Dost Kitabevi

Dost Kitabevi is one of the very few Turkish book stores in Germany. The book store owned by Fikret Günes in the Dortmund Nordstadt, offers thousands of books written by Turkish authors, as well as their translations into german. Moreover there are even famous Western literary works, translated into Turkish. Fikret Günes also closely collaborates with the Buchmesse Ruhr. 

For those who are interested in visiting the bookstore, follow the link. 

http://www.dostkitap.com/

http://www.buchmesse-ruhr.de/start.html

Immigration Debate

Two years ago in June 2010  Thilo Sarrazin, former member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank, argued that especially Muslim immigrants are strongly connected with claims on the welfare state and crime. Moreover he stated that in no other religion the transition to violence, dictatorship and terrorism is so fluid. It sparked a national debate with a lot of public figures denouncing Sarrazin but some people, especially through internet forums etc. supported him and his statements. Whatever one's opinion about him might be, he sparked an important debate about immigration. The following articles (from Spiegel) show what should be considered when talking about immigration. 

"Study Hints that Mutual Suspicion is Slowing Integration"
"Germany Needs More Foreigners"

"I was surprised by the diversity"

Ashleigh is from Boston.

Ashleigh was born and raised in Boston, and still lives there today. She currently works for a publishing company. She left the city to attend college and briefly lived in New York City and Virginia before returning in 2010. She has traveled to various countries in Europe, and visited Dortmund in April this year.

…diversity in Boston:
"Boston is incredibly diverse, and I believe Boston proper is only 50% white.  Boston is also known for its queer-friendly neighborhoods, which we take pride in. One reason for its diversity is because it’s an educational hub and people come from all over the world to attend our universities and colleges. At the same time, Boston is still segregated in certain neighborhoods. Although there are multicultural neighborhoods, there are still certain areas that are still predominately white, black, etc.  With gentrification, I’ve seen a places shift because low-income families or minorities are pushed out because of urban redevelopment." 

…multiculturalism:
"When I read the word multiculturalism on your blog for the first time, I felt taken back in time to the early 90’s when people talked about it a lot. It embraces so much, like different lifestyles and different cultural backgrounds."

…multiculturalism in Europe and Dortmund:
"What I noticed first when I visited Europe was the number of African immigrants, especially when I visited Italy in 2003.  From the outside there seemed to be these insular communities, which I also saw in Dortmund when I came to visit. But I also saw non-immigrant German people of color. I was surprised by the diversity in Dortmund, especially because when you think of Germany the stereotypical notion of a nation of blond hair and blue-eyed people comes up.  But it was nice to see different Turkish and African communities."

Interview by Marie Denecke

"It's difficult to say what is non-American"

Dylan Goldblatt is guest lecturer at TU Dortmund University and originally comes from Virginia. He first came to Germany in 2002 on an exchange, when he lived with a Turkish-German host family for a year. He took time for our project to answer questions on…

Noah Goldblatt, guest lecturer at Dortmund University.

 

…integration in Germany: 

“In Germany, you see relatively few black people. Compared to Massachusetts, that is strange, as Massachusetts is really diverse. Here, if a black person walks down the street, everybody is staring at him or her. It’s like a stigma. People can’t help but stare. I am still caught off-guard when I hear people refer to marshmallow candy as Negerküsse. Using such language in jest would be rare in the US today, although it was probably common 40 years ago. Compared to the African community in Dortmund, I find that Turkish people are much more integrated. Most people here have Turkish friends and enjoy the Turkish cuisine. I think there has been a lot of progress in Germany since the days of Fassbinder’s Ali Angst essen Seele auf. There is a strong social integration for Turkish people. People are very tolerant here, but they still have a fascination with non-German cultures.”

…integration in the USA:
“The Hispanic community is analogous to the Turkish community in Germany. But still, it is different: Students in the US learn Spanish in school, love the cuisine of Spanish speaking countries or take trips to the Spanish speaking world. And on the political level, the Latino/Latina community has a lot of power. However, some of the debate about keeping so-called illegal immigrants out of the country involves an unfortunate, racist element. It is also very short-sighted: many US citizens benefit from the work performed by illegal immigrants, because they work below the legally-mandated minimum wage, but few are willing to grant them the same rights that American workers enjoy.”

…multiculturalism:
“Multiculturalism is a term that seems to be used less and less frequently in the United States. The hot word in the USA now is diversity, meaning multiculturalism plus tolerance for people of all walks of life. Beyond the in inclusion of various ethnicities, races, and nationalities, the notion of comprehensive diversity accounts for the various intersections of these groups with other demographics, including persons with disabilities, members of the LGBT community, and devoutly religious persons as well as atheists. When I am in the US, I never give much thought to who is of what ethnicity. If you go shopping in a mall, you will get a fair mix of all cultures and ethnicities. Multiculturalism in the USA is about giving respect to diverse backgrounds, but it is also about assimilation. The pressure to integrate oneself is so high that it is very difficult to say what is non-American.”

