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Volume 21
Studies in Contemporary European History
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Migration, Memory, and Diversity
Germany from 1945 to the Present
Edited by Cornelia Wilhelm
Preface by Konrad Jarausch
366 pages, 1 illus., bibliog., index
ISBN 978-1-78533-327-9 $145.00/£107.00 / Hb / Published (November 2016)
ISBN 978-1-78533-838-0 $34.95/£27.95 / Pb / Published (May 2018)
eISBN 978-1-78533-328-6 eBook
Reviews
“All contributions are of a high quality. Moreover, far from being niche studies, none of the 12 essays in the volume loses sight of its broader significance. To the contrary, every author endeavours to tie their research to the big historical picture: the legacy of Nazi racial policy, the mass displacements of peoples in the war and postwar years, the use of migration and refugee policy in the service of Cold War propaganda, the recalibration of notions of ‘Germanness’ after 1990, and the ‘Europeanisation’ of migration questions over the past 30 years… While much of its content will already be familiar to scholars in the field, the questions it poses and the research; directions it suggests should prove a very useful starting point for further study into Germany’s inter- actions with Europe and the world.” • Journal of Contemporary History
“One of the greatest accomplishments of the volume is certainly that it diversifies Germany’s migration history while simultaneously putting it into perspective both synchronically and diachronically. In addition, the volume has the merit of including immobility in the exploration of migration. Last but not least, it points out blind spots in the exploration of Germany’s migration history and opens perspectives for future research.” • German History
“Wilhelm’s carefully assembled volume offers impressive and fresh overviews of postwar German history…an overall excellent contribution to the history of migration and diversity in Germany. Surely not only historians will welcome Wilhelm’s fine collection.” • Contemporary Austrian Studies
“There is a lot to like about this book, which offers a nice mix of American and German scholars who approach their topics from a range of perspectives. It provides useful scholarly material for specialists while offering an effective introduction for students seeking to deepen their understanding of these topics.” • Adam R. Seipp, Texas A&M University
Description
Within Germany, policies and cultural attitudes toward migrants have been profoundly shaped by the difficult legacies of the Second World War and its aftermath. This wide-ranging volume explores the complex history of migration and diversity in Germany from 1945 to today, showing how conceptions of “otherness” developed while memories of the Nazi era were still fresh, and identifying the continuities and transformations they exhibited through the Cold War and reunification. It provides invaluable context for understanding contemporary Germany’s unique role within regional politics at a time when an unprecedented influx of immigrants and refugees present the European community with a significant challenge.
Cornelia Wilhelm is currently professor of modern history at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich. From 2010 to 2016 she has been DAAD Visiting Professor in the Department of History and the Jewish Studies Program at Emory University in Atlanta and had also held visiting positions at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, and Leopold-Franzens-University of Innsbruck, Austria. She is author of Bewegung oder Verein? Nationalsozialistische Volkstumspokitik in den USA (1998); and Deutsche Juden in America: Bürgerliches Selbstbewusstsein und Jüdische Identität in den Orden B’nai B’rith und True Sisters (2007), also published in English translation (2011). She is currently working on an in-depth study on German refugee rabbis in the United States after 1933.