Who can participate? #3
In public discourse in Germany, topics relating to migration and identity often refer to a first, second or third generation. When developments in ‘integration policy’ are discussed in relation to issues of political participation or experiences of racism, new immigrants are often compared with people who have lived in Germany for a longer period of time or who were born in Germany. The first generation is often automatically associated with immigrants who have been in Germany for a very long time and therefore belong to the older age group.
In this third publication of the ‘Who can participate?’ project, the category of generation in relation to migration histories is critically analysed and the effects of generational affiliation on political participation and experiences of racism are examined. The focus is on the question of how and to what extent age and generational affiliation affect both the experience of racism and the political participation of people with a history of migration. Our multilingual, representative survey of people with and without a history of migration reveals new findings that differ significantly from previous findings.