Opinion / Columnist
The faceted navigation into Germany's multi-culturalism - Part 4.2
30 May 2016 at 07:46hrs | Views
Nomazulu Thata
The German government was concerned about the message of (ausländerfeindlichkeit) intolerance towards foreigners to the world. The neo-Nazi Germans was sending to the international community a message of hate towards migrants living in Germany. Foreigners in Germany are still hounded by neo-Nazis to this date. Long-term growing number of citizens-in-transition fleeing conflicts, failed states, civil wars in their respective countries are social strains that make the facilitation of multi-culturalism politically, economically and socially challenging. Indeed there was public resentment in the main-line thinking of German citizens who felt that they should protect their culture more than promoting multi-culturalism, it's too American, USA is a nation of immigrants but not us Germans, they said. This protection of German culture fuelled rise to radical-right mentality, hence the formation of numerous Far-Right-Wing political parties having recognised the shift in their favour in the public opinion.
The aggregate indicator of some multi-culturalism is how the inflow of refugees, immigrants and asylum seekers selectively choosing Germany as their country of destination, is negatively viewed by the general German population and how in times of any elections the German fear of immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers is pitched to swing the votes to favour the Far-Right political parties. Main stream political parties (e.g. SPD, Liberal Party or Green Party) that shows broad middle-of-the road consensus that develops around the issue of tolerance of ethnic diversity, protection of displaced citizens-in- transition and respect for human rights of political refugees do get punished in the election processes because the general popular demand-side accounts are directed against growing ethnic diversities and multi-culturalism.
Those demand-side essays that drew conclusions about failure of multi-culturalism in Germany are forever relating variant patterns of migrations (perilous journeys and numerous deaths by accident drowning in the Mediterranean Seas) and uncontrollable influx of asylum seekers triggered by the conflicts mainly in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and some despotic countries in the Far-East and North Africa. These movements of foreigners extend deepening fear and resentment of some Germans towards migrants from Syria and the Islamic world. A pressure group called Pegida (Patriotic Europeans against Islamisation of West - Occident) hit a wave of resentment of migrants of Islamic world in 2014 in Dresden, how these Islamic groups dared to fight each other on grounds of religion on the German soil.
It started by a peaceful demonstration of PKK: (Kurdistan Workers Party) supporters in Dresden demonstrating against ISIL (Islamic State). They were violently attacked by Muslim group called Salafists. Almost on the same day in another German town called Celle, the Muslim Yazidis and the Muslim Chechens violently clashed giving the impression that these two violent incidences were co-ordinated in two different German towns. To the annoyance of the Right-Wing Germans, who then organised a big demonstration on the 19th of December 2014, the demonstration was denouncing Islamic groups attacking each other in Germany, on German grounds. However it is the hate- speeches and hate-languages used by Pegida that was not acceptable to the German population. Pegida called the immigrants: animals, scam bags, trash, classified as hate speeches that were forbidden, outlawed by the German Federal laws. Most of the German people disqualified them, could not identify themselves with Pegida as a representative pressure group against foreigners anymore, they had crossed the red line.
The definition of multi-culturalism means the existence and acceptance or promotion of multiple cultural traditions within a single jurisdiction. It means relating to multiple cultures or cultural elements. The IFLA definition of multi-culturalism is the co-existence of diverse cultures, where culture includes racial, religious or cultural groups and is manifested in their customary behaviours, cultures assumptions and values patterns of thinking and communication styles. It was Federal Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel who described multi-culturalism in Germany as failed in 2010 at a meeting with Prime Minister Cameroon of Great Britain.
Let's recap for a moment the developments that took place in Germany regarding the labour migration in West Germany, something I have already done comprehensively in previous essays. (Multi-culturalism and migrant-labour are a coin with two sides in Germany.) The labour migration was mostly from East Germany, Germans running away from communism, until the erecting of the Berlin Wall in 1960. When the Wall was erected, there were serious shortages of skilled labour in the West German labour markets. Secondly, this demand-driven labour migration or guest worker recruitment was meant to fill serious labour shortages. Thirdly the post generational of migrants (spouses and the children of migrant workers were allowed to reunite with their parents working in Germany) did alleviate labour shortages. Fourthly, the fall of the Berlin-Wall triggered mass movements of migrants, movements resulting from collapse of the iron curtain in 1989 right up to the turn of Millennium had a devastating effect on the labour markets in Germany as a whole.
