Kritik und Gewalt: Sarrazin-Debatte, 'Islamkritik' und Terror in der Einwanderungsgesellschaft [2013/2014]

Abstract

Since the late twentieth century, most European societies turned into immigration societies. An immigration society underlies a multiform and complex social and cultural process, becoming increasingly differentiated and leading to an acceleration of changes in social structures and forms of life. This development caused cultural anxiety and mental stress for many people. The widespread skepticism about lowly qualified immigrants, especially from Muslim countries, was enforced by Thilo Sarrazin’s anti-Islamic bestseller ‘Deutschland schafft sich ab’ (‘Germany Is Doing Away With Itself‘), published in 2010. Against the background of ambiguities and uncertainties as well as a growing readiness for outrage deriving from many other reasons, too, the so-called Sarrazin debate revealed far-reaching, deep socio-political divides and tensions within the German immigration society. At the same time, police uncovered long-lasting anti-immigrant terrorism against Muslim immigrants. The German murderers obviously understood their actions ideologically as a form of self-defense against the threat of Islamic transformation of immigrant societies in Europe.