Welcome (back) to Germany! The return of the guest-worker and its implications

Abstract

We might suspect that the German nation has arrived back where it once started. The guest worker regime is having a comeback. Once again, immigrants contribute to the wealth of the German nation. The current perception of migration in the German media tends to the fact that there is a close link between economic productivity and the integration into society. Being a good migrant is characterized by being an economically productive individual. This is represented in German media discourse with the label "the new guest workers". Here, the question of whether immigrants are culturally integrated or not is subsequent to economic considerations. Of course, not all immigrants are considered to be "new guest workers". The perception of immigrants is highly differentiated, and can be distinguished into two groups. At the upper end, highly qualified migrants represent economic power and creativity. The low qualified are discussed in terms of their ability to integrate or assimilate. The article examines he role of the nation by defining the movement of people across space. Observing how the nation defines good vs. bad movement enlarges our ability to analyze regimes of mobility and migration. Thus, the empirical study presented here dissects the question 'what qualifies a good migrant today?' in the German discourse on immigration during the time of the (2008?) economic crisis. It will also reveal how liberal democratic states practices legitimate exclusion today. The new guest workers narrative also demonstrates the boundary blurring of race and ethnicity and the shifting a new form of inclusion and exclusion, which is called "identity liberalism". By understanding this symbolic boundary of the dualistic evaluation, we can expand our knowledge how the ability to move across borders become a crucial criteria by which class is defined and class privileges upheld.