Nationalism and Identity in Europe - Coursework Example

Nationalism and identity in Europe Introduction A large part of Europe is presently facing confrontation. On one side of the scale, human rights activists have gained public recognition and approval, and also, the political and social discussions directed at ensuring increased protection of human rights have gained strength. On the other side of it, there has been a tremendous increase in xenophobia among the indigenous people of Europe, and the racism and aggressive nationalism has reached its apogee in the recent years. Weight on either side of the scale has already increased significantly, and if the present trends continue to sustain, Europe can be exposed to innumerable threats and risks in near future. Migration, for Europe is and will be in future, one of the extreme challenges. Migration has given rise to multiculturalism which increased people’s concerns for human rights and democracy. “The two are linked because how migrants and foreign populations are incorporated into the social and political life of the receiving countries is a major explanatory element of the understanding of democracy, pluralism and human rights in Europe” (Sen, 1994, p. 1). This paper will analyze the life of Turkish minority in Europe with particular attention to Germany. Turk population in the EU: Population of Turks in Western Europe has always been just as remarkable as it is today. Sen (1994) has conducted a thorough analysis of the population of Turks in Germany and has studied their level of settlement in Germany with respect to several aspects. His report presents a robust analysis of Turk lifestyle in Germany as it was up to the year 1994. According to his report, almost 2.7 million Turks were living in the Western Europe in the year 1994 which makes up to 4 per cent of the total Turkish population in the contemporary age (Sen, 1994, p. 1). Such a huge number makes Turks the largest minority in the EU. Turks’ entry into Germany: A bilateral recruitment agreement was first signed between Turkey and Germany in 1961 (Difato, n.d., p. 2). That was the time when there was extreme shortage of labor in the foundries and factories of Germany. As a result of the bilateral agreement about recruitment, Turks poured into Germany in large numbers so as to reduce the labor shortage and find good employment opportunities for themselves. The young batch of Turks that initially settled in Germany in 1961 soon brought spouses and children. The family reunification policies enforced in Germany at that time played a big role in the massive in-pour of Turks into Germany. From that time until several decades that followed, Germany fostered an impression of a country that did not encourage immigration. However, population of Turks continued to rise in Germany. Germany was accommodating almost 6878 million foreigners by the end of year 1993, of which 75 per cent were of Mediterranean origin, and Turks, being 1918 million in number, consumed the major part of that 75 per cent (Sen, 1994, p. 1). Initial issues of settlement: Children of the Turks had had many difficulties pursuing education in Germany because of the linguistic differences. Germany has always maintained a strong linguistic identity and a vast majority of educational institutions offer education in no other language but German. This imposed great challenges on the Turkish children who studied in German schools, and their performance was far lower than that of the indigenous class mates. As a result of this, administrators and teachers in German schools did not expect much from Turkish youth, which affected their education receiving ability (Bommes, 2000, p. 108). Also, Turkish youth have had many social problems. By the year 1960, leaders of the SPD party raised their opinions against the conventional selective school system that was in place in Germany (Difato, n.d., p. 2). Turks living in Germany have conventionally remained quite heterogeneous in many respects. Salaried workers make up to no more than one third of the total Turkish population in Germany while the other 75 per cent covers their children, spouses, and other people in family (Sen, 1994, p. 2). This tells that the working Turk population in Germany is one third of its total. Turks as Muslims in Germany: With the in-pour of Turks in Germany in 1960s, the history of Islam began in Germany. The migrants from Turkey would regularly perform their prayers at workplaces in small rooms, as well as their places of residence. However, they largely kept their religious practices hidden and did not involve much in religious discussions in public forums. They also did not display their religious identity to a significant extent because many of them did not accept Germany as a permanent place to stay or to establish themselves in. A vast majority of the Turks that had migrated to Germany had moved with a view to working in Germany for a small period, and getting back to Turkey after earning sufficient money. Many of the Turks had initial intentions of returning back to Turkey after spending only one year in Germany. The Turks were too much connected with the public life and political debates in their homeland to visualize Germany as a permanent place of residence. The very first generation of Turks that had migrated to Germany associated the practice of religion with homecoming. The Turks very introverted in their religious practices and kept them shielded from the external influences, mainly because they took the outside world as foreign. Gurbet is the term that is specifically used to express the foreign land in Turkish language “The invisibility of Islam in the 1960s and 1970s has everything to do with the migrants notion of a dichotomy between the public or foreign and the private sphere” (Ezli, 2007). Germany had broadened its migration policies with a view to inviting foreign workforce to meet the work needs of its growing industries. German migration policies were basically exclusive of the religious and cultural considerations of the migrants. Also, the Turks were not quite enthusiastic about overtly expressing their cultural identity and religious associations in Germany. Turks left the process of Islamic education and nurturing of their children up to such Muslim groups as Sulaymanci and Nurcu, that were some of the groups which had made considerable endeavours for the spread of Islam in Germany. They opened Quranic schools in Germany which offered Islamic education. Turkish literature influenced by massive migration to Germany: The same division between the private and public life of the Turks reflects in their literature that surfaced in the decade of 1970s to 1980s. A piece of Turkish literature