Between Two Cultures: Multiculturalism and Voices of Children of Turkish Guest Workers on the Failed Project

Year 2022, Volume: 9 Issue: 2, 237 - 253, 30.12.2022

H. Nur Yasar

https://doi.org/10.34247/artukluakademi.994059

Abstract

This research explores German multiculturalism departing from the debate on failing to build a multicultural society. It demonstrates examples of lived experiences and voices of migrant children once objects become active subjects in breaking stereotypes and misconceptions. Multiculturalism in Germany is associated with immigration and non-European guest workers. Immigration and the “foreigner” problem started with the settlement of guest workers, who were invited as a need to fill the lack of labor force, in the West-Germany, after the Second World War. The request for a labor force did not intend to create immigrant communities with cultural differences to settle into the society. Thus, integration into German society became essential to prevent problems seemingly coming from migrant communities. “Leitkultur” [leading culture], embodying notions of monocultural German society and cultural identification of “Germanity,” influenced educational approach, recognition of diversity, and social equality towards immigrant children. Nevertheless, migrant children found ways to deal with multicultural issues and empower themselves to build a multicultural society in their understanding.

Keywords

Multiculturalism, Turkish migrants, German education, Integration, Identity

İki Kültür Arasında: Çok Kültürlülük ve Türk Misafir İşçi Çocuklarının Başarısız olan Projeye dair Görüşleri

Abstract

Bu çalışma Alman çokkültürlülüğünün çokkültürlü bir toplumun inşasında başarısız olunduğu tartışmasına değinerek, bu sürece maruz kalan göçmen çocuklarının stereotipleri ve göçmenlere dair yanlış kanıları yıkmakta aktif özne haline gelmelerini yaşanmış deneyimler ve duruma dair görüşleri üzerinden incelemektedir. İkinci Dünya Savaşı sonrasında, Batı Almanya’nın iş gücü eksikliği sebebiyle davet ettiği misafir işçilerin yerleşmesi ile göçmen ve yabancı sorunları başlamıştır. En baştan beri farklı kültürden gelen misafir işçilerin oluşturduğu bir göçmen topluluğunun yerleşmesi düşüncesi kabul görmemiştir. Bunun sonucu göçmen topluluklarından gelebilecek olası sorunların önlenmesi için entegrasyon ve çokkültürlülük politikaları önem arz etmeye başlamıştır. Özellikle eğitim üzerinden misafir işçilerinin çocukları Alman toplumuna adapte edilmeye çalışılmış, fakat pedagojik yaklaşım olarak çokkültürlülük unsurlarından farklı olarak Alman kültürü değerlerini temel alan Leitkultur [yöneten kültür] etkisinden uzaklaşılamamıştır. Alman toplumundan izole ve ayrı bir şekilde iki kültür arasında kalan göçmen çocukları ise bu süreçte toplumda yer edinmenin yollarını aramakta olup çokkültürlü bir toplum oluşumu için aktif olarak faaliyetlerde bulunmaktadırlar.

