Include or exclude: Discourses on immigration in Germany

The integration of migrants in German society today is a heavily loaded part of the political agenda. It is conceived as easy and legitimate in the contexts of European integration, economic contribution, and the welfare state. It is associated negatively with Islam and with non-Europeans. Turks are in-between. With the end of the Cold War, the status of East European immigrants has been devalued, and they are conceived as problem groups, including the ethnic Germans from the former Soviet Union. A taboo about anything associated with Nazism and discrimination has been built up in the last decades. With the power shift to the red-green coalition in 1998, this has been supplemented by a far-reaching consensus about easy naturalization, a consistent immigration policy and the need for integration programs, including substantial state finding.