from that period is presented below as evidence: “I learned their language but that changed hardly anything Is it my dark eyes? Do they disapprove of my clothes? They look at me as if I was a stone or a tuft of grass The cold and the winter set in In an empty fear my voice seems frozen up I escape to the homey pub in a rail station I hear the voices of my compatriots hear their greetings see our newspapers Soon I will be well again and my head wont hurt” (Cakir cited in Ezli, 2007). Until 1980s, homesickness has been the fundamental subject of discussion in the Turkish literature, and much of it could be attributed to the massive migration of Turks to Germany. Change of Turks’ behavior in Germany after 1980: In the initial 1980s, Turks brought a change in their opinions and visualization of Germany and their religious and cultural expression. The change was driven by the second generation’s realization that the first generation did not go back to Turkey as they had initially anticipated that they would. Economic reasons were the most significant in making Turks stay in Germany. Therefore, the Turks expanded their religious manifestations in Germany after 1980. Therefore, “DITIB, the Turkish-Islamic Union of the Association for Religion, was founded as a European branch of the Department of Religion” (Ezli, 2007). The establishment of DITIB brought an altogether change in the cultural identity, nationalism and politics of Turks in Germany. Turks obliviousness turned into an active and culture influenced politics. The fundamental objective of the establishment of DITIB was the provision of security and safety to the laicistic mindset in Diaspora. Apart from DITIB, there is another organization that has played an important role in the spread of Islam in Germany. It was the Islamic Communion Milli Gorus, which happens to be the “largest non-state organization” of Islam in Europe, with about 100,000 sympathizers and as many as 27,000 members (Ezli, 2007). Milli Gorus has made a lot of efforts to modify the political understanding and role of Turks in Germany since the start of 1990s. Till 1994, Turks had considerably established themselves in Germany. Of the total Turk population in Germany, as many as 34.6 per cent had made savings contracts with the building societies in Germany (Sen, 1994, p.2). In the same report, having found above 45000 Turks in possession of land in Germany, Sen (1994, p. 2) had estimated the number of Turks in possession of real estate in Germany to approach 90,000 till the year 2000. However, Turks have been exposed to newer challenges of racism in the recent years. Many Germans are of the view that “minorities, in particular the Turkish minority, are unable to integrate into German society and must be forced to assimilate completely into German culture or face exclusion” (Allen, 2010, p. 20). Particularly, Germany politicians have shown a resistance towards accepting the role of Germany as a country that would promote integration (Scheffler, 2005, p. 3). Such problems have caused Turks to remain in Germany as workers for a long period of time. Even in 1990s, 70 per cent of the Turks in Germany were employed like their ancestors and had no established businesses (Jerome, 2001, p. 291). Today, Turks whose ancestors had migrated to Germany are too established to leave for their homeland, yet they have to cope with racism. Conclusion: Turks influence in Germany started in the early 1960s when Germany made its immigration policies flexible to attract foreign workers who would come and assist in the working of growing factories in Germany. Turks initially came with the vision of working in Germany for a year or two and then revert back to Turkey, because of their strong political and socioeconomic concerns in Turkey. Most of them had moved to Germany in search of work (Eksner, 2006, p. 25). Owing to their understanding of religion as a very personal matter, they did not overtly express their religious and cultural identity in Germany until the start of 1980s, when the second generation became young. They saw that their parents had spent their life in Germany against their initial plans, and the young Turks themselves wanted to stay in Germany as well (Spencer, 1994, p. 94). So they developed organizations like DITIB and Milli Gorus that played an important role in the introduction and spread of Islam in Germany. Today, Turks are quite well settled in Germany but they have to resist the forces of racism that have become strong, not just in Germany, but the whole Europe in the recent years. It is an established fact that “dual citizenship, with rights on both sides, does not help overcome the rupture between cultures” (Göktürk, Gramling, and Kaes, 2007, p. 162). In the recent years, racism has gained a boost in Germany and many Turks have been victim to it. The growing racism in Germany has caused many Turks to think of retreating from Germany, but this is a big decision for a vast majority of Turks who had originally come to Germany with the mind to settle and establish themselves. The Center for Studies on Turkey conducted a survey to analyze the willingness of Turks in Germany to go back to Turkey. According to the results of its survey, Center for Studies on Turkey found that only 17 per cent of the Turks residing in Germany consider leaving Germany and going back to Turkey (Sen, 1994, p. 2). References: Allen, R 2010, Nationalism and Contemporary German Politics: Inclusion versus Exclusion, pp. 1-39, POLIS Journal, vol. 3. Bommes, M 2000, National Welfare State, Biography and Migration: Labour Migrants, Ethnic Germans and the Re-ascription of Welfare State Membership. In Immigration and Welfare: Challenging the Borders of the Welfare State, pp. 90-108. London: Routledge. Difato, C n.d., The Turkish Minority in Germany: The Relationship between Politics and Education in the Integration of Parallel Communities, pp. 1-8, viewed, 26 February, 2011, . Eksner, HJ 2006, Ghetto ideologies, youth identities and stylized Turkish German: Turkish Youths in Berlin-Kreuzberg, UK: Transaction Publishers. Ezli, O 2007, The Development of Turkish Islam in Germany, viewed, 26 February, 2011, . Göktürk, D, Gramling, D, and Kaes, A 2007, Germany in transit: nation and migration, 1955-2005, UK: University of California Press. Jerome, R 2001, Conceptions of postwar German masculinity, USA: State University of New York. Scheffler, J 2005, Welcomed Or Rejected? The Situation of Turks in Germany, Germany: GRIN Verlag. Sen, F 1994, Racism In Germany And Its Impact On The Turkish Minority, vol. 24, pp. 1-10, viewed, 26 February, 2011, . Spencer, S 1994, Immigration as an economic asset: the German experience, UK: Trentham Books Limited. Read More