Keywords

Çok kültürlülük, Türk kökenli göçmenler, Alman Eğitimi, Entegrasyon, Kimlik

References

• References 1. Abadan-Unat, Nermin. “Modernity and Transnationalism: The Turkish Optic,” Center on Migration, Citizenship, and Development (COMCAD) Working Papers 107 (2012).
• 2. Arslan, Hasan. “Multicultural Education: Approaches, Dimensions and Principles”, Multicultural Education: From Theory to Practice, ed. Hasan Arslan and Georgeta Raţă pp. 15-34, UK: Cambridge Scholars, 2013. Berghan, Volker - Uta Poiger (ed.), “Occupation and the Emergence of Two States (1945-1961)”, The Berlin Ultimatum (November 27, 1958), German History in Documents and Images (GHDI) 8, German Historical Institute. (Accessed, 05 April 2022). https://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/
• 3. Borneman, John. “State, Territory, and National Identity Formation in the two Berlins, 1945-1995”, Culture, Power, Place: Explorations in Critical Anthropology, ed. Akhil Gupta-James Ferguson. Durham-London: Duke University Press, 1997.
• 4. Broeder, Peter - Guus Extra, “Integration”, Immigrant Policy for a Multicultural Society, A comparative study of integration, language, and religious policy in five Western European Countries, ed. Hans Vermeulen.57-100. Brussels: Migration Policy Group, 1997.
• 5. Castles, Stephen. “Migration, Citizenship, and Education,” Diversity and Citizenship Education, ed. James A. Banks.17-48. San Francisco CA: Jossey-Bass, 2004.
• 6. Datteltäter, “A Doctor with a Headscarf? Gülcan vs. Prejudices l Time Machine”, YouTube (July 19, 2020). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTfb86whDoY
• 7. Datteltäter, “DAS KOPFTUCHVERBOT und was es für mich bedeutet!”, YouTube (25 July 2021). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bj-ywPgGZA
• 8. Datteltäter, “Wenn RASSISMUS EHRLICH wäre l SCHULE” YouTube (19 January 2018), 00:00:30-00:01:00. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHKPREtHYDE
• 9. Datteltäter, “Wenn Türken zu Almans werden - Kanak Light”, YouTube (14 March 2021). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvbn9SGEbbo
• 10. Datteltäter, “About Datteltäter”, (18 August 2021). https://www.datteltaeter.de/en/about/
• 11. De Leeuw Sonja and Ingegerd Rydin. “Migrant Children’s Digital Stories: Identity Formation And Self-Representation Through Media Production”, European Journal of Cultural Studies, (2007) 10(4),pp. 317–326. (Accessed, 12 February 2022). https://doi.org/10.1177/1367549407081948
• 12. El Tayeb, Fatima., Kanak Attak! HipHop und (Anti-)Identitätsmodelle der „Zweiten Generation“, Jenseits des Paradigmas kultureller Differenz: Neue Perspektiven auf Einwanderer aus der Türkei. Kultur und soziale praxis, ed. Martin Sökefeld. 95-110. Bielefeld, Germany: Transcript Verlag, 2004.
• 13. Faas, Daniel. “The Europeanisation of German ethnic identities: the case of German and Turkish students in two Stuttgart Secondary Schools”, International Studies in Sociology of Education 17/1 (June 2007), 45–62.
• 14. Faist, Thomas. “The Blind Spot of Multiculturalism: From Heterogeneities to Social (In)Equalities”, Center on Migration, Citizenship and Development (COMCAD)-Working Papers 108 (2012). 1-31.
• 15. Gaebel, M. Kate. “The Failed Project of Multiculturalism: The Case of Turkish Immigrants and / in German Education”, The Journal of Multiculturalism in Education 7 (December 2011). Grimm, Sonja. “Germany’s Post-1945 and Post-1989 Education Systems”, World Development Report 2011 Background Papers (2010).
• 16. Guardian, “Angela Merkel: German multiculturalism has ‘utterly failed’”, (17 October 2010). https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/oct/17/angela-merkel-german-multiculturalism-failed
• 17. Güney, Serhat, Bülent Kabaş, and Fatih Çömlekçi, “A Place for Immigrants in the Ghetto: The Rise and Fall of the NaunynRitze Youth Centre”, Space and Culture, (2018) 22(4), pp. 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1177/1206331218757662
• 18. Hoff, Gerd R. “Multicultural education in Germany: Historical development and current status”, Handbook of research on multicultural education, ed. James A. Banks. 821–838. New York: Macmillan, 1995.
• 19. Luchtenberg, Sigfrid. “Migration, Citizenship, and Education”, Diversity and Citizenship Education, ed. J. A. Banks. 245-272. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2004.
