football

September 2, 2014 0

Interview: Ali for (and from) Germany

In the wake of Germany's World Cup victory, much has been said about a renewed sense of German patriotism and its implications. While some have feared a connection to Germany's dark past, others have welcomed the discourse as a chance to shape a new sense of belonging within the country's evolving demographics. We've already written something about it here. But what a discussion on national identity means on the personal level is another story. Or rather many stories. Here's one... [Read More!]

July 28, 2014 0

World Cup Fever: How malleable is German identity?

Germany's World Cup victory has unleashed a new wave of patriotism, as well as a new identity crisis. This patriotism might only be as good as the boundaries it is ready and able to redefine. An act of flowing colors and neighbor-to-neighbor high-fives may have started a new understanding of who is allowed into the club, but policies and institutions need to take it one step further. Otherwise, patriotism is just as good as nationalism, which rules by way of exceptionalism. In the type of inclusive global society many of us would love to build, there is no room for exceptionalism... [Read More!]

April 11, 2014 4

Integration in Berlin: Research for a Desolate Landscape

On April 2, the new Berlin Institute for Empirical Research on Integration and Migration (BIM) was launched. Certainly not the first institute of its kind in Germany, Berlin's Humboldt University, the Hertie Foundation, the Federal Employment Agency, and the German Football Association held a press conference to frame this initiative as new and needed. The reason: the field - what is really known about the integration or inclusion of diversity - is more desert than rain-forest in this country of immigration... [Read More!]

May 11, 2013 1

Happy Weekend: “It’s not about integration”, or isn’t it?

Tonight at Ballhaus Naunynstraße, İmran Ayata und Neco Çelik will present the opening of their newest play, "Liga der Verdammten" (League of the Damned), tackling the dynamic configuration of players and fans in Kreuzberg's very own "Multi-Kulti" football league, Türkisempor. Originally formed by Berlin's marginalized 'guest workers' just 35 years ago, its reputation proceeds it, as do the stereotypes... [Read More!]