Until year 2000, the German government did not have a clear cut policy of migration policy at hand. They lacked a statutory and institutional Framework regarding labour policies. A solution to eradicate Xenophobia and embracing multi-culturalism in Germany needed a constitutional, legislative or parliamentary level of recognition. But because Germany has a century-long history of migrant workers, their migrant policy is always packaged with methodologies of crafting immigration policy direct or indirectly linked to labour markets because economic migrants are behind the supply curve of those labour markets.
Labour quality shifted in Germany when most companies relocated their production companies to some other countries such as China and most other countries with positive business incentives or cheap labour. As a result of this, manufacturing jobs in Germany are becoming less. It is now less the blue-collar jobs needed in the labour markets but specialized ones, the demand is great, especially IT professionals. Another problem that Germany is facing is the one of demographic nature, low fertility, low mortality and increasing life expectancy. Early age retirement too causes most needed labour demand that can only be filled by migrant labour to sustain labour demands for now and in the future. It is for this reason that the integration of migrants as a policy in the Germany of great significance to them.
Policy makers needed to formulate policies to counter shortages of skilled labour in the labour markets and it started with setting standards: who is to be admitted to stay in Germany. Once the immigrants are in Germany, the immigration policy comes to effect: is the migrant qualified, what qualifications does she/he have? Is she/he an IT specialist, the most needed skills in the German industry? Because Germany has an insatiable demand for migrant skilled workers, in 2005 the Germany Bundestag passed another immigration act called (Zuwanderungsgesetz) that laid the foundation policy: how the immigrants were to be integrated into the German societies. The act identifies three poignant points to be enacted in the legal framework: (i) legal residency (ii) settlement permit and (iii) resident permit or aufenthaltserlaubnis. This law was explicitly to determine which migrant qualifies to work, get welfare benefits, are the children of migrants going to attend German schools?
It is also important to include it in the essay how Germany survived the credit crunch of 2008. There are two contributing factors to German's economic success: (i) the labour market reforms were favourable to the economic growth (ii) and that the economic crisis of Germany was not home grown, was not indigenous but external financial crisis, their exports suffered the credit crunch but he remained economically intact internally. Here again: their migration labour policy paid dividends in the German economy in the long run. Germany has one of the strongest economies in the western world partly due to their inclusion of migrant labour in their economic growth.
Multi-culturalism means relating to multiple cultures or cultural elements. How do we quantify or qualify multi-culturalism in German political and social landscape as failed? A special report on: "Multiculturalism Policies in Contemporal Democracies" from Queens University set up special indicators to determine multi-culturalism in several countries. For Germany here was their finding:
(a) Constitutional, legislative or parliamentary affirmation of multi-culturalism at the central and or regional and municipal levels and the existence of a government ministry, secretariat or advisory board to implement this policy in consultation with ethnic communities
The Answer to this was: Not explicit, although there is increasing recognition of immigrant's integration as a permanent feature of the country's landscape; this is particularly the case at the municipal level
(b) Adoption of multi-culturalism in schools
The answer to this is NO education is a state responsibility in Germany. Note in addition that compulsory schooling is typically not accorded to children of refugees whose residence status is considered "tolerated" but insecure and temporal, nor to the children of undocumented migrants.
© The inclusion of ethnic representation/sensitivity in the mandate of public media or media licensing
The answer to this was No only very weakly
(d) Exemption from dress codes (either by statute)
The answer to this was: some but uneven and not without controversy
(e) Allow dual citizenship
The answer to this was: No
(f) The funding of ethnic group organisation or activities
The answer to this is: Yes
(g) The funding of bilingual education or mother-tongue instruction
The answer to this was: to some extent yes but limited and uneven
(h) Affirmative action for disadvantaged immigrant groups
The answer to this is: No
Chancellor Angela Merkel's refugee policy was praised by all countries of the world. It was Dr Merkel who said that Germany as a country has reached its limit in accepting refugees, declaring multi-culturalism a flop. Germany and Germans never interchanged migrant laws and refugee status. The multi-kulti in German societies, according to Chancellor Merkel was meant to make the migrants and new refugees to assimilate to the German values and culture, respect the laws of the land, learn German language quickly so that they can contribute to their communities and work culture. By so doing multi-culturalism concept of living side by side would work.