…multiculturalism in Boston:
“Relatively few immigrants from Mexico make it up to Boston. On the other hand, increasing numbers of immigrants from the Caribbean populate the city. It is a vibrant city, but not nearly as densely populated as places like New York City. People from Boston have a very local pride. There is a large Irish community, so the Irish aspect is associated with Boston very strongly. But when it comes to overall diversity, I feel that Massachusetts is leading the game in the USA. That is a state where you will find people from all walks of life in positions of authority. There’s a very tolerant atmosphere there that makes me feel at home.”

…multiculturalism in Dortmund:
“When I think of Dortmund and multiculturalism, I think of blue-collar workers and Turkish people who grew up here. Personally, I feel that only the taxi drivers do not belong to one of those two groups, they are mostly from other backgrounds. What I enjoy is that the U. It is a culture hub. When I first arrived in Dortmund, there was a wonderful Japanese anime exhibition, for example. That shows that the residents of this city are intrigued by other cultures and eager to engage in multicultural awareness.”

Interview by Marie Denecke

What does migration mean?

Migration, immigration, multiculturalism and integration, all these are words quite often used in our blog. But since each word has a multitude of layers when it comes to its meaning it is reasonable to differentiate them and determine their meanings more clearly. 

For instance migration means the movement of persons from one country to another. Emigration means the migration from your native country in order to settle into another. Immigration stands for migration to a country of which you are not a native in order to settle there.

Integration is the action of incorporating a ethnic, racial or religious group into a community. It does not ask for abandoning one’s own cultural identity but demands the willingness to learn the language of the country of refuge. Moreover it requires the acceptance of its legal system.

Multiculturalism refers to cultural diversity within a community. The doctrine that several different cultures (rather than one national culture) can coexist peacefully and equitably in a single country is also associated with the term multiculturalism.

So we hope that you got a quick overview on each term.

Sources:
http://www.audioenglish.net/dictionary/

Portrait : The most multicultural part in Dortmund

We went to the "Quartiersbüro Nordstadt". Even though that name makes you think of urban planning that is not what it stands for! It is a very useful and interesting project of the Dortmund City Council dealing with multicultural coexistence in the Nordstadt. We put together our gathered information and expressions in pictures and text. This is where you can have a look: our portrait of the Nordstadt!

Text: Sophie Hermann

Fotos/Collage: Marie Denecke

Here are some links to different newspaper articles on the Nordstadt which show the many different aspects linked to that part of Dortmund:

"Abstieg in Dortmund"
"Einwanderer in Dortmund - Nordstadt"
"Schließung des Straßenstrichs in Dortmund"
"Gesichter der Nordstadt in Dortmund"

Excellent video about international migration!

Our web search for "immigration"

How does immigration look like? Are there different types? When did immigration to the USA start? Is it a chance or a threat? Follow us, if you like, on our route through social media channels, looking for some answers - or, rather, some right questions. Just follow the link to our search through the web.

Immigration in Germany

We have been browsing the web again, this time looking for everything related to immigration to Germany. What does is look like, who immigrates, what do people think about it? 

This is what we found.

Have fun and tell us what you think!

A few numbers about Boston

Boston is, measured by American standards, a relatively old city, even one of the oldest in the United States. The city was founded in 1630. In 2010, the year of our comparison, 617,000 people lived in Boston. With that poulation Boston is the 20th largest city in the USA.

The medium age is 30 years in Boston. 10% of the population is older than 65. The unemployment rate is 5,9% (March 2012).

And what about multiculturalism?

This is where we have a little problem in our project: In the United States, the Census does not look at the diverse nationalities of the American people, but rather looks at race. So we have the following picture concerning race: 47% of Boston's people are "white alone", 53% so-called "non-white" or "hispanic". This group is divided up as followed: 22% "African-American", 9% "Asian", 18% "Hispanic/Latino" and 4% "other".

The document Boston's People and Economy are interesting as well as the Job Report.

To go to the German version click the link below: 

"Ein paar Zahlen über Boston"

Introducing ourselves: Who are we?

Anu

I am Anushya, 23 years old and studying Cultural Studies at the Technical University of Dortmund. I am a German and a Tamilian, born in Germany but my parents being originally from Sri Lanka, fleeing the country during the civil war. Being influenced by two very different cultures, I have always been interested in immigrants in Germany and other countries.

In the seminar "America on the Ruhr" I got the opportunity to engage more deeply with this topic. Something one always hears in the discussion concerning immigrants is multiculturalism and integration.

A lot of European politicians, who criticize the concept of multiculturalism argue that it leads to segregation and among other things also nurtures terrorism. For me, multiculturalism represents the complete acceptance and tolerance of other cultures and an end of feeling threatened by people who have a different cultural background. Thereby integration is an important step to avoid any kind of disadvantage in society.

Being from another cultural background means facing difficulties in society, it is impossible to deny that. This is also the reason why I am very excited to get to know through this project how society deals with them during a time where terrorism is quite often associated with immigrants. What I am hoping is to get a more clear view on immigrants, perhaps even getting rid of cliché-ridden stereotypes and realizing their important role in society not despite but because of their cultural background.

Marie

Unfortunately, multiculturalism is hard to find in my background. My families are from Northern Germany, I was born in Northern Germany and lived in Northern Germany most of my day. Well, at least, my two brothers were born in the United States (which brought my eternal envy upon them…).

 But, multiculturalism, that is more to me than having a multinational or multicultural family background. For me it means an understanding, an openness towards other circumstances of living and of other traditions. Because without tolerance, the living-together of diverse cultures would not work. A togetherness which is inevitable in any modern society.

I lived in England for two years. And I lived in Chemnitz, in the East German state of Saxony for two years. Is that the same? Well, of course not. But there are differences in other countries as well as in other regions of one and the same country. In October, I moved to Dortmund from the state of Lower Saxony to study journalism and English. That is only two hours apart from each other. But isn’t that some sort of immigration, too? (A small one, I admit.) And now I live in an apartment with three girls, one from England, one from Turkey, one from Mexico. So who is integrating how here? Actually, that does not matter. The main thing is that it does happen. Multiculturalism? I think, you can find that simply everywhere.

Sophie

Hello! I'm Sophie, I'm 23 years old and I study Education for children with (complex) learning difficulties in Dortmund. English is my subject and that's how I got involved in this seminar :)!

Throughout my childhood, my parents have always tried to introduce us to different cultures by for example taking us backpacking through Asia and sending us on every school exchange possible. All these different cultural experiences have always fascinated me and influenced my decision of going to Northern Ireland for a year after school to actually live in a new country and immerse myself in its culture. 

Even though I have encountered a lot of different cultures, it was not until I moved to Dortmund that I really experienced multiculturalism. Since moving here I experience how multicultural this city is and how much it gains through that has fascinated me.

Multiculturalism for me means, that there is no right or wrong, no true culture that everybody has to achieve but that it is a chance for everybody involved to learn something from each other and build something new together. I think that a positive co-existence is only possible if people develop respect for and interest in diversity rather than fearing it or following and believing different stereotypes.

I find this project particularly interesting because I want to see how two countries that have completely different backgrounds concerning immigration deal with this topic, its difficulties and opportunities.

What is this all about, anyways?

We are three students from TU Dortmund University in Dortmund, Germany. And this is our project in the form of this blog. What the project is about? About immigration and about the question: What is multiculturalism for you? And for us?

Concerning our background: Each of us three students are studying something completely different at TU Dortmund University. What unites us is that we all live in Dortmund and that we are taking the same seminar which is called "America on the Ruhr" at the Institute of American and British Studies. Within that seminar, students try to explore during this summer semester (meaning roughly until early July) how American culture influences life in the Ruhrgebiet , where culture of the Ruhr region influences life in the USA and what that region and that country might have in common.

So the three of us found us asking us one question: How do the USA and the Ruhr region deal with immigration? How do they treat immigrants? What do immigrants say, what and how do they feel? Naturally, comparing one region in Germany and the whole USA seems a bit unbalanced. And a little bit tough to compare, to be honest. Therefore, we picked two cities: Dortmund and Boston. Why Dortmund? Well, we live and study here. Why Boston? Because, frankly, it has about the same size as Dortmund.

So within the course of the next few weeks we want to find out as much as possible about those two cities - especially regarding migration and migrant life in those two cities. In this blog we are going to document our journey, post maps, websites, videos, photos, portraits, numbers and - well, whatever comes across our way.

Of course, that is a kind of ambitious target. So, we are not saying that we can do everything by ourselves. We need some support. From you people out there, especially "you Americans" (because, let's be honest, Boston is indeed a few miles away from Dortmund, some 5,762 kilometres in fact, some 3,580 miles). What is multiculturalism for you? How does it look like in your city? And how does it look like in Boston, Massachusetts?

Spread this blog, comment, post - whatever you like, everything is highly appreciated!

So thanks and we are looking forward to an exciting time with this project!

To go to the German version click the link below:

"Wer sind wir?"