INTRODUCTION Since reunification, Germany has suffered from a wave of "xenophobia" that has culminated in acts of discrimination and violence against many non-Germans. Political scientists and sociologists attribute this hatred of foreigners or xenophobia to the massive social, economic and cultural changes that are affecting Germany but also the rest of Europe. Although Britain, for example, actually experienced three times more hate crimes in 1992 than did Germany, foreign observers are more fearful of Germany because of past German atrocities and persecution of ethnic groups. ASSIGNMENT This unit is designed to acquaint you with the overall issues, general outlook and possible causes and solutions for German xenophobia. For the purposes of this assignment, you are a member of a special task force that has been convened by Chancellor Helmut Kohl (a.k.a. Mrs. Cutts) to study the extent of this problem. Please consider yourself an expert in the area you have been requested to cover. Assume that other members of the task force are not well informed about your specialization. Therefore, you can expect questions from at least three of them after you have made your presentation. As part of the assignment, you will complete the following: 1. Look up information in the library pertaining to your area of specialization. Back to Library Units 2. Give an oral presentation of between 8-10 minutes to other members of the task force (your classmates) at a time and date specified by Mrs. Cutts. 3. Use, whenever possible, German words or terms in your presentation. Guest worker, for example, is Gastarbeiter in German. Leader is Fuhrer in German. Emigres from what was East Germany are referred to as Ubersiedler. Returning Germans from Eastern European countries are called Aussiedler. 4. Be prepared to answer questions from at least 3 members of the task force concerning your area of specialization. One question will be posed and should be responded to in German. RESEARCH HINTS 1. Plan on preparing approximately 5 pages of text for an 8-10 minute oral presentation. 2. Read the article entitled "Europe's New Right" by M.H. Cooper in CQ Researcher (February 12, 1993). It gives an excellent overview of the problem and also contains a useful bibliography. 3. Read your problem carefully and make a list of appropriate search terms. 4. In addition to your personal search terms you may also wish to look under the following terms: 5. Use your list of terms to search the following online and CD- ROM databases located in the NCS Upper School Library: A. SIRS (Social Issues Resources Service) 6. Consult the bibliography in your packet for additional items. These materials have been placed on reserve and may be checked out on an overnight basis. BIBLIOGRAPHY Cooper, Mary H. "Europe's New Right" CQ Researcher 3 (February 3, 1993): 1-25. Darnton, David. The Germans . N.Y.: St. Martin's Press, 1989. Jones, Tamara. "Germany's Troubles" Los Angeles Times (March 7, 1993): 14+. Lee, Martin A. "Hitler's Offspring" Progressive 57 (March 1993): 28-31. Long, Robert Emmet ed. The Reunification of Germany . N.Y.: H.W. Wilson, 1992. Marsh, David. The Germans . N.Y.: St. Martin's Press, 1989.
2. Chancellor Kohl is very concerned about a resurgence of the Nazi party. You are a political scientist whose area of specialization is government parties at the extreme ends of the political spectrum. You must try to determine if Chancellor Kohl's fears of a Neo-Nazi movement are warranted. Be sure to cite specific incidents of violence, describe Germany's fast-growing Neo-Nazi scene and the social/employment conditions that may foster the Skinhead movement. Contrast these developments with some of the peaceful demonstrations, positive opinion polls, etc. that may counter this xenophobic trend. Remember you may not be able to provide Chancellor Kohl with ready answers. 3. Since WWII, Germany has had a liberal asylum law. The number of asylum-seekers has mushroomed from 256,000 in 1991 to an estimated 438,000 in 1992. Germany now shelters about 1.4 million refugees. Chancellor Kohl is under increasing pressure from the German Parliament to re-evaluate Germany's asylum policy. As his advisor, explain the current policy, its benefits, abuses and numbers of refugees sheltered as compared to other countries. Cite evidence of German opinion pro and con regarding this policy. 4. Beginning in the 1960s, Germany recognized the need for additional workers to power their export economy. The German government actively promoted industry's importation of foreign labor through its Gastarbeiter or guestworker program. Today, an estimated 6 million foreigners work in Germany. Xenophobists blame these foreigners for taking jobs from German workers. Your assignment is to update Chancellor Kohl on the economic and social costs and benefits of Gastarbeiter. Be sure to include the high unemployment rate among formerly East German workers (approximately 40 percent). Chancellor Kohl would like your opinion about the influence of the Gastarbeiter program on Germany's growing xenophobia. 5. In Germany, the law recognizes as a citizen anyone who can prove he/she is descended from Germans who settled abroad in earlier times. With the relaxation of emigration restrictions in Russia, Ukraine and other republics of the former Soviet Union, approximately 250,000 of these ethnic Germans are migrating to Germany each year. Chancellor Kohl has asked you to present a neutral view of the positive and negative aspects of this problem. Be sure to address how the law conferring citizenship to ethnic Germans contributes to the myth of ethnic national identity and perhaps furthers German xenophobia. 6. Pragmatism frequently has been a characteristic of Chancellor Kohl's political practices. He is interested in solutions to the problem of extremism in Germany. Provide him with several ideas that include: (1) re-evaluation of the asylum policy, (2) international treaties concerning immigration and guest worker programs among all EC countries, (3) implementation of educational and diversity programs to educate Germans of the social, economic and political consequences of xenophobia. 7. The chair of the task force has asked you to obtain the most current information concerning German xenophobia. Do you see this as a temporary or worsening problem? If you think that it will worsen, what do you think the problems will be for Germany? In presenting your outlook on this problem, you may wish to note the rise of xenophobic incidents in several other European countries, particularly Yugoslavia. Provide specific examples, data, political acts, laws and so forth in support of your opinions. Remember, you are trying to anticipate the future. You do not have to have definitive answers. Prepared by K.W. Craver Jan.94
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