The reason why multi-culturalism failed is based on many other reasons: the traits of German nationhood lies primarily in the ideas of common descent. The patterns of migration that laid the foundation of today's "multikulti" German is directly linked to the economy. The huge success of German's economy since the end of the WW2 is due to migrant workers or guest workers. Guest workers did not only stay in Germany but also brought their families to permanently settle in Germany. The present immigration policy allows a foreigner to become a German without German roots. The Federal Republic of Germany makes big efforts to enact policies that are friendly to migrants living in Germany and the recognition of minorities as equal citizens with Germans before the law. The basic law for the Federal Republic of German: article 1 is about the Human dignity,
Human rights, legally binding force of basic right, and the first law of the land:
(1) Human dignity shall be inviolable. To respect and protect it shall be the duty of the state authority
(2) It is in this loaded context that the immigration laws of Germany are in line with their constitutional laws. Respect for the human dignity.
Back to my initial research, I wanted find out if Zimbabwe can find solutions in German's multi-cultural dimensions that could be useful in seeking solutions for our multi-ethnic societies in Zimbabwe. This is a $15 billion question that can never be answered with one single line, nor can one write a single essay to answer such pertinent and poignant issues bedevilling our Zimbabwe's societies; tribalism. We talked about Zambia's Humanism that was a failure, and Tanzania's Ujamaa too was not successful German's multi-culturalism failed equally. We look at the developments of these countries; Zambia Tanzania and Germany, tape in what we could find in their historical, political, social, cultural and economical development as useful to us to emulate. I will come back with a sub-chapter 4.3 to highlight my conclusions from the three countries I have roughly gone through albeit with very basic knowledge of political science and methodologies of social scientific research methods.
I pen off for now
Ugogo omncane
Chirikadzi
Nomazulu Thata is a political activist, an engineering metallurgist by profession, author of two books, a chemistry teacher and lecturer in her present occupation. Her essays are purely personal and do not reflect any political party affiliation. She can be contacted on Nomazulu.thata(at)web.de
The aggregate indicator of some multi-culturalism is how the inflow of refugees, immigrants and asylum seekers selectively choosing Germany as their country of destination, is negatively viewed by the general German population and how in times of any elections the German fear of immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers is pitched to swing the votes to favour the Far-Right political parties. Main stream political parties (e.g. SPD, Liberal Party or Green Party) that shows broad middle-of-the road consensus that develops around the issue of tolerance of ethnic diversity, protection of displaced citizens-in- transition and respect for human rights of political refugees do get punished in the election processes because the general popular demand-side accounts are directed against growing ethnic diversities and multi-culturalism.
Those demand-side essays that drew conclusions about failure of multi-culturalism in Germany are forever relating variant patterns of migrations (perilous journeys and numerous deaths by accident drowning in the Mediterranean Seas) and uncontrollable influx of asylum seekers triggered by the conflicts mainly in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and some despotic countries in the Far-East and North Africa. These movements of foreigners extend deepening fear and resentment of some Germans towards migrants from Syria and the Islamic world. A pressure group called Pegida (Patriotic Europeans against Islamisation of West - Occident) hit a wave of resentment of migrants of Islamic world in 2014 in Dresden, how these Islamic groups dared to fight each other on grounds of religion on the German soil.
