Germans or Foreigners? Attitudes Toward Ethnic Minorities in Post-Reunification Germany

This book examines contemporary attitudes towards ethnic minorities in Germany. These minorities include some of immigrant origin, such as Italians, Turks, and asylum seekers, and the principal non-immigrant minority, Jews. While the findings demonstrate that intense prejudice against minorities is not widespread among Germans, many of whom in fact can be considered immigrant- and minority-friendly, a crystallization of attitudes is also evident: that is, attitudes towards immigrants are strongly correlated with anti-Semitism and with other worldview dimensions, such as positioning in the left-right political spectrum. In this sense, the fundamental question of whether immigrants and other minorities should be regarded as fellow citizens or ethnic outsiders remains relevant in the German context.