One of the defining issues of the 21st century will undoubtedly be the movement
of people across borders. Whereas this movement has become increasingly easy
for capital, human beings are often faced with ever greater border controls.
Berlin, only two hours from Poland, is on the Eastern edge of the "Schengen"
treaty countries. Within the Schengen countries, passport controls have essentially
been abolished; in turn, these countries have increased controls on the outside
borders. On the edge between the free-travel Schengen lands and the increasingly
fortified Eastern border, and also representing the Easternmost outpost of the
financially powerful European Union, Berlin is well-situated for an examination
of the impact of different immigration strategies.
In addition, Berlin has a substantial, permanent population of "foreigners."
13% of legal city residents do not have German citizenship; there is also an
uncounted population of illegal immigrants, particularly from Eastern Europe.
While conservative parties like the CDU insist that "Germany is not a country
of immigration," the reality is that Germany, like the rest of Europe,
is home to a growing number of people from different cultural backgrounds.
Responses to the reality of immigration are as varied as the immigrants themselves,
and they are all present within the city of Berlin. There are community organizations
designed to aid immigrants and citizen groups against immigration; neo-Nazi
organizations who intimidate and harass immigrants (and those who look like
they might be immigrants), and leftist organizations that protect and defend
immigrants against such violence. There are parts of Berlin - Kreuzberg springs
to mind - where the population is largely of Turkish background; there are other
areas - like Marzahn - that have a reputation as being unsafe for anyone who
"looks foreign."
Soccer teams provide a particularly fruitful ground for such investigation.
Not only the second- and third-league teams like Union Berlin (whose fans have
a reputation of right-wing extremism; I have seen them chant neo-Nazi slogans
at games) and Tennis Borussia, with its reputation for tolerance and openness
(they are proud of the number of foreigners on their team), but especially the
smaller, local teams illuminate immigrant community formation and identity.
Many are organized around national identity - there are several Turkish soccer
clubs (as well as some organized around East German nostalgia), and soccer fan
behavior remains an important marker for how immigrants are accepted by, integrated
into and resist their host communities.
The breadth of responses to immigration makes Berlin an ideal location for
the study of how immigration impacts European cities and transforms them into
global cities.
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