It started by a peaceful demonstration of PKK: (Kurdistan Workers Party) supporters in Dresden demonstrating against ISIL (Islamic State). They were violently attacked by Muslim group called Salafists. Almost on the same day in another German town called Celle, the Muslim Yazidis and the Muslim Chechens violently clashed giving the impression that these two violent incidences were co-ordinated in two different German towns. To the annoyance of the Right-Wing Germans, who then organised a big demonstration on the 19th of December 2014, the demonstration was denouncing Islamic groups attacking each other in Germany, on German grounds. However it is the hate- speeches and hate-languages used by Pegida that was not acceptable to the German population. Pegida called the immigrants: animals, scam bags, trash, classified as hate speeches that were forbidden, outlawed by the German Federal laws. Most of the German people disqualified them, could not identify themselves with Pegida as a representative pressure group against foreigners anymore, they had crossed the red line.
The definition of multi-culturalism means the existence and acceptance or promotion of multiple cultural traditions within a single jurisdiction. It means relating to multiple cultures or cultural elements. The IFLA definition of multi-culturalism is the co-existence of diverse cultures, where culture includes racial, religious or cultural groups and is manifested in their customary behaviours, cultures assumptions and values patterns of thinking and communication styles. It was Federal Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel who described multi-culturalism in Germany as failed in 2010 at a meeting with Prime Minister Cameroon of Great Britain.
Let's recap for a moment the developments that took place in Germany regarding the labour migration in West Germany, something I have already done comprehensively in previous essays. (Multi-culturalism and migrant-labour are a coin with two sides in Germany.) The labour migration was mostly from East Germany, Germans running away from communism, until the erecting of the Berlin Wall in 1960. When the Wall was erected, there were serious shortages of skilled labour in the West German labour markets. Secondly, this demand-driven labour migration or guest worker recruitment was meant to fill serious labour shortages. Thirdly the post generational of migrants (spouses and the children of migrant workers were allowed to reunite with their parents working in Germany) did alleviate labour shortages. Fourthly, the fall of the Berlin-Wall triggered mass movements of migrants, movements resulting from collapse of the iron curtain in 1989 right up to the turn of Millennium had a devastating effect on the labour markets in Germany as a whole.
Until year 2000, the German government did not have a clear cut policy of migration policy at hand. They lacked a statutory and institutional Framework regarding labour policies. A solution to eradicate Xenophobia and embracing multi-culturalism in Germany needed a constitutional, legislative or parliamentary level of recognition. But because Germany has a century-long history of migrant workers, their migrant policy is always packaged with methodologies of crafting immigration policy direct or indirectly linked to labour markets because economic migrants are behind the supply curve of those labour markets.
Labour quality shifted in Germany when most companies relocated their production companies to some other countries such as China and most other countries with positive business incentives or cheap labour. As a result of this, manufacturing jobs in Germany are becoming less. It is now less the blue-collar jobs needed in the labour markets but specialized ones, the demand is great, especially IT professionals. Another problem that Germany is facing is the one of demographic nature, low fertility, low mortality and increasing life expectancy. Early age retirement too causes most needed labour demand that can only be filled by migrant labour to sustain labour demands for now and in the future. It is for this reason that the integration of migrants as a policy in the Germany of great significance to them.
Policy makers needed to formulate policies to counter shortages of skilled labour in the labour markets and it started with setting standards: who is to be admitted to stay in Germany. Once the immigrants are in Germany, the immigration policy comes to effect: is the migrant qualified, what qualifications does she/he have? Is she/he an IT specialist, the most needed skills in the German industry? Because Germany has an insatiable demand for migrant skilled workers, in 2005 the Germany Bundestag passed another immigration act called (Zuwanderungsgesetz) that laid the foundation policy: how the immigrants were to be integrated into the German societies. The act identifies three poignant points to be enacted in the legal framework: (i) legal residency (ii) settlement permit and (iii) resident permit or aufenthaltserlaubnis. This law was explicitly to determine which migrant qualifies to work, get welfare benefits, are the children of migrants going to attend German schools?
It is also important to include it in the essay how Germany survived the credit crunch of 2008. There are two contributing factors to German's economic success: (i) the labour market reforms were favourable to the economic growth (ii) and that the economic crisis of Germany was not home grown, was not indigenous but external financial crisis, their exports suffered the credit crunch but he remained economically intact internally. Here again: their migration labour policy paid dividends in the German economy in the long run. Germany has one of the strongest economies in the western world partly due to their inclusion of migrant labour in their economic growth.