• 20. Luchtenberg, Sigrid. “Identity Education in Multicultural Germany”, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 19/1 (1998), 51-63. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434639808666342
• 21. Luchtenberg, Sigrid. “Multicultural Education: Challenges and Responses”, JSSE-Journal of Social Science Education 4/1 (2005).31-55. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4119/jsse-339
• 22. Miera, Frauke. “German Education Policy and the Challenge of Migration”, EUV Frankfurt (Oder) Paper prepared for the EMILIE project, (December 2007), pp.1-44.
• 23. Mitter, Wolfgang. “Educational Issues in the Multicultural Society of Germany” - In: Ray, Douglas [Hrsg.]; Poonwassie, Deo H. [Hrsg.]: Education and Cultural Differences. New Perspectives. (New York; London :Garland Publishing, 1992), pp. 429-447. DOI: 10.25656/01:2013
• 24. Muchowiecka, Laura. “ The End of Multiculturalism? Immigration and Integration in Germany and the United Kingdom”. Inquiries Journal/Student Pulse, (2013) 5: 6, 1-40. (Accessed, 8 October 2022). http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/735/the-end-of-multiculturalism-immigration-and-integration-in-germany-and-the-united-kingdom
• 25. Ozbek, Tulay. “Living in Germany as a Kanak: Some Thoughts About Nonbelonging”, Psychoanal Rev. 104/6 (December 2017), 707-721. DOI: 10.1521/prev.2017.104.6.707
• 26. Pfannkuch, Katharina. “„Datteltäter“ – Ein deutsch-muslimisches Empörium”, Die Welt (14 July 2015), 1-4. https://www.welt.de/vermischtes/article143863912/Datteltaeter-Ein-deutsch-muslimisches-Empoerium.html
• 27. Raţă, Georgeta. “Bi-, Cross-, Inter-, Multi-, Pluri-, or Trans-Cultural Education?”, Multicultural Education: From Theory to Practice, ed. Hasan Arslan and Georgeta Raţă pp. 3-14. UK: Cambridge Scholars, 2013. Ross, Catherine J. “Perennial outsiders: The educational experience of Turkish youth in Germany.” American University International Law Review, 24/5 (2008).
• 28. Sen, Faruk - Andreas Goldberg, Türken in Deutschland: Leben zwischen zwei Kulturen (Turks in Germany: life between two cultures). München: Verlag C. H. Beck, 1994.
• 29. Sökefeld, Martin. “Das Paradigma kultureller Differenz: Zur Forschung und Diskussion über Migranten aus der Türkei in Deutschland.”, Jenseits des Paradigmas kultureller Differenz: Neue Perspektiven auf Einwanderer aus der Türkei. Kultur und soziale praxis, ed. Martin Sökefeld.9-34. Bielefeld, Germany: Transcript Verlag, 2004.
• 30. Spiegel, “Merkel erklärt Multikulti für gescheitert”, (16 October 2010), 1. https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/integration-merkel-erklaert-multikulti-fuer-gescheitert-a-723532.html
• 31. Vierra, Sarah Thomson. “At Home in Almanya? Turkish-German Spaces of Belonging in West Germany, 1961-1990”, Bulletin of the German Historical Institute (GHI) 52 (Spring 2013). (Acccessed, 9 June 2022). https://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/
• 32. Wilkens, Ingrid- Kathrin Böhm et al. Statistical Report on the Education of Children with an Immigration Background in Hessen: Preschool, Primary, and Secondary Education 2011-2012. Ministry of Justice, for Integration and Europe of the State of Hessen, 2013. (Accessed, 27 May 2022) https://ec.europa.eu/migrant-integration/?action=media.download&uuid=FC555151-BF0E-BE84-A0E333F2CCE5D5BC
• 33. Winter Charlie and Johanna Fürst, “Challenging Hate: Counter-speech Practices in Europe”, ICSR (2017), pp.1-44. (Accessed, 27 May 2022). https://icsr.info/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/ICSR-Report-Challenging-Hate-Counter-speech-Practices-in-Europe.pdf
• 34. Wolf, Molly. “Is Multiculturalism Really Dead? : A Closer Look at the Multiculturalism Debate within the Context of Berlin’s District of Kreuzberg” Honors Projects 67 (2011), 1-29. (Accessed, 27 May 2022). http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/honorsprojects/67
• 35. Worbs, Susanne. “The Second Generation in Germany: Between School and Labor Market”, IMR Volume (Winter 2003) 37: 4, pp. lOll-1038
• 36. Zufarovich, Galiullin, M., Evgenievich Tumanin, V., Kimovich Kalimonov, I., Kimovich Kalimonov, I., Imbelevna Kamaletdinova, E. y Vasilievich Pokudov, Z., “The Crisis of Multiculturalism in Modern Germany”, Propósitos y Representaciones. 9, SPE2 (mar. 2021), pp. 1-7. https://doi.org/10.20511/pyr2021.v9nSPE2.1055.