Mekonnen Mesghena, Head, Migration and Diversity Program, Heinrich Böll Foundation, Berlin.
Interview by Dr. Kris Manjapra, Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in the Humanities, UCLA.
You were recently in Tel Aviv. What were you doing there?
I was there hosting an exhibition on Eritrean modernist architecture. Along with South Beach and Chicago, there is another city that saw an important Art Deco movement, namely, Asmara in Eritrea. Our exhibition is called "Asmara: The Hidden Modernism." In the period of Italian colonialism, especially in the 1930s, Asmara became a center for modernist architectural styles. When we started putting the project together here in Berlin, many institutions we approached for funding insisted that we weren't really dealing with African history, but with European history. But our point was that although the architecture came with colonialism and fascism, it came to be integrated into Eritrean culture. Furthermore, Eritreans were used to build the structures, and the buildings were made with local materials. So the Eritrean people actually had and still have a great sense of ownership over the buildings. People say, "They were built with our sweat and on our ground." We were interested in our exhibition to show how the architecture has been integrated into African daily life. So the legacies of colonialism cannot be easily separated from the culture and traditions of this African country. It has become part of our history as Eritreans. We wanted to speak about colonialism in a different light, not in terms of victims and perpetrators. In fact, many of the Italian architects who worked in Asmara were rebels, and were protesting against the fascist artistic styles current in Italy at the time.
Which organizations helped realize the project?
People are used to hearing bad news about Africa and the third world. So people were not prepared to see an exhibit about modernist architecture in the middle of Africa. People were totally surprised to get a different perspective. This project has been strongly supported by the Union of International Architects (UIA). UNESCO has been another patron.
Turning to a topic related to your work at the Boell Stiftung, a recent New York Times article asserted that the integration problems in Germany have much to do with the self-ghettoizing culture and marriage patterns of new immigrant groups. Do you agree with this view?
I would say that this may be one challenge, but it is not the underlying cause for the difficulties around integrating new immigrants in German society. People from the Maghreb states will return home to marry young girls there. The right to choose your spouse is a constitutional right, first of all. So there is only so far that it is sensible to discuss the question of spousal choice. But this is a big challenge to the integration process. But again, I don't think this is at the root of the issue. Why do people choose to go to the home country and look for a bride after all? It has to do with the level of openness and acceptance of foreigners in German society. But it is also not just a German issue. In France one sees these problems as well. When people come to Germany, there should be some kind of integration program, where people have the opportunity to systematically learn the language, learn about the society and learn how to operate in a new context. Right now, things are so unsystematic. If new immigrants had a step-by-step introduction to the labor market and to education, then they would have the opportunity to choose their own way. Currently, it is organized very haphazardly. If the wives who are brought back to Germany from abroad are lucky, they come to a liberal family, and learn the language and get a job. If they are unlucky, they will be overburdened with family responsibilities and won't have any opportunity to learn the language.
Some immigrant women are forced to become too dependent on their families. If the families are illiberal, the women will not be able to make their way. Some of them will never even have the opportunity to leave their home, for example. Such women do not ever have the chance to really arrive in this society. They arrive physically, but not mentally or socially. How do you make such individuals more independent? It is a very big issue. Germany is a new immigrant country, so it really needs to rethink how it receives immigrants, and how it helps them arrive here.
How does the position as a person with an immigration background in Germany affect your political and professional activity?
I will never be able to neglect my heritage or my background. And I try to contribute and develop the region where I came from. Living here in Germany is like being on one end of a bridge. I can use my foothold in Europe, in terms of my involvement with politics and the institutional resources I have here, to help develop and change my home society and to make it more open and democratic. As an African-German, I do not feel as if I'm falling between two chairs, but I would say that I have the opportunity to sit on two chairs.
I also believe that history belongs to all of us. Gandhi's message is part of human history. It belongs to all of us. Hitler is also part of human history. What happened to humankind is human history. What happened in Israel, or in Eritrea, or in South Africa also belongs to me, and I must use those lessons to make sense of the world. I think by adopting this perspective we can get away from the old narratives of victim and perpetrator.
What is your vision of German society in the next twenty years?
One generation might be too soon to see significant change. If you look at the American experience, the first generation was poor. But their kids made a big leap, and were integrated into American society. In Germany, there has not been significant change in the social status of immigrant families over the course of two or even three generations. If you look at the third generation, it does not even compare well with the second generation. Many third generation immigrants are dropouts, or have no vocational education, or are jobless. Actually, it is a kind of a backward movement. We have a situation that is very unique where the second and third generations are not making a huge leap towards integrating into society and being successful. That is quite worrying.
What will bring change to this situation? It is probably the demographic factor that will force Germany to deal with the issue of integrating its immigrants. It has been estimated that Germany requires about 500,000 new workers on the labor market per year in order to keep its social standards at their current levels. Germany can't do this without inviting immigration. Yet, in Germany newcomers are always seen as a threat. But the problem cannot be escaped, and so with the changes in Germany's demography, the issue will have to be addressed in terms of reforming the school system, providing more assistance and orientation to new immigrants, and changing the racialized thinking that still pervades German society.
What role should activist politics play?
I think activism is needed. I believe in symbols. I always believe there is a positive potential in people. This potential can disrupt a political atmosphere and bring change. There are some visionaries in Germany. I think one area in which we desperately need activism is in schools and in the educational system. Between 1998 and 2001, a huge paradigm shift occurred, and by the end of that period, politicians were prepared to accept that Germany is an immigration country. We need another major shift in terms of how we provide education, and what we teach to students in schools. People are not lacking information. We need to make a change.
Do you think Germany's immigrant groups have fallen into political complacency?
Many immigrant groups come from very problematic areas, where they don't trust police or politicians; actually, there is a kind of distance to politics anyway. It is always the second and third generations that adapt to the atmosphere and begin to get politically involved. Second and third generation immigrants begin feeling that this country is their own. And people are moving towards that way of thinking here. But it can also backfire. There has been a kind of retreat to culture and religion among the children of immigrants. They are mirroring the closed attitude of many in German society. "If you don't want me, I don't want you either." What we are lacking, then, are those voices, such as that of Omid Nouripour or Cem Oezdemir, who say, "This is my country, and I'm proud to be part of this democratic system."
In fact, the current political atmosphere does not allow for the rise of such personalities. German political culture, after all, is less focused on persona, and more on institutions. Things are very institutionalized here, while in other countries, you can have role models that voice their own vision. That is why I favor a quota system. If the institutions are not letting people in, we should bring them in. But this, of course, should be based on qualifications. There are so many well-qualified people. We need to bring in people with different perspectives, from different walks of life. If parties remain homogeneous, we won't make the change.
Would you consider politics?
I have been asked that many times. Sometimes I also ask myself. But I'm skeptical about whether politics is the right place for me. I would need strong alliances within the institution. If I see that an institution is willing to make a change, and if I feel an institution wants me because it values my ideas and my vision, then I would do it. I would not do it just for the sake of being in politics. Maybe I'm too impatient with this kind of strongly institutionalized system. You need to be able to take very long breaths. But one does need strong companions and co-travelers ready to make courageous steps. Unless you have strong companions, you are always the one to be facing opposition, and being made to feel the outsider or the troublemaker. So, if I had the feeling that a political party wanted me, then, well, I don't know!