Migration, Integration and Citizenship in Germany between 1990 and 2018: The State of the Art

This paper, written by Dr. Ayşe Tecmen, reviews the major political, social and cultural developments in Germany that are related to migration and integration. It covers significant developments such as elections, new discourses, including the rise of populism and radicalisation. In doing so, it discusses immigration laws as well as migration and integration policies in Germany while stressing the case of Muslim-origin migrants and their descendants. However, this particular study does not focus on the influence and reception of migration and integration policies on the migrant population. Thus, it avoids making a sociological evaluation in order to refrain from reproducing stereotypes based on culture, religion, and ethnicity. In fact, this review focuses on the changing migration and integration policies which have also contributed to the structural discrimination of migrants. In addition, Muslim-origin migrants have also been scapegoated by the rising populist discourse in Germany and Europe, which has revived the political and public debates on who remains “foreign”. This paper derives from the ongoing EU-funded research for the “PRIME Youth” project conducted under Ayhan Kaya's supervision and funded by the European Research Council with the Agreement Number 785934