Multi-culturalism means relating to multiple cultures or cultural elements. How do we quantify or qualify multi-culturalism in German political and social landscape as failed? A special report on: "Multiculturalism Policies in Contemporal Democracies" from Queens University set up special indicators to determine multi-culturalism in several countries. For Germany here was their finding:
(a) Constitutional, legislative or parliamentary affirmation of multi-culturalism at the central and or regional and municipal levels and the existence of a government ministry, secretariat or advisory board to implement this policy in consultation with ethnic communities
The Answer to this was: Not explicit, although there is increasing recognition of immigrant's integration as a permanent feature of the country's landscape; this is particularly the case at the municipal level
(b) Adoption of multi-culturalism in schools
The answer to this is NO education is a state responsibility in Germany. Note in addition that compulsory schooling is typically not accorded to children of refugees whose residence status is considered "tolerated" but insecure and temporal, nor to the children of undocumented migrants.
© The inclusion of ethnic representation/sensitivity in the mandate of public media or media licensing
The answer to this was No only very weakly
(d) Exemption from dress codes (either by statute)
The answer to this was: some but uneven and not without controversy
(e) Allow dual citizenship
The answer to this was: No
(f) The funding of ethnic group organisation or activities
The answer to this is: Yes
(g) The funding of bilingual education or mother-tongue instruction
The answer to this was: to some extent yes but limited and uneven
(h) Affirmative action for disadvantaged immigrant groups
The answer to this is: No
Chancellor Angela Merkel's refugee policy was praised by all countries of the world. It was Dr Merkel who said that Germany as a country has reached its limit in accepting refugees, declaring multi-culturalism a flop. Germany and Germans never interchanged migrant laws and refugee status. The multi-kulti in German societies, according to Chancellor Merkel was meant to make the migrants and new refugees to assimilate to the German values and culture, respect the laws of the land, learn German language quickly so that they can contribute to their communities and work culture. By so doing multi-culturalism concept of living side by side would work.
The reason why multi-culturalism failed is based on many other reasons: the traits of German nationhood lies primarily in the ideas of common descent. The patterns of migration that laid the foundation of today's "multikulti" German is directly linked to the economy. The huge success of German's economy since the end of the WW2 is due to migrant workers or guest workers. Guest workers did not only stay in Germany but also brought their families to permanently settle in Germany. The present immigration policy allows a foreigner to become a German without German roots. The Federal Republic of Germany makes big efforts to enact policies that are friendly to migrants living in Germany and the recognition of minorities as equal citizens with Germans before the law. The basic law for the Federal Republic of German: article 1 is about the Human dignity,
Human rights, legally binding force of basic right, and the first law of the land:
(1) Human dignity shall be inviolable. To respect and protect it shall be the duty of the state authority
(2) It is in this loaded context that the immigration laws of Germany are in line with their constitutional laws. Respect for the human dignity.
Back to my initial research, I wanted find out if Zimbabwe can find solutions in German's multi-cultural dimensions that could be useful in seeking solutions for our multi-ethnic societies in Zimbabwe. This is a $15 billion question that can never be answered with one single line, nor can one write a single essay to answer such pertinent and poignant issues bedevilling our Zimbabwe's societies; tribalism. We talked about Zambia's Humanism that was a failure, and Tanzania's Ujamaa too was not successful German's multi-culturalism failed equally. We look at the developments of these countries; Zambia Tanzania and Germany, tape in what we could find in their historical, political, social, cultural and economical development as useful to us to emulate. I will come back with a sub-chapter 4.3 to highlight my conclusions from the three countries I have roughly gone through albeit with very basic knowledge of political science and methodologies of social scientific research methods.
I pen off for now
Ugogo omncane
Chirikadzi
Nomazulu Thata is a political activist, an engineering metallurgist by profession, author of two books, a chemistry teacher and lecturer in her present occupation. Her essays are purely personal and do not reflect any political party affiliation. She can be contacted on Nomazulu.thata(at)web.de
Source - Nomazulu Thata
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