For years, ‘integration’ has been an omnipresent concept in Germany’s public debates on immigration and Islam. Even more so than in other European countries, this notion reigns hegemonic in the German context – even if it is mobilized for a range of very different political diagnoses and projects. Public broadcaster ZDF brought together two of…
Is it possible to justify a Cologne court’s ruling on the legality of circumcision on the basis of Germany’s Basic Law? In this essay, Patrick Bahners takes a closer look at both the Basic Law and the ruling and concludes that the judges in Cologne must have made a serious error of judgement Anyone who…
The Catholic theologian and philosopher Heiner Bielefeldt talks in this interview about legitimate criticism of religion on the one hand and racist Islamophobia on the other hand. Bielefeldt claims that as long Islam is in line with the German Basic Law – and theologically figures out how to do so – there should be no…
In the opinion of CSU boss Edmund Stoiber, social security benefits should be collected from immigrants if they do not participate in integration courses. It should also be possible to refuse them permanent residence status. Guenther Beckstein, the Bavarian Minister of the Interior, expressed his position in similar terms. Ute Vogt, vice chairman of the…
