Germans or Foreigners? Attitudes Toward Ethnic Minorities in Post-Reunification Germany

by Alba, Richard; Wasmer, Martina; Schmidt, Peter

• ISBN13: 9781403963789
• ISBN10: 1403963789
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-01-03
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

This book examines contemporary attitudes towards ethnic minorities in Germany. These minorities include some of immigrant origin, such as Italians, Turks, and asylum seekers, and the principal non-immigrant minority, Jews.While the findings demonstrate that intense prejudice against minorities is not widespread among Germans, many of whom in fact can be considered immigrant- and minority-friendly, a crystallization of attitudes is also evident:that is, attitudes towards immigrants are strongly correlated with anti-Semitism and with other worldview dimensions, such as positioning in the left-right political spectrum.In this sense, the fundamental question of whether immigrants and other minorities should be regarded as fellow citizens or ethnic outsiders remains relevant in the German context.

Author Biography

Richard Alba is Professor of Sociology at SUNY Albany. He has also served as Vice-President of the American Sociology Association.

Peter Schmidt is Professor in the Institute for Political Science, University of Giessen.

Martina Wasmer works at ZUMA (The Center for Survey Research and Methodology), Mannheim.

Table of Contents

Introduction--Richard Alba * The Ethnic and Demographic Structure of Foreigners and Immigrants in Germany--Rainer Munz & Ralf Ulrich * On the Economic and Social Situations of Immigrants Living in Germany--Stefan Bender & Wolfgang Seifert * Ethnocentrism in Germany: Worldview Connections and Social Contexts--Michael Terwey * The Others and We: Relationships between Germans and Non-Germans from the Point of View of Foreigners Living in Germany--Steffen Kuhnel & Jurgen Leibold * Measuring Contemporary Prejudice Towards Immigrants in Germany--Richard Alba & Michelle Johnson * Anti-Semitism in the Late 1990's--Werner Bergmann & Rainer Erb * Foreigners as Second Class Citizens?: Attitudes Toward Equal Civil Rights for Non-Germans--Martina Wasmer & Achim Koch * Authoritarianism and Ethnocentrism in East and West Germany: Does the System Matter?--Peter Schmidt & Aribert Heyder * Ethnocentrism and Support for Extreme-Right Parties, 1980-1996--Ulrich Rosar * Social Distance and Physical Proximity: Day-to-Day Attitudes and Experience of Foreigners and Germans Living in the Same Residential Areas--Ferdinand Boltken * Regional Influences on Attitudes Towards Foreigners--Jurgen H.P. Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik

Introduction--Richard Alba * The Ethnic and Demographic Structure of Foreigners and Immigrants in Germany--Rainer Munz & Ralf Ulrich * On the Economic and Social Situations of Immigrants Living in Germany--Stefan Bender & Wolfgang Seifert * Ethnocentrism in Germany: Worldview Connections and Social Contexts--Michael Terwey * The Others and We: Relationships between Germans and Non-Germans from the Point of View of Foreigners Living in Germany--Steffen Kuhnel & Jurgen Leibold * Measuring Contemporary Prejudice Towards Immigrants in Germany--Richard Alba & Michelle Johnson * Anti-Semitism in the Late 1990's--Werner Bergmann & Rainer Erb * Foreigners as Second Class Citizens?: Attitudes Toward Equal Civil Rights for Non-Germans--Martina Wasmer & Achim Koch * Authoritarianism and Ethnocentrism in East and West Germany: Does the System Matter?--Peter Schmidt & Aribert Heyder * Ethnocentrism and Support for Extreme-Right Parties, 1980-1996--Ulrich Rosar * Social Distance and Physical Proximity: Day-to-Day Attitudes and Experience of Foreigners and Germans Living in the Same Residential Areas--Ferdinand Boltken * Regional Influences on Attitudes Towards Foreigners--Jurgen H.P. Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik