International Conference - Day 2
Beyond Multiculturalism?
Envisioning the Immigration Society
10 a.m. Panel 1
MULTICULTURALISM VS. "SUPER-DIVERSITY"? NEW THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES IN THE POST-ETHNIC AGE
David Hollinger, UC Berkeley
Jorge Gracia, State University of New York at Buffalo
Steven Vertovec, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen
Respondent: Nevim Çil, migration researcher, Berlin
Moderator: Michael Werz, Transatlantic Fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the USA
“Multiculturalism” of the 80s and 90s is coming under fire: its advocates used to categorize people according to ethnicity and origin, and asked for access rights based on affiliation to a “cultural” group. The concept of 'super-diversity," according to Steven Vertovec, describes a situation in which today’s societies and their migrant populations have reached an inner complexity that exceeds anything we have known before. What are the concepts of identity that guide actions of individuals and groups? What alternatives are currently being developed to describe and analyze today’s societies? More about the participants...
12 a.m. Panel 2
IMMIGRATION COUNTRY GERMANY – AN INVENTORY OF THE IMMIGRATION DEBATE
Rita Süssmuth, Berlin
Steffen Angenendt, German Institute for International and Security Affairs, Berlin
Franziska Wöllert, Berlin-Institute for Population and Development
Serhat Karakayali, amira, Berlin
Moderator: Kofi Yakpo, German Bundestag
Germany is an immigration country: for decades the Federal Republic has denied this reality and defended the model of a homogeneous society in policy, legislation and public discourse. The panel sums up the current German debate and discusses new paradigms that embrace today’s social reality and move descent and ethnic affiliations. More about the participants...
3.30 p.m. Panel 3
MODELS AND EXPERIENCES OF IMMIGRATION SOCIETIES - AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
Ruud Koopmans, Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB)
Ian Kemish, Australia's Ambassador to Germany
Wilson Fusco, Fundação Joaquim Nabuco, Brazil
Moderator: Mekonnen Mesghena, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung
Due to their particular history, classical immigration countries like Australia, Brazil, and former European colonial powers such as the Netherlands tend to take a more offensive approach to diversity. Problems specific to complex immigration societies are often more apparent in the classical immigration countries than elsewhere. What are the ruptures and necessities? The panel compares a variety of diverse societies with the German situation and discusses challenges and political approaches. More about the participants...
6 p.m. Forum Young Voices in Politics
POLICY FOR THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW? PARTY- POLITICAL POLICIES ON MIGRATION
"General guidelines", "integration summit", "green and white papers", "neighborhood mothers", "language tests", "National Integration Plan": In recent years, numerous institutions and policies were developed for the immigration country Germany. Amidst these broad range of activities, the Forum searches for the policies of the democratic parties. The influential political voices of tomorrow are featured speakers in this panel: Raed Saleh (Berlin House of Representatives, SPD), Evrim Baba (Berlin House of Representatives, The Left Party), Hanaa El-Hussein (Chair of the Immigration Committee, FDP Berlin) and Ramona Pop (Berlin Senate, The Green Party) discuss with experts involved in the conference.
More about the participants...
Moderator: Stephan Lanz, Viadrina University in Frankfurt/Oder
Radio Format
2.30 - 3 p.m. Radio Live
Listening to Diversity – changes and challenges for contemporary radio
Radios will be distributed in front of the radio studio so that you may follow the discussion during the lunch break.
Radio has become more and more diverse within the last years: new channels cater to very different specific interest groups, internet radio has had a revolutionary impact on the medium. But does the new diversity in broadcasting channels reflect the growing social diversity in immigration societies? How can radio foster new perspectives on the immigration societiy and serve as a mouthpiece for nerw complexities – if at all?
A conversation of Pit Schultz with DJ Ipek Ipekçioglu, Stephan Galland/Radio Grenouille, Marseille, and Stefan Tenner.