in Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz
• Improve infrastructure: telecommunications, sewage systems
• Increase industrial output• Create competitive university
systems• Create criteria to protect environment
• Early exuberance for re-unification led to mistrust, misunderstandings, economic and social frustrations• East bore the social burden• West bore the economic burden
• 2009 est.: EUR 1.6 trillion netSource: Cologne Institute for Economic Research
The Wall in People’s Heads• Within months of re-unification the life East
Germans knew and understood drastically changed
• Brain Drain: East to West migration (roughly 2 million)
• Disappearance of 2/3 of E. German industry• State-owned industries were transferred to
public• Rapid unemployment• Way of life, what and how people were taught
was drastically altered• “Truth” and “Reality” had to be reconciled
• zum beispiel: Stasi files were opened to the public in 1992
• Nazi files were finally open to East German scholars
• Ostaglia: nostalgia for a time passed, for a cultural identity
• Freedoms were gained, but something was lost in re-unification
• Difficult for East Germans to understand the competitive, free-market, material-driven society in the West
• Easterners felt as if they were treated like 2nd class citizens
The unification of two Germanys but notice how the East Germany flag is missing it’s coat of
arms- the colors remain but the ideology and all that it represents is eradicated.
Appreciation for Re-unification… it does exist
• Poll numbers taken from Institut für Demoskopie Allensbach (2009/Nr. 7)• 63% polled have positive view of unity• 17% still see unity as a cause for concern• 64% believe East and West growing successfully
• 68% in West; 51% in East• 34% still believe East and West will “remain like two separate states”
• 1990: 72% in former DDR said things had to change a lot between East and West
• 2009: 45% in former DDR still said things had to change a lot between East and West
• 1995: 45% believed that people (East & West) were far apart to be unified• 2009: less than 25% believed that people were too far apart to be unified• 58% describe Germany’s development as a success
• 64% of that comes from polling in East• 47% believe economic development in East has been a success
Differences are no Longer EmphasizedWhen you compare those in the East as
compared to those in the West, do you put more emphasis on differences or similarities?
Germany: Immigration, Re-unification & Identity• Immigration issues were ignored far too long by politicians• Conservatives were less apt to work with immigrant issues, citing
Germany was not an immigrant nation• The left was too enamored with the Utopian ideals of personal freedoms
and multicultural harmony• The gaps, violence, misunderstanding, frustrations continued while
Germany debated social and economic ramifications of immigration• Due to demographic constraints, Germany needs immigration• What was once treated as a burden, immigration is a vital piece of
German society in 21st century• Add to the frustrations was reunification in 1990
• Two German cultures were reunified after the fall of the Wall• What was this “new/unified” Germany and how was it to look and feel?• 21 years after reunification an identity crisis still affects many Germans
from the former East- (they see their culture/way of life/economic system/ideologies hijacked by Western ideals)
• The question still begs: what does it mean to be German in the 21st century?
Essential Questions
• What is a German in the 21st century?• What has been the impact of the new wave of
immigration on the population of Germany?• How is multiculturalism defined in Germany?• Who is responsible for immigrants’ assimilation and
integration into German society? • The Federal Government? • The local governments, or is it the personal
responsibility of the immigrants?• Is immigration and integration critical for
immigrants in Germany, and Europe in general?• How has Germany’s re-unification affected German
identity?
Sources• Bartsch, M., Brandt, A. & Steinvorth, D. (2010, July 09). A sorry history of self-deception
and wasted opportunities. Retrieved from http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,716067,00.html
• Gobel, J. (2010, August 20). Joy over german unity unbroken. Retrieved from http://www.magazin-deutschland.de
• Hoffman, G. (2010, May 05). The past to freedom: 20 years of german unity. Retrieved from http://www.magazin-deutschland.de
• Institute for Demoskopie Allensbach. (Designer). (2009). Ostdeutsche-westdeutsche. [Web Graphic]. Retrieved from http://www.ifd-allensbach.de/news/prd_0907.htm
• Introduction to immigration to germany. (2008). Retrieved from http://www.workpermit.com/germany/employer1.htm
• Jervis, R., Prewitt, J., & Shockley, P. (2007). Germany today. (2007 ed., p. 53-58). Bonn: Inpuncto.
• Munkler, H. (2010, July 06). 20 years of german unity: a process without historical precedence. Retrieved from http://www.magazin-deutschland.de
• Oezcan, V. (2004, Jul). Germany: immigration transition. Retrieved from http://www.migrationinformation.org/profiles/display.cfm?id=235
• (2010). Pbs: worldfocus. (2010). [Web Video]. Retrieved from http://watch.thirteen.org/video/1450063603/#
• Public affairs program: german immigration issues. (2005, November 21). Retrieved from http://www.carnegiecouncil.org/resources/transcripts/5280.html
• The world factbook: germany. (2011, July). Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gm.html