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3 - Rethinking Refugee Integration: The Importance of Core Values for Cultural Debate in Germany

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 October 2020

Robert Sata
Affiliation:
Central European University, Budapest
Jochen Roose
Affiliation:
German Institute for Urban Affairs
Ireneusz Pawel Karolewski
Affiliation:
University of Wrocław
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Summary

INTERNATIONALLY, GERMANY IS increasingly perceived as a major actor in integration policy, particularly as it has recently accepted many asylum seekers and had intense debates on their integration. From 2015 to 2017, nearly 1.4 million people applied for asylum in Germany and around 45 per cent of those received a protected status and legitimate right to remain (BAMF 2017: 48–50). The mass arrival of asylum seekers in such a short time span has rekindled an old debate on German cultural identity and approaches to the integration of foreigners into German culture. Much of the debate is sparked by the concern to preserve German identity in a process of acculturation. The process implies a confrontation with the identification of German core values and has rekindled a discussion on a ‘guiding culture’ (Leitkultur) and a ‘welcoming culture’ (Willkommenskultur). Beyond that, the mass arrival of refugees has had various socio-political implications and caused new developments in the German political and cultural setting.

Given that the integration debate in Germany is focusing on finding durable solutions where the host society and the refugee can peacefully coexist, this chapter focuses on the core parts of the integration debate. It proceeds as follows: the first section highlights definitions of the term ‘integration’ and notes the lack of a unique understanding of the term among different actors. The second section reviews refugee integration in Germany and shows that the predominant factor in various German definitions of integration is the refugees’ willingness to internalise German identity, learn the language and seek employment. The third section focuses on the debate about integration and highlights how it is unclear what culture refugees should integrate into. The fourth and last section proposes ways to rethink German integration policies, arguing for applied observational research and a human rights perspective. As such, this chapter identifies the notion of integration as a lasting question with no definite answer, but suggests instead that integration is a learning process, which should continuously be observed through empirical studies and future scenario planning.

Defining integration

Although it lacks a formal, universally accepted definition, the notion of ‘integration’ is frequently used in the refugee context. The term is oft en used to frame the political means for dealing with the consequences of immigration.

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Transnational Migration and Border-Making
Reshaping Policies and Identities
, pp. 76 - 93
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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