Die Gemeinschaft der Gesellschaft: Bausteine einer Theorie ethnischer kollektiver Identitäten in nationalen und transnationalen Räumen

Abstract

This book analyses the ways collective, especially ethnic identities are constructed and reconstructed in modern societies. It argues that these construction processes and the relative stability of many of these groups can only be understood if linked to their relation to the cultural fabric of a community. Here, the use and identification with cultural objects in widespread use (Weber´s Massenkulturgut, e.g. language and religion) is of crucial importance. These objects fulfil a variety of vital functions at individual and group level e.g. for language in framing the way the world is experienced, the importance of mass communication for community building, (written) language as ´cultural capital´ being a prerequisite for success in the industrialised world etc. They account for the stability of ethnic communities even if the culture that often allegedly binds them together (shared history, customs and so on) may rapidly change or even be invented.The analysis is then expanded to the present postcolonial situation where ethnic communities are crossing national borders and the feeling of belonging is being displayed in transnational spaces. On this basis, the question of ethnic and minority rights is reconsidered. ´Hard´ constructivist positions of ethnic identity tend to have problems in advocating group rights, e.g. for immigrant groups, as in this framework ethnic identity does not differ greatly from membership of other groups. The position developed in this book may help to solve this dilemma as it argues that whilst constructed, ethnic identity is not freely chosen, the roots of its persistency being deeply interwoven within the organisation of modern societies.Finally, the theoretical approach is used to analyse the role of mass communications for the Turkish minority in Germany. It is argued that, in contrary to political fears, the sometimes explicit attempt of linking this minority to Turkey does not form an obstacle to integration into German society.