We Are All Migrants
A History of Multicultural Germany

The first narrative history of migration to post-1945 Germany, West and East, focusing on first-person experiences.

Jan Plamper (Author)

9781009242295, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 23 March 2023

286 pages
23.5 x 15.4 x 1.9 cm, 0.58 kg

'We Are All Migrants serves as a powerful reminder of the very foundations of democracy, emphasizing that its strength lies in plurality, inclusivity, and mutual respect. Plamper's work is deeply rooted in human archives of lived experience, illustrating how migration has always been an integral part of society rather than an exception. His book is not merely a historical analysis but a call to actively resist exclusionary politics, challenge dominant narratives, and invest in the diverse histories of the many who collectively shape the meaning of 'we'.' Noa K. Ha, H-Soz-Kult

In 2015, Germany agreed to accept a million Syrian refugees. The country had become an epicenter of global migration and one of Europe's most diverse countries. But was this influx of migration new to Germany? In this highly readable volume, Jan Plamper charts the groups and waves of post-1945 mobility to Germany. We Are All Migrants is the first narrative history of multicultural Germany told through life-stories. It explores the experiences of the 12.5 million German expellees from Eastern Europe who arrived at the end of the Second World War; the 14 million 'guest workers' from Italy and Turkey who turned West Germany into an economic powerhouse; the GDR's Vietnamese labor migrants; and the 2.3 million Germans and 230,000 Jews who came from the Soviet Union after 1987. Without minimizing racism, We Are All Migrants shows that immigration is a success story – and that Germany has been, and is, one of the most fascinating laboratories on our planet in which multiple ways of belonging, and ethnic, national, and supranational identities, are hotly debated and messily lived.

Introduction
1. We are all migrants, almost everywhere, almost always – especially the Germans
2. Twelve and a half million in six years
3. Labor migration to West Germany
4. Labor migration to East Germany
5. Asylum
6. Germans there, Russians here
7. Jewish Germaniya
8. Welcoming culture
Conclusion
Index.

Subject Areas: European history [HBJD]