Identity and social disqalification in the uk and germany: pakistanis in greater manchester and turks in essen

• Main Author: Sinha, Shamser
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01-01-2000
• Subjects: Social structure

This thesis examines the notions of culture and identity that we use to inform us about settler groups in the societies of Germany and the UK. More specifically, it relates how commentators, policy makers and the wider society generally in both countries tend to use certain perceptions of settlers when both forming policy and generally interacting with them. The question this thesis addresses is whether these perceptions adequately account for the diversity of cultures and identities of my sample of Pakistanis in Greater Manchester and Turks in Essen. It is an important question, as if they do not, then we should re-examine our understandings in society of the Pakistani and Turkish settler groups and their cultures and identities. The thesis takes the form of a European comparison as our lives are being increasingly affected culturally, economically, politically and socially by a growing European integration. The social spaces of this integration need further articulation. I am informing debates about how settlers are perceived within European nation states, specifically in this thesis, Germany and the UK, to contribute to this. The research takes place within the geographical locations of Greater Manchester and Essen as nation-wide comparisons were beyond the financial and time conditions of PhD research. Nevertheless, issues in the work were informed by public debates at both a regional and national level. The fieldwork involved interviewing Pakistanis and Turks to find out more about their experiences within UK and German society, what they thought the "host" societies thought about them and whether this adequately reflected how the settlers themselves understood their identities and cultures. The research shows how the political culture of the UK and Germany see Pakistani and Turkish cultures and identities as threatening the social consensus. We can see this through examining the idea supported by the "race" relations framework in the UK and the Progressives in Germany, that settlers ought to give up certain parts of their culture in order to contribute to and identify with the "host" nation more. This idea itself incorporates a certain perception of the settler groups cultures and identities with reference to Islam that I expand on the thesis, as well as a certain perception of British and German national identity. It is the task of the thesis to see if such ideas reflected the identities and cultures of my sample.