Peter Doerschler

How Safe Do Majority Group Members, Ethnic Minorities, and Muslims Feel in Multicultural European Societies?

ABSTRACT London elected a Muslim mayor in 2016, less than a year after Germany took the lead in welcoming Syrian refugees. What accounts, then, for political leaders’ public assertions of the death of multiculturalism and the resurgence of far-right parties? We examine the possibility that some areas of multicultural policy foster a sense of discrimination on the part of majority populations and reduce their sense of safety, putting pressure on political leaders for assurances and providing the impetus for populist political party agendas, even to the point of Brexit. Data from the Banting/Kymlicka Multiculturalism Policy Index project and from the European Social Survey allow us to explore the impact of specific areas of multicultural policy on those who identify as majority group members, ethnic minorities, and Muslims in fourteen European states. We provide a quantitative multivariate analysis of the influence of key areas of state-level multicultural policy on individuals’ sense of being in a group that is discriminated against, as well as their feelings of safety, satisfaction with life, and satisfaction with the national government. Background factors, including respondents’ education, are controlled. For each of the three groups of respondents, the article offers conclusions as to which areas of multicultural policy seem to contribute to the most adverse reactions. Our findings help to explain the backlash against multiculturalism and the shift in focus in European states toward “mainstreaming” integration programs. They also provide a contextual background for understanding the increasing sway of rightist party demands and cautions for the development of programs to counter violent extremism.

Host Nation Language Ability and Immigrant Integration in Germany: Use of GSOEP to Examine Language as an Integration Criterion

Civic integration contracts in western European states developed in a context of high unemployment rates among those of migrant background, European and national efforts to control migration, and the implementation of antiterrorism security measures. Language and cultural education programs are now required for non-Western immigrants to Europe in order to assure their employment and respect for the political and cultural traditions of the host nation. Political considerations spurred the development of these programs in the absence of systematic empirical analyses of the effectiveness of language acquisition in facilitating integration. Like its predecessors in other states, the 2005 German Immigration Act was based in part on the assumption that the professional and social integration of immigrants are predicated on German language skills. The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (http://www.integration-in-deutschland.de announced that the language support effort marked “the beginning of the development of the nation-wide integration programme.” This paper presents the results of a multivariate analysis of German Socio-Economic Panel Data (GSOEP) using indicators suggested by the European Parliament in assessing the importance of language on specific dimensions of integration before implementation of the Act. The results indicate that immigrant integration programs focusing primarily on host nation language acquisition and cultural orientation ignore key problems of integration. Some aspects of immigrant integration in Germany—including the likelihood of unemployment and fear of antiforeigner hostility—are not enhanced by knowledge of German. The results also suggest that non-German citizens classified as Turkish have less contact with Germans, regardless of German language skill and schooling in Germany.