Mobilizing Kreuzberg: Political representation, immigrant incorporation and Turkish associations in Berlin (Germany).
Published: 2006
Language: eng
Number of pages: 232
ISBN-13: 9780494159538
Description: The political representation of immigrant associations is central for immigrants to become political actors in Germany. I offer a comparative analysis of five Turkish immigrant associations to point to the diverse approaches in terms of political representation, political resistance, immigrant incorporation and citizenship rights. Drawing on the literature on the sociology of migration, I will focus on how immigrants mobilize through associations in order to overcome political processes that exclude or dominate immigrant political representation (Young 2000). Three key questions form the basis of the thesis. Why do immigrants form these political associations? How do immigrants use them to solve their conflicts within the majority society's politics? What are the consequences of such immigrant political mobilization for both immigrant communities and the majority society? By illustrating immigrant associations' views on incorporation/assimilation, nationalism/ethnicity, and secularism/Islam and their relations with the mainstream political parties, state institutions in Germany and in Turkey, I attempt to show that immigrants are not victims of the political decisions of these states. On the contrary, Turkish immigrant associations and elites become important political actors to negotiate rights and memberships in the name of their ethno-national group. In conclusion, I suggest an approach that recognizes the immigrants' agency who politically resist the status quo and aim to transform civic traditions of nation-states.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-07, Section: A, page: 2765.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Toronto, 2006.

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