Rumors of Takeover: Classification Conflicts between Turkish Achievers and their German Neighbours

What is it about?

In Germany, Turkish entrepreneurs and self-assured representatives of the migrant population enter the local stages of negotiation about social inequality. The upwardly mobile people of Turkish origin are challenging conceptions of natural privilege widely shared by their autochthonous neighbours who consider the upper ranks of society as being reserved to them. The analysis of two urban quarters shows significant patterns of classification that arise out of this social constellation: By means of negative classifications, the autochthonous population devaluates successful descendants of Turkish immigrants who appear to be capable of reversing the social stigmatization. A new symbolic order of social inequality is emerging from the ensuing conflicts of classification. The article examines the impact of these interethnic struggles on social integration.

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