Gender and the Integration of Newcomers in Merkel’s Germany

Abstract

In a stark departure from the historical stance that Germany is “not a country of immigration”, Angela Merkel has made it a priority to welcome and integrate newcomers into German society. Over the course of her four terms, various Merkel-led governments have paid increased attention to the integration of newcomers, and specifically to the integration of women and girls. Drawing on key documents, including the four coalition agreements, I identify three different phases in the incorporation of gender into German integration policy. I also find evidence of several different, yet at times overlapping frames which shape the ways in which gender is framed into the integration discourse. Drawing on two case studies, I then draw attention to the fact that the shifts in discursive and policy frames at the federal level, are not immediately evident in policy initiatives as. As such, barriers to the integration of women and girls remain, even though Merkel has made this a central priority in her governments

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 ‘Migrant background’ is one of the official terms used by the government. For a more complete discussion of this, see Will (2019) and Etzel (2021).

2 Information related to each of these projects is derived from a total of 17 interviews with 27 policy actors at the federal and subnational levels conducted between May and October 2019. Interviews were semi-structured and open-ended and ranged in length from approximately 45 minutes, to over two hours.

3 For more detail see, https://www.bamf.de/DE/Themen/Integration/ZugewanderteTeilnehmende/AngeboteFrauen/IntegrationSportFrauen/sportangebote-frauen-node.html.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the German Academic Exchange Service; and by an Insight grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Notes on contributors

Heather MacRae

Heather MacRae is Associate Professor of European Politics in the Department of Politics at York University, Toronto Canada. Her research addresses gender politics in the European Union in particular during times of crisis. She has a specific interest in gender politics in Germany, and the ways in which these are influenced by European policy making. She is a former Jean Monnet Chairholder (2014–2016) and is currently co-editor of JCMS as well as President of the European Community Studies Association in Canada (2018–2021).