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Jews, Turks and
Other Strangers
By Jerome S. Legge Jr.
$35
University of Wisconsin Press |
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Book examines prejudice in Germany
Written by Jerome Legge Jr., associate dean of UGA’s School
of Public and International Affairs, Jews, Turks and Other Strangers:
The Roots of Prejudice in Modern Germany studies the causes
of prejudice against Jews, foreign workers, refugees and immigrant
Germans in contemporary Germany.
Using survey material and quantitative analyses, Legge challenges
the notion that German xenophobia is rooted in economic causes.
Instead, he sees a more complex foundation for German prejudice,
particularly in a reunified Germany where perceptions of the “other”
sometimes vary widely between east and west, a product of a traditional
racism rooted in the German past. By clarifying the foundations
of xenophobia in a new German state, Legge offers a clear and disturbing
picture of a conflicted country and a prejudice that not only affects
Jews but also fuels a larger, anti-foreign sentiment.
“If we are to understand the social complexity of the new
Germany,” Legge writes in the book’s introduction, “it
is more realistic to view it as a multicultural society that is
having difficulty in integrating these new groups into its mainstream.
Although much progress has been made, especially with regard to
the Turks and the Jews, the nation still is in the midst of a long
struggle with its future identity.” |
