Die Geschichte der Interkulturellen Woche in Deutschland

Eine Kontaktgeschichte der Integration

Abstract

This article argues that, owing to its increasingly politicized conceptual nature, there is currently a risk that the actual work of integration and its history of sociability are no longer recognized or considered as the basis of self-perception. One indication of this is the particular pressure under which intercultural situations are placed today. An example of this is the emotional response to the question: ‘Where are you from originally?’. Wellknown authors such as Mithu Sanyal consider this question to be discriminatory because it reveals a racist mindset: namely, that people with a history of immigration are not seen as belonging to German society. In the 1980s, however, this question had the opposite meaning as a conversation starter. One reason for this change is that stereotypes and prejudices are now clearly seen as signs of structural racism and are addressed as such. Nevertheless, stereotypes and attributions have never been the sole basis for talking about others, positioning oneself in relation to them, or, in the worst case, devaluing them. In the history of migration, they have also served as occasions and topics for discussion and rapprochement on a social and individual level. The Intercultural Week, for example, is a low-threshold event reflecting such a history of contact as one of sociability between long-established immigrants and their descendants. From the 1970s to the present day, it shows a history of integration that has not yet been adequately represented in discourse or politics.