Skip to main content
eScholarship
Open Access Publications from the University of California

TRANSIT

TRANSIT bannerUC Berkeley

Global Heimat Germany. Migration and the Transnationalization of the Nation-State

Abstract

The article explores the increasing gap between the cultural dynamics of transnationalization in Germany and the national self-perception of the German society. While concepts of "in-migration" (Zuwanderung) and "integration" still stick to notions of the nation-state as being a "container" embracing and controlling a population and a culture of its own, the various processes of material and imaginary mobility across the national borders contradict and challenge this notion as well as its political implications. By drawing on the transnational life-worlds and the cultural productivity of migrants, anthropological research has made important contributions to render visible this challenge. It is argued, however, that an all too exclusive focus on migration may, in fact, rather conceal the wider effects of transnationalisation and cultural globalisation on the society and its cultural fabric as a whole.

Main Content
For improved accessibility of PDF content, download the file to your device.
Current View