First Advisor

Harry Anastasiou

Date of Publication

1-1-2011

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.) in Conflict Resolution

Department

Conflict Resolution

Language

English

Subjects

Multiculturalism, Nationalism, Otherness, Turks -- Germany -- Emigration and immigration, Immigrants -- Government policy -- Germany, Immigrants -- Cultural assimilation -- Germany, Social integration -- Government policy -- Germany

DOI

10.15760/etd.322

Physical Description

1 online resource (ii, 101 p.)

Abstract

In an ever-globalizing world, societies comprised of myriad people and cultures are quickly becoming the norm rather than the exception. In societies made up of culturally diverse, religiously pluralistic and disparate people, an added layer of complexity becomes apparent when attempting to integrate multiple cultures into a single society. Germany, in its reconstruction effort following World War II, faced such an integration challenge when a massive influx of Turkish migrants arrived as part of a "foreign worker" agreement. The introduction of a large and culturally diverse immigrant population made cultural understanding of paramount importance. Culture is an intangible element that can be difficult to quantify in political, social, or economic terms. As such, understanding culture and the peaceful coexistence of multiple cultures requires an examination beyond traditional perspectives. The implementation of conflict resolution theories and viewing situations from a conflict resolution perspective enables the extra layer of complexity that can occur within culturally diverse societies to be unpacked and better understood. Specifically, the goal of this thesis was to examine the integration challenges for Turkish immigrants in Germany while at the same time looking for opportunities to learn from the challenges facing societies attempting to implement immigration and integration policies in order to promote the coexistence of multiple cultures. The thesis concludes by offering directives or recommendations, formulated from the findings in this study, for multicultural societies facing integration challenges.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Comments

Portland State University. Dept. of Conflict Resolution

Persistent Identifier

http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/8076

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